MEN’S HOCKEY LEAGUE – MATCHDAY MEDIA GUIDE
19 SEPTEMBER 2021
WELCOME TO THE NEW SEASON!
The Men’s Hockey League (EHL) gets underway on Sunday, when the Premier Division kicks off what hopefully will be a complete season after COVID-19 forced the 2020-21 season to be declared null and void.
With Alan Forsyth and Zach Wallace now in the Netherlands with HGC, all eyes will be on Surbiton to see how they cope without these two star players. They start the season at home to Holcombe, including star striker Nick Bandurak. Surbiton now have a double penalty corner threat with Gareth Furlong returning from Tilburg to partner Luke Taylor. Adam Buckle and Ben Stevenson join from the University of Nottingham with Ben Park arriving from the University of Durham and Nick Park from Beeston.
Surbiton lost their last game of last season 1-0 at Oxted and they will face the scorer on Sunday as Tim Guise-Brown has moved to Holcombe. Greg Nolan is a former team-mate of Furlong at Tilburg with Craig Wild (Sevenoaks), Sam Paterson (University of Exeter) and Tom Russell (Brooklands) also among the new arrivals in Kent. Holcombe have won one of their last five visits to Sugden Road, but prevailed 3-1 on home turf when the teams last met on opening day in 2016-17.
Old Georgians have big ambitions in the top flight, signing Henry Weir from Wimbledon to bolster their impressive squad. Kyle Marshall has moved south from Beeston and it’s the Nottingham club which are the Surrey club’s first opponents. In 2019-20, Old Georgians won both league matches 2-1 and they will aim to keep the run going.
Beeston have seen several player movements with Adam Dixon retiring, Ollie Willars joining Forsyth and Wallace at HGC and three players moving to Premier Division rivals, Oxted. Richard Alexander has come in from Indian Gymkhana with Kai Aichinger joining from Rot-Weiss Kóln. Jacob Read has made the short trip from Belper and Joe Paul has joined from Olton & West Warwicks.
Wimbledon are likely to battle with Hampstead & Westminster in a hard-fought London derby in South London. Hampstead have enjoyed their visits in recent years after Wimbledon dominated their first few seasons after promotion. Hampstead won 4-1 last season, but having lost Harry Martin to Rotterdam and Jacob Draper to Royal Beerschot, they are pinning their hopes on Dan Kyriakides from Cardiff & Met and Peter Makin from Brooklands with Seb Buddle coming from New Zealand.
Wimbledon have also lost players to the continent with Phil Roper headed to Oranje-Rood, Jack Waller to Gantoise and Rory Patterson to Royal Antwerp. Ed Horler has returned from Belgium, Sam Hooper joins from Holcombe and Ronan Harvey-Kelly returns from Loughborough.
The University of Durham and Brooklands Manchester University have their own northern derby at Maiden Castle as the teams meet in the top flight for the first time after three encounters in the Conference North. Brooklands sneaked a 3-2 win in the first match, but the other games ended in draws, the latest in 2014.
Stefan Ray-Hllls (Alderley Edge) and Sam Perrin (Beeston) will be missed, as Brooklands add Craig Falconer and James Levers from Reading and Callum Middleton from Alderley Edge.
Durham, who struggled before the season came to an early conclusion, have signed Xavier Teyletche, Olly Witts and Max Garner, with Max Denniff moving to Sevenoaks, Sam Weissen going to Scotland to join Grange and Ross Vides to Repton.
There is yet another derby as East Grinstead entertain Oxted in a repeat of their opening fixture from last season. On that occasion, it was East Grinstead who earned bragging rights with at 2-1 win, but Oxted will be keen to get revenge, especially after their surprise home win over Surbiton.
Although Tim Guise-Brown has gone to Holcombe, Oxted, like Durham newly promoted after the 2019-20 season, have signed Lucas Ward, Alex Blumfield and Matthew Crookshanks from Beeston, with Owen Williamson signing from Loughborough.
East Grinstead have managed to get goalkeeper Richard Curtis from Holcombe in what they hope will be a season to move up the table after finishing seventh in 2019-20, the last completed season.
THE HOCKEY WORLD NEWS MEDIA GUIDE IS BACK!
Welcome to the first edition of the Hockey World News Media Guide covering the Men’s Hockey League for the 2021-22 season.
