George Lings

George Lings started life as a lacrosse player but switched to hockey when the former sport became too competitive. He was a goalkeeper for Brooklands Hockey Club and was a founder member of the Alderley Edge club. Having won representative honours with the Cheshire county team, Lings gave up playing in 1902 to get involved in the administrative side of the sport and was appointed honorary secretary of the Cheshire County Hockey Association, when he also became a delegate on the Northern Counties HA. Lings also took up umpiring around the same time and, after officiating at several inter-county matches, was appointed an umpire for the Ireland versus England international at Dublin in 1904.

Lings was also an umpire for the Ireland versus Wales semi-final at the 1908 Olympics, and in 1910 officiated at the first officially recognised hockey tournament at Brussels, involving teams from England, Germany, Belgium, and France. Another highlight of Lings’ umpiring career was in being an official at the 1911 Varsity Match between Oxford and Cambridge.

Having been a member of the council of the Hockey Association and a member of the international selection committee, Lings tendered his resignation with immediate effect in November 1912, and announced that he was leaving Britain for a new life in Canada. By profession, Lings worked in the cotton industry, firstly as a spinner, and then a yarn buyer.