HOCKEY (possibly derived from the "hooked" stick with which it is played; cf. O. Fr. _hoquet_, shepherd's crook), a game played with a ball or some similar object by two opposing sides, using hooked or bent sticks, with which each side attempts to drive it into the other's goal. In one or more of its variations Hockey was known to most northern peoples in both Europe and Asia, and the Romans possessed a game of similar nature. It was played indiscriminately on the frozen ground or the ice in winter. In Scotland it was called "shinty," and in Ireland "hurley," and was usually played on the hard, sandy sea-shore with numerous players on each side. The rules were simple and the play very rough. Modern Hockey, properly so called, is played during the cold season on the hard turf, and owes its recent vogue to the formation of "The Men's Hockey Association" in England in 1875. The rules drawn up by the Wimbledon Club in 1883 still obtain in all essentials. Since 1895 "international" matches at hockey have been played annually between England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales; and in 1907 a match was played between England and France, won by England by 14 goals to nil. In 1890 Divisional Association matches (North, South, West, Midlands) and inter-university matches (Oxford and Cambridge) were inaugurated, and have since been played annually. County matches are also now regularly played in England, twenty-six counties competing in 1907. Of other hockey clubs playing regular matches in 1907, there were eighty-one in the London district, and fifty-nine in the provinces. [Illustration: Diagram of Hockey Field. G, Goal. RW, Right Wing. RB, Right Back. RI, Inside Right. LB, Left Back. CF, Centre Forward. RH, Right Half. LI, Inside Left. CH, Centre Half. LW, Left Wing.] LH, Left Half. The game is played by teams of eleven players on a ground 100 yds. long and 50 to 60 yds. wide. The goals are in the centre of each end-line, and consist of two uprights 7 ft. high surmounted by a horizontal bar, enclosing a space 12 ft. wide. In front of each goal is a space enclosed by a curved line, its greatest diameter from the goal-line being 15 ft., called the _striking-circle_. The positions of the players on each side may be seen on the accompanying diagram. Two umpires, one on each side of the centre-line, officiate.