The Vitality website can be found at https://www.vitality.co.uk/
Because this is the first edition, the information contained will be limited, especially taking into account the reported problems with England Hockey’s new Game Management System (GMS). However, with just the Premier Division starting this weekend, you can find the head to head records for the last five seasons for the opening day’s fixtures, plus each team’s opening day record also over the last five seasons with supplementary information as appropriate.
For the latest player movement information, go to https://www.thehockeypaper.co.uk/articles/2021/06/29/england-hockey-premier-division-transfers-2021-22-latest-ins-and-outs
At the moment, match official and umpire appointments are not in the public domain and the dates in the fixture table on page nine are as originally published, so may be subject to change.
The aim of this first edition is to give some background information for each of this weekend’s fixtures, a list of various sequences with information about the relevant games where a sequence is over 18 games.
.I’ve included some information about upcoming European club tournaments with hyperlinks to the individual tournaments on EHF Altius.
As usual, please bear in mind that this media guide is a one person compilation, so if you find any errors, please let me know, but remember that there is very little scope for double checking content compared with a dedicated media team.
The design of the media guide is something which will also be looked at during the season, but the current priority is to try and share as much information as possible.
Colin Pike, Editor – Tel: 07929 529279. Email: colin.pike@btinternet.com
MATCHDAY NOTES – East Grinstead v Oxted
Only Premier Division meeting at East Grinstead (East Grinstead first):
(2020-21) 2-1
20 Sep 2020 – East Grinstead 2 (Luke Emmett, Louis Gittens) Oxted 1 (Tim Guise-Brown)
The teams met on the opening day of last season with Oxted’s first ever match in the top flight ending in a narrow defeat to their local rivals. It was also the first time the teams had played each other in the national league.
East Grinstead’s Opening Day Record (last five seasons):
Premier Division:
2020-21 v Oxted (H) W 2-1
2019-20 v Holcombe (A) L 3-5
2018-19 v University of Exeter (A) W 4-1
2017-18 v Brooklands Manchester University (A) L 3-4*
2016-17 v Reading (H) D 2-2
* This game was played on the second weekend of the season as East Grinstead’s match v Holcombe was postponed on the opening weekend.
East Grinstead have had mixed fortunes on the opening day of the season over the last five seasons, winning two, losing two and drawing one game.
Oxted’s Opening Day Record (last five seasons):
Premier Division:
2020-21 v East Grinstead (A) L 1-2
Division One South:
2019-20 v Havant (A) W 3-2
Conference East:
2018-19 v Cambridge City (A) W 6-3
2017-18 v Brighton & Hove (A) W 5-4
2016-17 v West Herts (A) W 4-0
Before their defeat in last season’s local derby, Oxted had got used to winning their first match of the season, including a 6-3 and 5-4 victory to get the season going. A four game winning streak followed a 3-3 draw at Brighton and Hove in 2015-16, which in turn followed a 5-1 home thrashing by Richmond at the start of the 2014-15 campaign.
MATCHDAY NOTES – Old Georgians v Beeston
Only Premier Division meeting at Old Georgians (Old Georgians first):
(2020-21) Did Not Play (2019-20) 2-1
1 March 2020 – Old Georgians 2 (James Tindall, Sam Ward) Beeston 1 (Richard Lawrence)
Old Georgians also won 2-1 in Nottingham, Tom Watson and Ed Carson scoring for Old Georgians, Lucas Ward for Beeston.
Old Georgians’ Opening Day Record (last five seasons):
Premier Division:
2020-21 v Holcombe (A) L 2-3
2019-20 v University of Exeter (H) W 5-1
Conference East:
2018-19 v City of Peterborough (A) W 7-1
2017-18 v Southgate (A) L 1-6
Conference West:
2016-17 v Fareham (H) W 6-1
Over the last five seasons, other than last season’s 3-2 loss at Holcombe, Old Georgians have a history of big wins on opening day, other than a stunning loss at Southgate in 2017-18.
Beeston’s Opening Day Record (last five seasons):
Premier Division:
2020-21 v Wimbledon (A) D 3-3
2019-20 v Hampstead & Westminster (H) L 3-4
2018-19 v Sevenoaks (H) W 4-0
2017-18 v Wimbledon (H) D 1-1
2016-17 v Loughborough Students (A) W 3-1
Beeston have only lost once on opening day over the last five seasons, winning twice and drawing twice, both draws coming against Wimbledon.
