This Friday sees the return of the Euro Hockey League, Europe’s elite club hockey tournament for men. Round 1 of this hugely popular and innovative competition sees 24 of Europe’s finest club teams begin their quest for European glory.  

Half of those teams will take part in three days of competition during this weekend’s Round 1.1 event at RC de Polo de Barcelona (ESP), one of the world’s most famous hockey clubs. The other 12 teams will be making their way to St Germain HC (Paris) for Round 1.2, which starts 23 October. It promises to be two weekends of absolutely thrilling club hockey involving many of the world’s finest players.

The past two seasons were considered to be massively successful by everyone involved, and it is hoped that the popularity of this pioneering event will continue to grow.  Last year’s event was won by HC Bloemendaal of the Netherlands – a side featuring the talents of Jamie Dwyer and Teun de Nooijer, who have won five WorldHockey Player of the Year awards between them.  Bloemendaal recorded a stunning 5-4 victory over Moritz Fürste’s UHC Hamburg, winners of the inaugural Euro Hockey League in the 2007-08 Season. 

Here we take a look at the teams competing in the Barcelona tournament, where the clubs drawn into Pools B, E, G and H will be aiming to qualify for Round 2. Each Pool consists of three teams that play each other once over the three day event, with the two highest ranked sides progressing into the next round and the third placed team being eliminated from the competition.

Pool B: Atlétic Terrassa (ESP), Reading HC (ENG), CA Montrouge (FRA)
Team to watch: Atlétic Terrassa

Atlétic Terrassa, lead by Spanish international defender Xavi Ribas, have only a short distance to travel for this tournament, playing in a stadium that they have been to countless times before. The familiar surroundings may give them a small advantage, but their excellent start to the season is more of a reason to consider them as potential qualifiers from this Pool. Atlétic were recently crowned as champions of Catalunya, seeing off strong challenges from RC Polo and Club Egara. However, a number of players were recently struck down with illness, forcing the defence of their Princess Liga title to be delayed. Reading HC of England have made an excellent start to the season, registering wins in all three of their opening England Hockey League matches including a 5-4 victory over 2008-09 winners East Grinstead. England international siblings Richard and Simon Mantell have both been in terrific form for Reading this season, making this team a force to be reckoned with.  EHL debutantes CA Montrouge have also started their season well, winning three of their opening four matches in the French league and scoring 17 goals in the process.

Pool E: RC de Polo de Barcelona (ESP), Waterloo Ducks (BEL), Dinamo Kazan (RUS)
Team to Watch: RC de Polo de Barcelona

Host team RC Polo are bang on form and are considered by many to be favourites to top the Pool. The Catalans scored ten times without conceding in their opening two matches in the Spanish Liga, statistics which are hardly surprising for a team containing Spanish penalty corner expert Pau Quemada and Germany’s Olympic Gold Medal winning striker Matthias Witthaus. Waterloo Ducks have started reasonably well in the Belgian league, losing just once in their opening six matches. However, injuries to key defenders Thomas van den Balk and Francois de Saedeleer have hampered their Euro Hockey League preparations. Dinamo Kazan are flying high in the Russian league and may be a surprise package in this group. The penalty corner prowess of Dinamo’s Pakistan international defender Imran Warsi makes him a player well worth watching.

Pool G: H.C. Rotterdam (NED), Pembroke Wanderers (IRL), Kelburne HC (SCO)
Team to Watch: H.C. Rotterdam

Ireland’s Pembroke Wanderers and Kelburne HC of Scotland will need to be at their best if they are to stop the all-star line-up of H.C. Rotterdam from winning this Pool. The Dutch team have finished third in the last two editions of the Euro Hockey League, and have been strengthened by the summer signing of Netherlands international Robert van der Horst. New Zealand trio Ryan Archibald, Simon Child and Phil Burrows are all top class internationals, as is Australian defender Mark Knowles and Waseem Ahmad of Pakistan.  However, Rotterdam have to face two teams that are the dominant forces in their respective domestic leagues. Pembroke Wanderers, lead by former South Africa star Craig Fulton, were victorious in every competition that they entered last season, while Kelburne HC stormed to the Scottish championship with ease. 

Pool H: UHC Hamburg (GER), WKS Grunwald Poznan (POL), Glenanne HC (IRL)
Team to Watch: UHC Hamburg

Two seasons ago UHC Hamburg produced a number of superb performances to win the first ever Euro Hockey League, which was also their first European title. They came incredibly close to repeating the feat last season only fall at the final hurdle thanks to Teun de Nooijer’s magnificent HC Bloemendaal team. Great things are expected once again from Moritz Fürste’s men, but the side will have to cope without retired striker Philip Sunkel and Scotsman Niall Stott, who has moved to East Grinstead. WKS Grunwald Poznan (POL) are an exceptionally fit team that are marshalled by Poland captain and penalty corner expert Tomasz Dutkiewicz, the charismatic, tough tackling defender who has a habit of scoring important goals for club and country. Glenanne HC qualified for the EHL by reaching the final of the Irish Hockey League, but they were beaten to the IHL crown by the all-conquering Pembroke Wanderers. However, Glenanne are a team determined to reach their full potential on the European stage, and in Stephen Butler they have a magnificent midfielder who has a fine goal scoring reputation both at club and international level.  

The Euro Hockey League has gained a reputation as a testing ground for new regulations and technology, with the “self pass” and video umpire referrals both proving to be popular additions to the event last season. This year, the EHL is trialling a rule which allows the scoring of own goals, another bold move by the organizers of the competition. It will be very interesting to see the outcomes.

www.ehlhockey.tv - the official website of the Euro Hockey League - will be broadcasting the action from this weekend’s event in Barcelona via its live streaming service. All twelve matches will be broadcasted live over three days of competition. It is your chance to watch arguably the world`s finest club competition being televised in the best way possible, with incredible close-ups, stunning camera angles and video replays all adding to the experience.

A full summary of the Round 1.1 action will appear here on the FIH website at the end of each tournament day.

For more information about the Euro Hockey League, please visit www.ehlhockey.tv

Source: EHL