Exciting men's squad announced for Commonwealth Games in Birmingham

England Hockey are delighted to confirm the men’s squad for this summer’s Commonwealth Games.

The event takes place on home soil in Birmingham from 28 July to 8 August, and England have selected a group with excellent experience and also exciting talent.

With the tournament here in England, it is bound to be a summer to remember as many of the world’s great hockey teams do battle at the University of Birmingham.

England won bronze at the 2018 games in Australia, and seven members of that squad are included again this time around. Sam Ward was the tournament’s leading scorer four years ago and he is selected alongside fellow 2018 medallists Liam Ansell, David Condon, Brendan Creed, David Goodfield, Chris Griffiths and Phil Roper, who will all be gunning for success once again. Chester-born midfielder Roper will be playing in his third Commonwealth Games, having won bronze at both the Gold Coast and in Glasgow in 2014.

Five players get the opportunity to play their first major tournament for England and do so in front of a vociferous home crowd; James Albery, Nick Bandurak, James Mazarelo, Nick Park and Stuart Rushmere.

On the eve of this announcement defender Liam Sanford was ruled out through injury. The news is incredibly unfortunate for Liam and a replacement will be announced in due course. Everyone at England Hockey wishes Liam well in his recovery.

The leadership group for the Commonwealth Games will be Zach Wallace (captain); Jack Waller and James Albery (vice captains); Tom Sorsby and Ollie Payne.

Head Coach Paul Revington said: “This England team is privileged to represent their country at another home Commonwealth Games and goes out there with the aim of finishing on the podium again. The team has a nice blend of youth and experience and will be determined to put in a series of quality performances that makes the country and themselves proud.”

Performance Director Ed Barney added: “A home Commonwealth Games is a truly special moment for this squad. They have been working tirelessly under Zak Jones’ interim Head Coach leadership and more recently, Paul Revington’s. Following on from our recent Pro League endeavours, they are well placed to make a mark in the history books and I’m sure we’re in for some exciting hockey! They are primed to grasp this opportunity and will be looking to deliver game after game.”

Zach Wallace commented: “The team can’t wait to get started! We have put in a lot of hard work over the past months and are very excited to show what we can do and express our game in front of our home support in Birmingham, which will make the experience even more special! On a personal note, having the opportunity to captain this team is an unbelievable honour and I hope I can repay the trust in me and lead the team to deliver the results and performances I know we can achieve.”

England’s men play in the summer sun on the first evening of the hockey event, taking on Ghana in what will be their opponents’ first ever Commonwealth Games match on Friday 29 July. Sunday sees a hugely exciting fixture against Wales, then just over 24 hours later England face India, fresh from their bronze medal at the last Olympics. They conclude their group stage matches three days later with a 4pm start against Canada. Tickets for all games are on general sale now. 

England’s women are of course also taking part, having named their squad before the FIH Hockey Women’s World Cup.

Alongside the event, England Hockey are delivering a number of local initiatives to increase participation and provide opportunities for people from a wide range of backgrounds to play hockey.

A schools project funded by England Hockey and led by two Birmingham clubs - Barford Tigers and City of Birmingham - is taking the sport to a number of primary schools within inner-city Birmingham, delivering hockey sessions as part of after school clubs. A further eleven clubs in the West Midlands are being supported by England Hockey to run hockey programmes at a range of primary and secondary schools.

England Hockey are also working in partnership with The Muslim Sports Foundation in Birmingham, to give girls from Muslim backgrounds new opportunities to try hockey. This work is part of a wider ambition to engage a more diverse range of communities with the sport, in line with England Hockey's Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Framework.