THE Hockey Museum in Woking has received a notable addition to its collection.

A 1920 Olympic gold medal, won by Harry Haslam, the Great Britain hockey goalkeeper at the Antwerp Games, has been loaned to the museum, together with other memorabilia, by Haslam’s family.

It was displayed at a private presentation at the museum on 5 September, when members of Haslam’s family received his Great Britain honours cap.

Besides the gold medal, the memorabilia include an oil painting of Haslam, an Antwerp participation medal and civilian medals.

The occasion marked the centenary of the final day of the 1920 Olympic hockey tournament, played as a four-nation round robin event, and the centenary of the awarding of gold medals to the GB team.

The Antwerp medal is of gold gilt, unlike the 1908 London Olympic gold medal, held on loan by the museum, and looks more like silver. It is believed this less expensive metal was used because money was still scarce so soon after the First World War.

Great Britain’s gold medal at the Antwerp Games came in curious circumstances, allegedly arising from a misguided piece of skulduggery.

They had beaten Denmark (5-1) and the hosts Belgium (12-1) and were awarded a walkover in their final game against France to secure gold.

The Ilford Recorder, in a 1996 article on Haslam, whose club was Ilford, described the affair: “Great Britain’s opponents invited our lads out on the town – with the intention of drinking them legless.

“The French found their opponents were made of sterner stuff than themselves in the hangover league and the inebriated opposition actually conceded the next day’s game following their mutual night out on the town.