The majority of contemporary newspaper reports of the day, when talking about Davie Brodie, either prefixed or suffixed his name with the adjective “brilliant”, and his performance in the 1948 Olympic final for Great Britain against India was one of those occasions. Despite losing 4-0 to the leading hockey nation of the era, it is said that had it not been for goalkeeper Brodie, the score could have been in double figures for the Indians.
A member of the Babcock and Wilcox hockey club in Renfrew, Brodie was an excellent all-round sportsman who excelled as a football goalkeeper before turning to hockey. He won the first of his 17 Scottish hockey international caps in 1947, at the age of 37. A year later he was in the Great Britain squad for the London Olympics and his performance in the final against India led to the Indian captain Kishan Lal describing Brodie as “the greatest goalkeeper he had ever played against”. Brodie received so many injuries during his brave performance in the 1948 final that he could not play in goal for some time afterwards. H\e continued playing the sport he loved, however, as an outfielder.
Great Britain