Forward-Morges HC

Forward-Morges HC is an ice hockey club based in Morges, Switzerland. The team now competes in amateur men’s hockey and is best known for its strong women’s and junior development programs. The club once played professionally in the National League B, the second tier of Swiss hockey, but withdrew from that league during the 2005–06 season because of financial troubles.

The club was officially founded on 3 March 1956 as HC Chigny-Vufflens, with all 18 founding members approving the association’s statutes. Without a home rink, the team initially trained on ponds or at the Cheseaux ice rink in Saint-Cergue. Their first official game came in 1957 in the 3rd league (the fifth division), a 6–9 loss. In 1961, a committee began planning an ice rink in Morges.

That rink, Patinoire des Eaux-Minérales, opened in December 1962, and the club was renamed Forward Hockey Club that same year. During the 1962–63 season, Forward HC won promotion from the third division by beating La Chaux-de-Fonds III in a relegation playoff. The following season they moved up to the first division. In 1970, the club reached the National League B, where they stayed until relegation in 1978.

Rising costs for the ice rink forced the club to act in the late 1970s, and the city of Morges eventually took ownership of the facility. In April 1984, the municipal council approved a loan of CHF 240,000 to study a new rink.

The project began in 1990, and the new rink officially opened on 26 September 1992. The club played its first home game there on 8 January 1993 against second-division St. Croix, losing 3–7. In 2004, Forward-Morges returned to the National League B for the second time, playing the 2004–05 and 2005–06 seasons before withdrawing on 8 December 2005 due to financial problems.

After dissolving their first team, Forward-Morges continued through their second team, which played in the fourth-level Swiss 2. Liga. That team earned promotion to the 1. Liga following the 2010–11 season.

In 2016, the club merged its professional men’s team with Star Lausanne to form Star Forward. Star Forward was included in the newly created third-tier MySports League for the 2017–18 season, played two seasons there, and was relegated back to the Swiss Regio Leagues in 2019. The club changed its name back to Forward-Morges HC in 2022.