History

An Irishman, Richard J. McCready, invented Bicycle Polo in 1891. A retired cyclist, he was editor and owner of The Irish Cyclist, a cycling magazine. The first game was played in County Wicklow between Rathclaren Rovers and Ohne Hast Cycling Club (German for ‘without rushing’), on the 4th October 1891.

On October 31st that same year, his magazine published the first rules of the sport. The Bicycle Polo Association of Great Britain then published there own rules in The Morning Post on the 10th of September 1898 which were later adopted by the BPAI. (Click here to view an original document of these rules).

The first international was played in Crystal Palace, London between Ireland and England in 1901. Ireland defeated England 10–5. At the London Olympics in 1908 Bicycle Polo acted as a demonstration sport, an Irish Selection of LR Oswald-Sealy, HE Oswald, AS Oswald – (all of Rathclaren Rovers) and Richard McCready jr (Ohne Hast C.C.) defeated German club Deutscher Radfahrer Bund 3–1 at Shepherds Bush, London.

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PLAYERS GONE BY

M. Cooney, Irish international 1939/45/46, played in nearly every representative game during that time. An extremely fast player, the Carlton BPC forward captained the international team from 1945 – 1948.

V. Lyons, started playing Bicycle Polo in 1939 for Hibernians, before taking up racing, going on to become one of Ireland’s leading Track Cyclists.

W. Norton, international 1938/45/46, represented Leinster in the Inter-Provincial, when Leinster defeated Ulster by 21 goals to 2. He became the first president of the Irish Bicycle Polo Club, Chairman of the Dublin League and Chairman of his club, Tortus BPC.

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HISTORICAL PHOTOGRAPHS