Roger Self

Roger Douglas Self (10 June 1939 – 5 June 2017) was a hockey international coach and manager, who was the team manager of the Great Britain national field hockey team thet won the gold medal at the 1988 Summer Olympics.

Biography Self played club hockey for Redditch and Worcestershire but his career as a player was unremarkable. However, the Welsh team manager Tony Bannister recognised his coaching ability and recruited Self to help coach the Welsh team that participated at the 1970 Men's EuroHockey Nations Championship in Brussels.

The success led the Great Britain hockey board to appointing Self as the coach for inaugural 1978 Men's Hockey Champions Trophy, in Lahore, Pakistan and the team secured a bronze medal. Self was to miss the Olympics for second time when the Great Britain team for the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow did not attend due to the boycott.

Four years later Self and Great Britain received a late call for the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles and he finally got to attend an Olympic Games. He brought in David Whitaker as coach and the team secured a bronze medal.

The bronze medal was unexpected and as a consequence Self was in charge of Great Britain for the 1988 Summer Olympics and the gold medal win thereafter. After managing and coaching, he became involved in the administration of the sport.

Outside of hockey, he was a physical education teacher in Worcestershire before changing career and becoming an independent financial advisor.