MATCHDAY NOTES – Surbiton v Holcombe
Last Five Premier Division meetings at Surbiton (Surbiton first):
(2020-21) Did Not Play; (2019-20) 3-1; (2018-19) 4-1; (2017-18) 3-4;
(2016-17) 3-1
26 October 2019 – Surbiton 3 (Ben Boon (2), Arjan Drayton Chana) Holcombe 1 (Nick Bandurak)
24 February 2019 – Surbiton 4 (Arjan Drayton Chana (2), David Goodfield, Hayden Beltz) Holcombe 1 (Conor Caplan)
3 March 2018 – Surbiton 3 (Alan Forsyth, Gareth Furlong (2))
Holcombe 4 (Harry Trusler, Nick Bandurak, Matt Rees-Gibbs, Robert Field)
18 February 2017 – Surbiton 3 (Luke Noblett, Jonny Gall, Alan Forsyth) Holcombe 1 (Gareth Andrew)
27 February 2016 – Surbiton 1 (Dave Beckett) Holcombe 1 (Sam Ward)
Since Surbiton first played Holcombe in the Premier Division in 2015-16, Surbiton have won three, drawn one and lost one match at Sugden Road. Surbiton have won the last four regular season meetings home and away.
Surbiton’s Opening Day Record (last five seasons):
Premier Division:
2020-21 v Brooklands Manchester University (H) W 8-1
2019-20 v Reading (A) W 10-1
2018-19 v Wimbledon (H) W 3-1
2017-18 v Canterbury (A) W 6-2
2016-17 v Holcombe (A) L 2-3
Surbiton suffered their only opening day defeat over the last five years at Holcombe back in 2017. Three of their following four wins have been by big margins, but should face a tougher test in 2021-22.
Holcombe’s Opening Day Record (last five seasons):
Premier Division:
2020-21 v Old Georgians (H) W 3-2
2019-20 v East Grinstead (H) W 5-3
2018-19 v Brooklands Manchester University (A) W 3-1
2017-18 v Beeston (H) L 0-2*
2016-17 v Surbiton (H) W 3-2
* This game was played on the second weekend after Holcombe’s game at East Grinstead on the first weekend was postponed.
Holcombe’s only opening defeat over the last five years, ironically came on week 2 after their scheduled first match at East Grinstead was postponed. Instead, they opened their season at home to Beeston who returned to Nottingham with all three points.
MATCHDAY NOTES – University of Durham v Brooklands Manchester University
No previous meetings in Premier Division.
Conference North:
8 February 2014 – University of Durham 1 (Matthew Murphy) Brooklands Manchester University 1 (Aiden Khares)
18 February 2012 – University of Durham 2 (Tony Wilson, Alex Czerniewski)
Brooklands Manchester University 2 (Mark Richardson, David Seddon)
4 October 2008 – University of Durham 2 (Joe Francis, Jonathan Wilkes-Green)
Brooklands Manchester University 3 (David Seddon (2), Ollie Cooper)
All three previous national league meetings at Maiden Castle have been in the Conference North. The first meeting in 2008-09 came after Durham won the North Premier Division in 2007-08. The other two meetings followed Brooklands’ relegation from the top flight which resulted in an immediate return on both occasions.
University of Durham’s Opening Day Record (last five seasons):
Premier Division:
2020-21 v Old Georgians (A) L 0-8*
Division 1 North:
2019-20 v Leeds (A) W 7-0
Conference North:
2018-19 v Loughborough Students (A) W 6-3
2017-18 v Doncaster (H) D 1-1
2016-17 v Cannock (A) W 4-1
This match was held on the second weekend of the season after the University of Durham had a bye in week 1.
The University of Durham have had contrasting fortunes in their last two opening fixtures, losing heavily at Old Georgians in the Premier Division debut after thrashing Leeds in their only season in Division One North.
Brooklands Manchester University’s Opening Day Record (last five seasons):
Premier Division:
2020-21 v Surbiton (A) L 1-8
2019-20 v Wimbledon (H) L 1-3
2018-19 v Holcombe (H) L 1-3
2017-18 v Hampstead & Westminster (A) L 0-4
2016-17 v Wimbledon (A) L 1-4
Brooklands Manchester University have had a miserable time on opening day in the Premier Division having failed to win any of their last nine fixtures. A 2-2 draw at home to Wimbledon in 2015-16 was preceded by a 2-1 home defeat to Southgate in 2014-15 and home and away losses to Canterbury (2-4 at Canterbury in 2012-13 and 2-3 at home in 2010-11). Their last top flight opening day victory came in 2009-10 when they beat the University of Exeter 1-0.
