The EHL (European Hockey League) is an international hockey competition where the foremost field hockey clubs of Europe have the chance to compete for prize money.
From the 3rd to the 7th of October 2024 Surbiton Hockey Club (SHC) located at Sugden Road in Thames Ditton hosted the Men’s European Hockey League.
They welcomed 16 clubs from a plethora of countries across Europe to compete for a position in the coveted Final 8.
Surbiton Hockey Club Junior Coaching Director Will Fulker says “there’s no hockey like tournament hockey” and they are “very proud” to have the opportunity to “bring the best competitions to [their] local area”.
Introduced in 2007, the European Hockey League aims to encourage club hockey status at an international level and works to introduce more opportunities for press coverage in club hockey.
The tournament is played in the KO16 format. Meaning that thus far, 16 teams have competed against each other and 4 teams made it through to the KO8 to play 4 teams that have already previously qualified.
The Final KO8 will take place during Easter 2025 in Holland.
Surbiton Hockey Club player Jonny Gall said he believes that “playing on home turf at Sugden Road is always a thrilling experience.”
According to Mr Gall, “competing in the European Hockey League and other tournaments allows us to test ourselves against some of the best players and teams in the world, which is an invaluable opportunity”.
Shown in the one of the images, photos credits go to GMW Sport Photo, there is a photo of Jonny Gall competing against Surbiton’s opponents the Waterloo Ducks, from Waterloo in Belgium.
Shown in the other photo is Surbiton Hockey Club player Jake Payton also playing in Surbiton’s match against the Waterloo Ducks. The result of the match ended as 4-2 to Surbiton Hockey Club.
Jonny Gall expressed how “the atmosphere at these events is amazing, and there's something special about representing Surbiton Hockey Club, especially with the recent developments at the club.”
Surbiton Hockey Club recently renovated their two main full-size hockey pitches into water-based surfaces and debuted a new half-size training pitch.
In their masterplan for the future, they are aiming to build new seating and storage which is underway now, renovate the clubhouse and adapt the car park and pedestrian boulevard.
To conclude, this October Surbiton Hockey Club hosted the KO16 of the European Hockey League and the KO8, the final playoff, will take place Easter 2025 in Holland.
If you wish to watch the final, you can visit the EHL website at ehlhockey.tv to book tickets or simply watch the live stream which can be found in their website.
Best of luck to the following teams who qualified at Surbiton Hockey Club: Surbiton Hockey Club, Royal Leopold Club, Bloemendaal Hockey Club and Rotterdam Hockey Club in their final few matches next year.
