Euro Hockey League

Last updated
Euro Hockey League
Most recent season or competition:
2024–25 Men's Euro Hockey League
Euro Hockey League.svg
Formerly EuroHockey Club Champions Cup
Sport Field hockey
Founded2007;18 years ago (2007)
First season 2007–08
No. of teams20
Confederation EHF (Europe)
Most recent
champion(s)
Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Gantoise (1st title)
(2024–25)
Most titles Flag of the Netherlands.svg Bloemendaal (6 titles)
Related
competitions
Men's EuroHockey Club Trophy I (2nd tier)
Official website ehlhockey.tv

The Euro Hockey League is an annual field hockey cup competition organized by the EHF for the very top field hockey clubs in Europe. The competition was launched at the start of the 2007-08 field hockey season when it merged and replaced the men's EuroHockey Club Champions Cup (the champions competition) and the EuroHockey Cup Winners Cup (the Cup Winners' competition). Featuring many of the world's best players, the EHL is now seen as the pinnacle of club hockey in Europe (hockey's equivalent of the UEFA Champions League) with top clubs from across the continent playing what many consider to be the most exciting and dynamic club hockey in the world.

Contents

The competition has been won by ten clubs, two of which have won it more than once. [1] Bloemendaal is the most successful club in the tournament's history; having won it six times. In 2019, the Waterloo Ducks became the first Belgian club to win the tournament. [2] [3] Dutch clubs have the highest number of victories (9 wins), followed by Germany (5 wins) and Belgium (2 wins).

Format

From the 2019–20 season onwards the tournament features 20 clubs from the 11 highest-ranked EHF member countries. Although the competition is called the Euro Hockey League, after round 1 the competition was a knock-out, rather than league format (similar to the UEFA Champions League in football). From the 2019–20 season onwards round one is also a knock-out format.

Qualification

From the 2019–20 season onwards each year the 20 available league places are allocated between 11 EHF member countries' National Associations, depending on those National Associations' EHF Club Ranking. National Associations ranked 1–3 in the EHL Ranking Table may enter three teams each in the Euro Hockey League, while National Associations ranked 4-6 may enter two teams each, and National Associations ranked 7-11 one team.

National Associations rankings are derived from each country's results in the Euro Hockey League and EuroHockey Club Trophy over the previous 3 years, with the points in the earlier years discounted by 50% (year 2) and 75% (year 1). This ranking of National Associations is based on the performance of all their clubs in the Euro Hockey League and EuroHockey Club Trophy. The total number of points won by clubs from each country is divided by the number of clubs to which the National Association was entitled in that year's competitions.

Each qualifying National Association is required to enter their national champion club but is otherwise free to decide the system of qualification for their own clubs for any remaining places to which they are entitled that year.

To be eligible to play in the Euro Hockey League a country must enter 2 clubs in the EHF club competitions.

Tournament

From the 2019–20 season the EHL moved to a new format with the removal of the round-robin tournament in round one. [4] Instead, a knock-out format is used from the start of the tournament. [4] Round one will be replaced by the knockout 16 with four sides advancing to the quarter-finals, or Final 8 as it's called, on Easter. [4] The Final8 will consist of the champions from the top four nations on the EHL rankings table alongside the four sides that qualified from the knockout 16. [4] This means that instead of a total of 24 teams from 12 associations there will be 20 teams from 11 associations. [4]

Sponsorship

The much-improved presentation and packaging of the Euro Hockey League have attracted a number of high-profile sponsors, most notably Dutch bank ABN-AMRO, who are the presenting sponsor of the tournament. Vriendloterij are also named sponsors of the Euro Hockey League.

