Patrick Rowley, one of the world’s best known hockey journalists, has been rewarded for his outstanding services to hockey with the British Empire Medal in Queen Elizabeth II's Birthday Honours List.
The list was published on 10 June 2016, on the occasion of Her Majesty’s official 90th birthday, and recognises the achievements of extraordinary people across the Commonwealth nations.
A well respected character, Patrick has dedicated around 65 years of his life to hockey. He has featured as a player, coach, sports correspondent, TV & radio commentator, an author and an archivist. Remarkably, he holds the incredible distinction of covering the Olympics in London both in 1948 and 2012, two of the 14 Summer Olympic Games he has reported on.
“It is a nice surprise and I really didn’t expect it”, said the 82-year-old, who is currently working at the Men’s Hero Hockey Champions Trophy 2016 at London’s Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre. “I’ve spent most of my life trying to get hockey bigger coverage in the newspapers and the media. One of the things I did was to start doing hockey round-ups and a lot of people followed that idea. I started writing at seven years old, encouraged by my mother who said that I wrote beautiful letters back home after I was one of many children evacuated from London because of the war (World War II). My family owned a brewery and that was what I was supposed to do in life, but I decided very early that I didn’t want to do that.”
The brewing industry’s loss proved to be hockey’s gain. Patrick started his career in journalism at the very bottom, as a tea boy at The Guardian, a newspaper with whom he worked for over 50 years. Getting the job proved to be quite eventful.
“At 16 I decided to go around all of the newspaper offices in Fleet Street [where most of the major British national newspaper titles were based at the time] hoping that one of them would take me on. The first one I went into was the Guardian, but they told me that I wasn’t suitable because I was intelligent”, said a laughing Rowley. “It was the first time anyone had ever told me that, but what he meant was that I had been educated, and that office boys are just there to make the tea. They said that I’d get a job somewhere else but I didn’t, despite trying every newspaper office in Fleet Street. So, I went back to the Guardian and I told them that I would take the job and they said ‘okay’!”
He later enjoyed a stint at The Observer but spent most of his life as a freelancer, travelling and reporting on hockey in all corners of the world. He was the founder and editor of the International Hockey Newsletter in 1969 and editor of World Hockey Magazine from June 1969 to April 1991. Down the years Patrick had numerous roles with the International Hockey Federation (FIH), efforts that the governing body recognised by awarding him the FIH Order of Merit in 1987.
Patrick is a founder and past Chairman of the Hockey Writers Club, past Chairman of the AIPS Hockey Commission and also a Trustee of The Hockey Museum. Remarkably, as well as writing, he is still coaching and playing. In recent weeks he helped the South regional team win the Divisional Over 75 tournament.
In terms of his feelings on getting the award, Rowley said: “I just hope the award is good for hockey in terms of drawing attention to the sport. That’s all I’ve ever wanted, really.”
Commenting on Patrick’s award, FIH President Leandro Negre said: "Patrick has devoted a huge part of his life to our sport as a player, coach, journalist and all of the other duties he has performed over several decades. In doing so he has played a hugely important role in raising the profile of hockey, therefore this honour is thoroughly deserved."
FIH CEO Kelly Fairweather added: “I’m sure the hockey family will join me in congratulating Patrick. We’re delighted that his lifelong passion and dedication to hockey has been recognised in this way and thank him for his services to our sport.”
Photo: At the London 2012 Olympic Games, Patrick was presented with a replica Olympic Torch in recognition of being part of a small group of journalists to have reported on more than ten summer Olympics. Courtesy of the Hockey Writers Club.
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