Death announced of local hockey legend

In Memoriam :  Val Robinson OBE

Val captained the team and had 149 caps for England and GB.     Her international career lasted 20 years with her first cap in 1963:  an incredible feat for anyone at the top level of their sport.     The highlight of her career would be winning the Hockey World Championship played in 1975.    She was a winner of the brilliant TV Superstarts programme, winning  in l979 and 1980

Following school at Accrington High, now Moorhead Academy, Val trained as a PE Teacher, and later opened her own Residential Hockey Centre at Foxhill Bank House in Hyndburn.

In 1985 Val was awarded an OBE for contribution to Sport.   She played for Blackburn Northern into the late 90`s, and was instrumental in starting the EH Grant Bid for the All Weather Pitch for the Club to play hockey on, as their home pitch, on land at the rear of Pleckgate Academy.     She has been an inspiration to all hockey players in East Lancashire and definitely put hockey in Blackburn on the map.

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Blackburn Northern Hockey Club is now a strong 6 Senior Team  and 4 Junior Team Club.    The Junior Sections are thriving – we think Val Robinson would have been proud of her legacy.

Carolyn