Before Canada And USA, The Original Rivalry Series Featured England And France

Canada and USA weren't the original tenants of a rivalry series. Beginning in 1931, that rivalry was being played out between the original participants in international women's ice hockey, France and England.

That first game took place on February 29, 1931

“If men can play ice hockey, why should not women?” questioned Hermione Hoare, England’s captain. “It is a great sport. We have our spills, but that is part of the game.” Hoare was the honorary secretary of the All-England Women’s Ice Hockey Association, and organization formed to promote the growth of women’s hockey in England. Among the growth in England during the early 1930s included the birth of several teams including the London Lambs, Manchester Merlins, Queen's Club, and the Sussex Ladies.

In their inaugural international match, France found themselves on the winning side beating England 4-0. The games continued throughout the 1930s with the last recorded international matches coming in the 1936-1937 season.

In France, similar to England, teams formed including Edelweiss Chamonix, Droit au But, Flèches Noires, and Club des sports d'hiver de Paris, and Gros Caillou Sportif.

Droit au But, translated as "right to the goal" was the top team in France and often represented the nation. England's national squad was what we see today in players picked from across their various club teams.

England's sats included players like Connie Willan, captain of the Manchester Merlins, while France's top player for years was Droit au But captain Jacqueline Mautin

Willan was said to be “the best skater in the English team” (On The Ice, Manchester Evening News, January 26, 1933), and was described as “easily the fastest skater on the rink, and a magnificent hockey player as well,” by papers in Manchester and Birmingham in 1932 and 1933.

Mautin was France's scoring star. In a 1931 game against an English club team, the Sussex Ladies, Mautin scored five goals for Droit au But in front of a reported 10,000 fans in Paris in a 6-0 win for the French team. As France's L'Auto-velo, they wrote "the exploits of Jacqueline Mautin finally unleashed the enthusiasm of ten thousand people. The captain of “Droit-au-But”, indeed, surpassed herself last night, scoring five of the six goals…scored by her team!” Mautin was described as “a true female tenor of the ice hockey” and as a “dribbling virtuoso" who was much faster than all of her opponents by le Petit Dauphinois in 1932.

Games between England and France often drew large crowds, whether it was the 10,000 in Paris in 1931, or when England and France played to a 0-0 tied in 1935 in front of 9,000 fans at Empire Pool, which is now called Wembley Arena.

According to The Daily Telegraph, the large crowd on hand  "were stirred to excitement by the pluck and fighting spirit of these young women. To see a girl charged headlong into the fence with a resounding crash, scramble at once to her feet and fly off in pursuit of her opponent, thrilled the crowd and brought roars of applause."

Today, it's Canada and USA who are the world's top rivals in international hockey, but the original rivalry series took place throughout the 1930s between France and England.

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