Yet, in their two seasons in the Conference North, Brooklands emerged 3-0 home victors on both occasions, Wakefield losing in 2013-14 and Preston in 2011-12.
MATCHDAY NOTES – Wimbledon v Hampstead & Westminster
Last Five Premier Division meetings at Wimbledon (Wimbledon first):
(2020-21) 1-4 (2019-20) 1-2 (2018-19) 1-2 (2017-18) 2-2 (2016-17)
10 October 2020 – Wimbledon 1 (Ben Arnold)
Hampstead & Westminster 4 (Rupert Shipperley (2), Matt Guise Brown, Marc Edwards)
30 November 2019 – Wimbledon 1 (Ben Francis) Hampstead & Westminster 2 (Rupert Shipperley, Matt-Guise Brown)
10 February 2019 – Wimbledon 0 Hampstead & Westminster 1 (Matt Guise Brown)
1 October 2017 – Wimbledon 2 (Nathanael Stewart, Peter Friend)
Hampstead & Westminster 2 (Matt Guise Brown, Stephen Dowds)
18 March 2017 – Wimbledon 2 (Borja Llorens, Johnny Kinder) Hampstead & Westminster 1 (Richard Alexander)
Hampstead have generally enjoyed their trips to South London in recent seasons, having won three and drawn one of their last four visits.
Wimbledon’s Opening Day Record (last five seasons):
Premier Division:
2020-21 v Beeston (H) D 3-3
2019-20 v Brooklands Manchester University (A) W 3-1
2018-19 v Surbiton (A) L 1-3
2017-18 v Beeston (A) D 1-1
2016-17 v Brooklands Manchester University (H) W 4-1
Wimbledon have made a good start to the season over the last five years, only losing once to local rivals Surbiton. They have also been consistent, drawing home and away with Beeston and winning home and away against Brooklands Manchester University.
Hampstead & Westminster’s Opening Day Record (last five seasons):
Premier Division:
2020-21 v University of Exeter (A) W 5-3
2019-20 v Beeston (A) W 4-3
2018-19 v Reading (A) W 2-1
2017-18 v Brooklands Manchester University (H) W 4-0
2016-17 v Canterbury (H) W 7-2
Hampstead have won their opening fixture in the last five seasons after losing 1-0 at Reading in 2015-16.
. Premier Division – Phase 1 | Bee | BMU | EG | H&W | Hol | OG | Oxt | Sur | U of D | U of E | Wim | Byes |
| Beeston | 17 Oct | 24 Oct | 7 Nov | 21 Nov | 26 Sep | 3 Oct | ||||||
| Brooklands Manchester University | 10 Oct | 31 Oct | 28 Nov | 21 Nov | 26 Sep | 24 Oct | ||||||
| East Grinstead | 28 Nov | 3 Oct | 19 Sep | 24 Oct | 7 Nov | 17 Oct | ||||||
| Hampstead & Westminster | 26 Sep | 24 Oct | 7 Nov | 14 Nov | 10 Oct | 21 Nov | ||||||
| Holcombe | 14 Nov | 31 Oct | 17 Oct | 21 Nov | 26 Sep | 10 Oct | ||||||
| Old Georgians | 19 Sep | 10 Oct | 14 Nov | 28 Nov | 24 Oct | 26 Sep | ||||||
| Oxted | 7 Nov | 28 Nov | 26 Sep | 17 Oct | 10 Oct | 31 Oct | ||||||
| Surbiton | 17 Oct | tbc | 19 Sep | 31 Oct | 21 Nov | 14 Nov | ||||||
| University of Durham | 31 Oct | 19 Sep | 21 Nov | 3 Oct | 10 Oct | 7 Nov | ||||||
| University of Exeter | 14 Nov | 7 Nov | 3 Oct | 28 Nov | 24 Oct | 19 Sep | ||||||
| Wimbledon | 14 Nov | 19 Sep | 3 Oct | 31 Oct | 17 Oct | 28 Nov |
| Games since…. (Premier Division Regular Season only) | A Win | A Home Win | An Away Win | A Defeat | A Home Defeat | An Away Defeat | A Score Draw | A No Score Draw | Conceding A Goal | Scoring A Goal | Conceding More Than 1 | Scoring More Than 1 | Keeping A Clean Sheet | Failing To Score | Winning Consecutive Games | Losing Consecutive Games | Gaining A Point | Losing A Point | Win By More Than One | Loss By More Than One |
| Beeston | 1 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 61 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Brooklands MU | 4 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 60 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 27 | 6 | 27 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 0 |
| East Grinstead | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 82 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| Hampstead & W | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 25 | 1 | 25 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 15 |
| Holcombe | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 34 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 28 | 2 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| Old Georgians | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 2 | N | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | N | 0 | N | 0 | 2 | 0 | 9 |