Summaries

SeasonFinal round hostFinalBronze medal matchNumber of teams
WinnerScoreRunner-upThird placeScoreFourth place
2007–08
Details
Rotterdam, Netherlands Flag of Germany.svg
UHC Hamburg
1–0 (a.e.t.) Flag of the Netherlands.svg
HGC
Flag of the Netherlands.svg
Rotterdam
2–2 (a.e.t.)
(2–1 p.s.)
Flag of Spain.svg
Club Egara
24
2008–09
Details
Flag of the Netherlands.svg
Bloemendaal
5–4 Flag of Germany.svg
UHC Hamburg
Flag of the Netherlands.svg
Rotterdam
8–1 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg
Leuven
24
2009–10
Details
Amstelveen, Netherlands Flag of Germany.svg
UHC Hamburg
3–1 Flag of the Netherlands.svg
Rotterdam
Flag of the Netherlands.svg
Amsterdam
4–3 (a.e.t.) Flag of Spain.svg
Real Club de Polo
24
2010–11
Details
Wassenaar, Netherlands Flag of the Netherlands.svg
HGC
1–0 Flag of Spain.svg
Club de Campo
Flag of England.svg
Reading
3–2 Flag of the Netherlands.svg
Oranje Zwart
24
2011–12
Details
Amstelveen, Netherlands Flag of Germany.svg
UHC Hamburg
2–2 (a.e.t.)
(2–1 s.o.)
Flag of the Netherlands.svg
Amsterdam
Flag of Belgium (civil).svg
Dragons
4–3 (a.e.t.) Flag of the Netherlands.svg
Rotterdam
24
2012–13
Details
Bloemendaal, Netherlands Flag of the Netherlands.svg
Bloemendaal
2–0 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg
Dragons
Flag of the Netherlands.svg
Amsterdam
5–3 Flag of Germany.svg
Rot-Weiss Köln
24
2013–14
Details
Eindhoven, Netherlands Flag of Germany.svg
Harvestehuder THC
2–2
(3–1 s.o.)
Flag of the Netherlands.svg
Oranje Zwart
Flag of Belgium (civil).svg
Dragons
2–1 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg
Racing
24
2014–15
Details
Bloemendaal, Netherlands Flag of the Netherlands.svg
Oranje Zwart
1–1
(6–5 s.o.)
Flag of Germany.svg
UHC Hamburg
Flag of the Netherlands.svg
Bloemendaal
1–0 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg
Daring
24
2015–16
Details
Barcelona, Spain Flag of the Netherlands.svg
Kampong
2–0 Flag of the Netherlands.svg
Amsterdam
Flag of Germany.svg
Harvestehuder THC
3–2 Flag of Spain.svg
Atlètic Terrassa
24
2016–17
Details
Brasschaat, Belgium Flag of Germany.svg
Rot-Weiss Köln
3–2 Flag of the Netherlands.svg
Oranje-Rood
Flag of Belgium (civil).svg
Dragons
3–1 Flag of England.svg
Wimbledon
24
2017–18
Details
Bloemendaal, Netherlands Flag of the Netherlands.svg
Bloemendaal
8–2 Flag of the Netherlands.svg
Kampong
Flag of the Netherlands.svg
Rotterdam
5–4 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg
Herakles
24
2018–19
Details
Eindhoven, Netherlands Flag of Belgium (civil).svg
Waterloo Ducks
4–0 Flag of Germany.svg
Rot-Weiss Köln
Flag of Germany.svg
Mannheimer HC
3–1 Flag of Spain.svg
Real Club de Polo
24
2019–20
Details
Amstelveen, NetherlandsCancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [5] 20
2021
Details
Flag of the Netherlands.svg
Bloemendaal
5–2 Flag of Spain.svg
Atlètic Terrassa
Flag of Belgium (civil).svg
Léopold
4–2 Flag of Germany.svg
Uhlenhorst Mülheim
4
2022
Details
Flag of the Netherlands.svg
Bloemendaal
4–0 Flag of Germany.svg
Rot-Weiss Köln
Flag of England.svg
Surbiton
2–1 Flag of Spain.svg
Club de Campo
10
2022–23
Details
Flag of the Netherlands.svg
Bloemendaal
1–0 Flag of Germany.svg
Rot-Weiss Köln
Flag of Belgium (civil).svg
Racing
3–0 Flag of Spain.svg
Atlètic Terrassa
20
2023–24
Details
Flag of the Netherlands.svg
Pinoké
1–0 Flag of the Netherlands.svg
Kampong
Flag of England.svg
Old Georgians
3–2 Flag of Germany.svg
Rot-Weiss Köln
20
2024–25
Details
's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands Flag of Belgium (civil).svg
Gantoise
5–2 Flag of the Netherlands.svg
Bloemendaal
Flag of the Netherlands.svg
Rotterdam
2–0 Flag of the Netherlands.svg
Kampong
20

Records and statistics

Performances by club

RankClubGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Bloemendaal 6118
2 Flag of Germany.svg UHC Hamburg 3205
3 Flag of Germany.svg Rot-Weiss Köln 1304
4 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Kampong 1203
5 Flag of the Netherlands.svg HGC 1102
Flag of the Netherlands.svg Oranje Zwart 1102
7 Flag of Germany.svg Harvestehuder THC 1012
8 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Gantoise 1001
Flag of the Netherlands.svg Pinoké 1001
Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Waterloo Ducks 1001
11 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Amsterdam 0224
12 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Rotterdam 0145
13 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Dragons 0134
14 Flag of Spain.svg Atlètic Terrassa 0101
Flag of Spain.svg Club de Campo 0101
Flag of the Netherlands.svg Oranje-Rood 0101
17 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Léopold 0011
Flag of Germany.svg Mannheimer HC 0011
Flag of England.svg Old Georgians 0011
Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Racing 0011
21–22Remaining0022
Totals (22 entries)17171751

Performances by nation

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands  (NED)109726
2Flag of Germany.svg  Germany  (GER)55212
3Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium  (BEL)2158
4Flag of Spain.svg  Spain  (ESP)0202
5Flag of England.svg  England  (ENG)0033
Totals (5 entries)17171751

Lower tournaments

The Euro Hockey League is the top men's club competition in Europe. Below the Euro Hockey League is the EuroHockey Club Trophy, then below that the EuroHockey Club Challenge 1, the EuroHockey Club Challenge 2, and so on. This structure is designed to give every EHF member nation the opportunity to enter their best clubs into European competition at an appropriate level, and through that exposure to improve the level of their domestic hockey.

See also

References

  1. "Competitions Archive". eurohockey.org. European Hockey Federation. pp. 28–40. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
  2. "Waterloo Ducks winnen Euro Hockey League na 4-0-winst tegen Köln". www.hln.be (in Dutch). Het Laatste Nieuws. 23 April 2019. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
  3. "Waterloo Ducks in EHL heaven with remarkable 4-0 grand final success in Eindhoven". ehlhockey.tv. Euro Hockey League. 22 April 2019. Archived from the original on 22 April 2019. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 "Ehl Men Set for New Knock-out Format in 2019/20 Season". ehlhockey.tv. Euro Hockey League. Archived from the original on 8 May 2019. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
  5. "Uitgestelde Euro Hockey League in Amstelveen alsnog afgelast". nos.nl (in Dutch). 14 August 2020. Retrieved 14 August 2020.