History

Burnt Ash Hockey Club was formed in 1919 at the London Playing Fields near Burnt Ash Lane, Lee and the team mainly consisted of members of Burnt Ash Congregational Church that was destroyed in the war. The Ladies section was formed and became affiliated to the Kent Ladies Hockey Association in September 1926, running two teams before World War 2. In 1952, the Club moved to Crescent Farm, Sidcup and stayed there until moving to Bexley Cricket Club ground in Manor Way in 1969. Following this move the name ‘Bexley’ was incorporated into the Club’s name and the shirts were changed from white to red.

Various pitches have been used over the years - Mottingham, Waring Park, Sidcup, Burnt Ash Lane, Crescent Farm, Charlton Park, Well Hall, Woolwich, The Priory Orpington, The Downs School, Leigh City Technology to name a few. The Club now regularly uses Astroturf pitches at Chislehurst and Sidcup Grammar / Hurstmere school, Dartford Science and Technology College and Avery Hill.

The introduction of league hockey for the Mens 1st XI started in 1973 and the Ladies followed in 1981. Some of the Burnt Ash fixtures from the past include the following:

Ladies:
Nestles Food Co., City of London College, Unilever, Lloyds Bank, Orpington, Bromley Parish Church, C.U.A.C.O., Bromley County School, Catford Wanderers, Gospel Oak, Crackenford, Midland Bank, Biggin Hill, Chislehurst County School Old Girls, Inland Revenue, Thanet, Bowaters [Gravesend], R.A.C.S, A.E.I., Hartley.

Men:
RASRA, Luton Town, Belvedere, Westcliff, Templars, Rochester and Gillingham, Cobdown, City of London, Tonbridge, Middlesex Hospital, Civil Service, Bexley Hospital, New Eltham, Old Gravesendians.

In 1998 - 99 Greenwich Polygons Mens Hockey Club formed a union with Burnt Ash and in 2009 Bexley Invicta HC followed suit and joined the membership which enabled the strengthening of both the Mens and Ladies sections enabling the Club to continue to grow. Our annual Robin Gollan tournament celebrates and commemorates the coming together of these Clubs.

Greenwich Polygons Mens Section
Originally named Woolwich Polytechnic after the college their name was changed to Thames Poly, and then finally changed again to Greenwich Poly when the London Borough of Greenwich was created. Greenwich Polygons Mens Section officially joined Burnt Ash on 23 June 1999 after an approach was made in October 1998. 

Greenwich Polygons Ladies Section
The first written account indicates they were playing as a team in 1914 against teams like Burroughs Welcome, Dartford Old Girls, Old Erithiaus, West Ham Technical, Prothesia [Eltham], Atlanta [Erith], Avery Hill college, East Ham Old Collegians, Wanstead, St Luke’s [Eltham]. At a meeting in July 2013 at Old Colfean’s Rugby Club it was decided to wind up the Club. The last game took place on 22nd September 2013. This unfortunately meant the Club only lasted 99 years.

Bexley Invicta
The name change from BICC to Bexley Invicta happened the season the Club moved from the BICC sports ground in Belvedere in the 1993 - 94 season. BI was originally based at Bexley Hospital (Bexley Park) until the 1999 - 2000 season when it moved to Erith School followed by Belvedere Sports and Social Club and then Barnehurst Golf Club before finally returning back to Bexley Park for the final season.  BICC was originally a Mens works team starting with 1 team for a long time, this then increased to 2 teams (there was a merger with a team called old Heathens at some point) in the early 80’s and then quickly grew to 4 teams by the end of the 80’s.  In the mid to late 80’s BICC also had the Ladies section join as well as starting a Colts section which ran until the mid-90s.  At its strongest there were 5 Mens teams with the 1, 2 and 3s all playing regional hockey, with the first team making the quarter finals of the EH Trophy. During the summer of 2008 - 09 the BI Men approached some of Burnt Ash Men players and by the beginning of the next season had agreed to merge.   The Mens section joined Burnt Ash ready for the start of the 2009 - 10 season whilst the Ladies section did not join until the following season.

After celebrating our 100th anniversary in true Burnt Ash style in the 2018 -19 season, it is time to look forward to the future where we are hoping to move on to the next phase with the development of the all-weather sports facility on Mill Meadows. This venture is still work in progress, but is evidence of a thriving and forward thinking Club.