North Down Hockey Club

North Down Hockey Club is a field hockey club affiliated to the Ulster Branch of the Irish Hockey Association. The club was founded in 1896.

The men's section fields six adult teams, with the first team competing in the Ulster Senior League. There are boys' youth teams at under-12, under-13 and under-15 levels.

The ladies' section fields four adult teams and a veterans' team. There are girls' youth teams at under-11 and under-14 levels.

North Down Hockey Club is based at the Green in Comber, home of North Down Cricket Club. The first hockey pitch was at the Castle Lane side of the ground on the cricket outfield and this remained the home pitch for the first eleven until the early 1980s. A celebration game against Cliftonville as part of the Centenary in 1996 was played on this same pitch.

The first Council shale pitch in Comber was opened in September 1972 at Park Way in the town and this was followed by the opening of another shale pitch at Enler Park which is now the site of Comber Leisure Centre.

In 1994 the decision was taken to play all first-team games on the artificial turf pitch at Ards Leisure Centre in Newtownards. In 1999, the shale pitch at Comber Leisure Centre was replaced with a sand-based synthetic pitch where the majority of home games are now played. This pitch was replaced in 2010 with a sand-dressed surface. In addition to retaining a match slot at Ards Leisure Centre, North Down also uses the synthetic pitch at Nendrum College in Comber that was opened in 2010.

The club was formed by members of North Down Cricket Club in 1896 and is one of the founder-members of the Ulster Hockey Union. The first reported Club match in Ulster was played in Comber against Cliftonville on 7 November 1896, with North Down winning 8-0.

In 1899-1900, North Down won its first two trophies. In the only year when the Keightley Cup for the Ulster Senior League was played for on a knock-out basis, Antrim was defeated 3-2 in the final and in the Kirk Cup final Cliftonville were beaten 4-2.

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