| Oxted | 0 | 0 | N | 1 | 2 | 0 | N | N | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | N | N | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Surbiton | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 212 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 43 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| University of Durham | N | N | N | 0 | 0 | 0 | N | N | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | N | 0 | N | 0 | N | 0 |
| University of Exeter | 8 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | N | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 19 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 19 | 0 |
| Wimbledon | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | N | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 23 | 2 | 29 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
N= No occurrence
MILESTONES (Sequences of over 18 matches)
Beeston’s last no-score draw (61)
12 March 2017 v Brooklands Manchester University (H)
Brooklands Manchester University’s last no-score draw (60)
12 March 2017 v Beeston (A)
Brooklands Manchester University’s last clean sheet (27)
24 February 2019 v East Grinstead (A) W 2-0
Brooklands Manchester University last won consecutive games (27)
24 February 2019 v East Grinstead (A) W 2-0 and 17 February 2019 v Wimbledon (H) W 3-2
East Grinstead’s last no-score draw (82)
27 February 2016 v Hampstead & Westminster (A)
East Grinstead’s last clean sheet (24)
31 March 2019 v University of Exeter (H) W 2-0
Hampstead & Westminster’s last no-score draw (35)
27 October 2018 v Holcombe (H)
Last time Hampstead & Westminster failed to score (25)
17 March 2019 v Surbiton (H) L 0-2
Last time Hampstead & Westminster last lost consecutive games (25)
17 March 2019 v Surbiton (H) L 0-2 and 10 March 2019 Beeston (A) L 0-1
Holcombe’s last no-score draw (34)
27 October 2018 v Hampstead & Westminster (A)
Holcombe’s last clean sheet (20)
21 September 2019 v University of Exeter (A) W 2-0
Holcombe last failed to score (28)
23 February 2019 v East Grinstead (A) L 0-2
Surbiton’s last no-score draw (212)
30 November 2008 v East Grinstead (A)
Last Time Surbiton lost consecutive games (43)
11 March 2018 v Hampstead & Westminster (A) L 4-5 and 10 March 2018 v Reading (A) L 1-3
University of Exeter’s last clean sheet (19)
29 Sep 2019 v Reading (A) W 3-0
Last time University of Exeter won by more than one goal (19)
29 Sep 2019 v Reading (A) W 3-0
Last time Wimbledon failed to score (23)
31 March 2019 v Surbiton (H) L 0-2
Last time Wimbledon lost consecutive games (29)
17 February 2019 v Brooklands Manchester University (A) L 2-3 and 10 February 2019 v Hampstead & Westmineter (H) L 0-1
HISTORIC MILESTONE
Oxted’s 1-0 victory over Surbiton on 24 October 2020 ended a run of 108 games in which Surbiton scored at least one goal after Surbiton lost 4-0 at East Grinstead on 5 October 2014.
BRITISH TEAMS IN EUROPE 2021-22
This season various teams are playing in Europe.
30 September-3 October 2021
EuroHockey League Cup (Brasschat, Belgium)
2 October (1400 CET) – Hampstead & Westminster v Mannheimer
2 October (1615 CET) – Surbiton v KHC Dragons
Both matches are KO16 matches – Surbiton’s Men’s England Hockey League match versus Hampstead on 2 October will be rearranged.
https://eurohockey.altiusrt.com/competitions/238
30 September-3 October 2021
EuroHockey Club Trophy I (Vienna, Austria)
Cardiff & Met (Wales) and Western Wildcats (Scotland) have both withdrawn
30 September-3 October 2021
EuroHockey Club Trophy 2 (Pizen Litice (Czech Republic)
Whitchurch (Wales) have withdrawn
AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND WITHDRAW FROM FIH PRO LEAGUE
Both of Australia’s senior international teams, the Kookaburras and the Hockeyroos will not take part in the third edition of the FIH Pro League as a result of COVID related government travel restrictions.
New Zealand have also withdrawn for similar reasons with both countries also withdrawing from the Junior World Cups. New Zealand will not participate in FIH competitions until June 2022 at the earliest.
The Hockey Australia statement can be found HERE
And the Hockey New Zealand statement HERE
