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Hockey hooligans, 1881

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Hockey hooligans, 1881

Early references to New Zealand hockey often complained of disorderly informal games, such as the one described in this October 1881 issue of the Otago Daily Times. A city councillor expressed concern that a game played in Cumberland Street in central Dunedin, using a tin pot as a ball, might frighten horses.

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National Library of New Zealand, Papers Past

Reference: Otago Daily Times, 19 October 1881, p. 2

Permission of the National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Geoff Watson, Hockey – Origins of New Zealand hockey, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/document/38913/hockey-hooligans-1881 (accessed 24 June 2026).

Story by Geoff Watson, published 3 December 2012, updated 1 January 2015.