Gojra town was established in 1896 when colonisation
of Lyallpur (Faisalabad) began. The railway line between Lyallpur
and Gojra was laid in 1899. The town was given the status of
notified area committee in 1904 and upgraded as B-Class Municipality
in 1925. In 1906 the population was 2,589, according to The Imperial
Gazetteer of India "The business done in this rising mart on the
railway, which has sprung into existence in the last six years owing
to the extension of the Chenab Canal to the surrounding country,
bids fair to rival in importance that of Lyallpur itself".[3]
In 1919 following the Rowlatt Act, hartals broke out throughout
Punjab, Gojra was affected by serious protests and a member of the
Church Mission Society had to be escorted out of the town by loyal
residents.[4]
After independence from Britain, in view of its increasing size, it
was declared as 2nd class Municipal Committee in 1960. The town was
raised to the status of Tehsil town and affiliated with the newly
established district Toba Tek Singh on 01.07.1982. After the
introduction of Devolution of Powers Plan, the Municipal Committee Gojra came into being on 12.08.2001.[5] Canal rest
house is the oldest building constructed during British government
in 1898 Hockey
Gojra contributed a number of players to the Pakistan Hockey team,
including Iqbal Bali and Muhammad Aslam .[8] When they returned to
Gojra they established their own hockey teams, and provided free
training to the youth of the village. The biggest event in the
calendar it used to be the annual fixture between these two teams.
This match use to attract a huge crowd. This actually created a
nursery for the Pakistan hockey team and many of the Pakistan hockey
team players including Tahir Zaman, Muhammad Qasim.
The Gojra Hockey Club (a local club, has won this years Jat Tar
Singh memorial U19 (Under 19) hockey tournament, this high profile
tournament was held in India, where Gojra city team competed again
best of Indian U19 hockey teams and won this championship.[9] The
Gojra team won this title by defeating Amritsar Academy 4–2 at
Ludhiana hockey stadium.
The Manzoor-ul-Hassan and Rasheed-ul-Hasan brothers were the main
source of inspiration for hockey and establishing it in their native
town. They brought Gojra to be recognised in the hockey playing
nations of the world. Manzoor-ul-Hassan (1972–1982) played 154 games
and scored 101 goals for Pakistan. He was given the name "Wall of
China" because he was so hard to beat as he was a defender (full
back). Rashid-ul-Hassan played 199 matches and scored 9 goals. He
was the backbone of the Pakistan Hockey team from 1979 to 1987.