Excitement Builds for Next Week’s EHL KO16 at Surbiton

By Surbiton HC

Surbiton HC is hosting the KO16 of the Men’s ABN AMRO Euro Hockey League [EHL] from Thursday 3rd to Sunday 6th October.

Styled as “the world’s best club hockey competition”, the EHL represents an incredible opportunity for both hockey stalwarts and sporting enthusiasts to see a raft of Paris Olympians from all over the the world in action. Notable players include former Surbiton star and FIH World Player of the Year nominee Zach Wallace (now representing Dutch side Bloemendaal), as well as Olympic medallists from the Netherlands, Germany, Australia and Belgium and ten GB Olympians.

16 teams from 11 countries are competing for places in the last eight (to be held over the Easter weekend in 2025). English Premier Division powerhouses Surbiton and Wimbledon are in action, and may even face off against one another in a must-win showdown on the final day of the event depending on results.

This is the first time the event has been held in London, and the first Men’s EHL in England since 2012, when current SHC Men’s 1s Manager Matt Jones was in the same role at previous hosts East Grinstead: “It’s a landmark achievement for an English club to secure hosting a Euro Hockey League event particularly when you consider how prestigious a competition it is. It’s undoubtedly the top club competition in the world and a key reason why the world’s elite players flock to play for clubs who compete in it. Having hosted an EHL event once before, I can vouch for how much of a buzz and an electric atmosphere it creates around the club and the local community that everyone can feed off.” 

The EHL competition is typically characterised by plenty of excitement and lots of goals, with club sides setting up to play dynamic, attack-based hockey. Last season’s competition averaged 5.5 goals a game (144 goals in 26 games) and some of the finishing in previous years has provided genuinely breathtaking examples of skills by the biggest names in the game.

Surbiton star Nick Park, fresh from representing Great Britain at the Paris Olympics, is looking forward to an exciting event: “The Surbiton boys can’t wait for EHL weekend to come around, we have been building for a few weeks now and the level in training has been really high. We want to play free flowing and fast hockey which suits the type of players we have in the squad and hopefully brings the crowds in too. The EHL brings some of the best players in the world together - for the venue to be Sugden Road is an unbelievable opportunity for everyone in the local area. The tournament is always a spectacle and this promises to be no different, so I hope as many people as possible will buy tickets, come down and help create an amazing atmosphere.”

For tickets, please visit this page

Further event information, including details about the match schedule, travel, parking and accessibility is available here

We look forward to welcoming hockey fans and those new to the game through the gates at Surbiton for what is set to be an unmissable event.

Photo courtesy of GMW Sport