England women’s squad set for first Pro League matches of the 24/25 season

The 19-strong England women’s squad has been announced for the FIH Hockey Pro League for the start of the 2024/25 season and the start of the LA 2028 cycle.

The new-look squad, which includes 12 athletes making their debut for England, will be taking on Olympic silver medallists China and Belgium in the first block of matches that take place in Hangzhou, China.

The first match is against China on Sunday 1 December with push back at 11:30am GMT before they take on Belgium on Monday 2 December at 11:30am (GMT).

Olympians Miriam Pritchard and Sophie Hamilton return to international action for the first time since the Paris 2024 Olympics while Darcy Bourne has been selected for the first time since 2023.

Women’s team Head Coach David Ralph said: “The first four matches of the new FIH Hockey Pro League will be a challenge but one we are really looking forward to. We’ll go out there and express ourselves and whilst the competition will be tough, they won’t know much about us and that is an opportunity for us.”

“China had a wonderful summer and a deserved silver medal in Paris they are a really tough team to play against. We had a couple of cracking games against them in the summer in the Pro League which were really exciting for the fans. It’s going to be really tough.

“The achievement for the team is that we go out against two of the best teams in the world and we are incredibly competitive against them in all four games.”

England Squad List:

Beth Alexander

Alice Atkinson

Lottie Bingham

Hannah Boss

Darcy Bourne

Meg Crowson

Abbie Dixon

Millie Giglio

Paige Gillott

Olivia Hamilton

Sophie Hamilton

Rosie Hope

Becky Manton

Sofia Martin

Lizzie Neal

Miriam Pritchard (GK)

Martha Taylor

Lily Walker

Mila Welch (GK)