William Satterlee "Bill" Griffiths (26 June 1922 – 27 October 2010) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ci ...

player who competed in the

1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and also known as London 1948) were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, England, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus ca ...

. He was a member of the British field hockey team, which won the silver medal. He played all five matches as forward. Griffiths was President of

Abergavenny Abergavenny (; cy, Y Fenni , archaically ''Abergafenni'' meaning "mouth of the River Gavenny") is a market town and community in Monmouthshire, Wales. Abergavenny is promoted as a ''Gateway to Wales''; it is approximately from the border wi ...

Hockey Club from 1967 to 2007, for 40 of the club's 110 years existence. He was about 14 years of age when he started to play hockey. He was to represent Great Britain on 8 occasions and was the holder of an Olympic silver medal that he won at the 1948 London Olympic Games when Great Britain came second to gold medallists India in the final. He played in all the matches of that campaign. His GB caps were awarded against Switzerland, the United States, Pakistan, India, Holland (twice), France, and Afghanistan. Whilst a student at

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

Griffiths was awarded a hockey blue. When

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

came he joined the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

and was posted to South Africa where he continued to play hockey and became a PT instructor. On returning to Wales and to

Cardiff University , latin_name = , image_name = Shield of the University of Cardiff.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms of Cardiff University , motto = cy, Gwirionedd, Undod a Chytgord , mottoeng = Truth, Unity and Concord , established = 1 ...

to complete his medical studies he played hockey for Newport Athletic and joined Abergavenny in 1950. By then Griffiths had already accumulated 10 Welsh international caps, the first of which was in 1947 against Ireland. In total he played 32 times for Wales and ended his international career in 1956 when he travelled to Amsterdam to play Holland. Two of those 32 international games were played at Abergavenny Cricket Club – against England in 1949 and Ireland in 1954. Griffiths was a forward thinking player in his heyday. At the 1948 Olympic Games all teams except India played with broad English head sticks. India used short rounded head sticks similar to those that we use today. Griffiths tried to convince players that the Indian head was the only way forward but to no avail. The English head was still being used in the 1952 Olympics. Griffith's specialty was the reverse stick cross from the left wing, which was reasonably easy to achieve with an Indian head stick but difficult with the cumbersome English head. The club celebrated Bill's 40 years of Presidency on 21 November 2007 and the incoming President, Trevor Scott thanked Bill for his unfailing interest and support during all of that time: "We have been very, very fortunate to have had such a distinguished sportsman and gentleman to be our President. It will be a hard act to follow". Chairman Paul Harrington, President Trevor Scott and current player Michael Potts made the presentation of an engraved sundial to Griffiths. Potts is Bill's Grandson, following the family tradition.

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* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Griffiths, William 1922 births 2010 deaths Welsh male field hockey players Olympic field hockey players for Great Britain British male field hockey players Field hockey players at the 1948 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medallists for Great Britain Royal Air Force Physical Training instructors Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Olympic medalists in field hockey Welsh Olympic medallists Medalists at the 1948 Summer Olympics Alumni of the University of Cambridge British expatriates in South Africa