Euro Hockey League

The Euro Hockey League is an annual men's field hockey cup competition organized by the EHF for the very top hockey clubs in Europe. The competition was launched at the start of the 2007-08 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.

Euro Hockey League
Most recent season or competition:
2019–20 Euro Hockey League
FormerlyEuroHockey Club Champions Cup
SportField hockey
Founded2007 (2007)
Inaugural season2007–08
No. of teams20
ConfederationEHF (Europe)
Most recent
champion(s)		 Waterloo Ducks (1st title)
(2018–19)
Most titles UHC Hamburg
Bloemendaal (3 titles)
TV partner(s)List of broadcasters
Related
competitions		EuroHockey Club Trophy
Official websiteehlhockey.tv

The competition has been won by eight clubs, two of which have won it more than once.[1] Bloemendaal and UHC Hamburg are the most successful clubs in the tournament's history; having won it three times. The Waterloo Ducks are the reigning champions and became the first Belgian club to win the tournament.[2][3] Dutch clubs have the highest number of victories (6 wins), followed by Germany (5 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

For the 2019–20 season the EHL moves to a new format with the removal of the round-robin tournament in round one.[4] Instead, a knock-out format will be 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. Volvo and Intersport are also named sponsors of the Euro Hockey League, while partnerships have been formed with McGregor, ErmaSport, ATP - The Advanced Travel Partner and Dutch advertising agency Ideas for Brands.

Summaries
Season Host Final Third place match
Winner Score Runner-up Third place Score Fourth place
2007–08
Details		 Rotterdam, Netherlands
UHC Hamburg		 1–0 (a.e.t.)
HGC
Rotterdam		 2–2 (a.e.t.)
(2–1 p.s.)
Club Egara
2008–09
Details		 Rotterdam, Netherlands
Bloemendaal		 5–4
UHC Hamburg
Rotterdam		 8–1
Leuven
2009–10
Details		 Amstelveen, Netherlands
UHC Hamburg		 3–1
Rotterdam
Amsterdam		 4–3 (a.e.t.)
Real Club de Polo
2010–11
Details		 Wassenaar, Netherlands
HGC		 1–0
Club de Campo
Reading		 3–2
Oranje Zwart
2011–12
Details		 Amstelveen, Netherlands
UHC Hamburg		 2–2 (a.e.t.)
(2–1 s.o.)
Amsterdam
Dragons		 4–3 (a.e.t.)
Rotterdam
2012–13
Details		 Bloemendaal, Netherlands
Bloemendaal		 2–0
Dragons
Amsterdam		 5–3
Rot-Weiss Köln
2013–14
Details		 Eindhoven, Netherlands
Harvestehude		 2–2
(3–1 s.o.)
Oranje Zwart
Dragons		 2–1
Racing Club de Bruxelles
2014–15
Details		 Bloemendaal, Netherlands
Oranje Zwart		 1–1
(6–5 s.o.)
UHC Hamburg
Bloemendaal		 1–0
Daring
2015–16
Details		 Barcelona, Spain
Kampong		 2–0
Amsterdam
Harvestehude		 3–2
Atlètic Terrassa
2016–17
Details		 Brasschaat, Belgium
Rot-Weiss Köln		 3–2
Oranje-Rood
Dragons		 3–1
Wimbledon
2017–18
Details		 Bloemendaal, Netherlands
Bloemendaal		 8–2
Kampong
Rotterdam		 5–4
Herakles
2018–19
Details		 Eindhoven, Netherlands
Waterloo Ducks		 4–0
Rot-Weiss Köln
Mannheimer HC		 3–1
Real Club de Polo
2019–20
Details		 Amstelveen, Netherlands Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[5] Cancelled.

Records and statistics
Medal table by club
RankClubGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 UHC Hamburg3205
2 Bloemendaal3014
3 HGC1102
Kampong1102
Oranje Zwart1102
Rot-Weiss Köln1102
7 Harvestehude1012
8 Waterloo Ducks1001
9 Amsterdam0224
10 Dragons0134
Rotterdam0134
12 Club de Campo0101
Oranje-Rood0101
14 Mannheimer HC0011
Reading0011
Totals (15 clubs)12121236
Medal table by nation
RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 Netherlands (NED)67619
2 Germany (GER)53210
3 Belgium (BEL)1135
4 Spain (ESP)0101
5 England (ENG)0011
Totals (5 nations)12121236

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.

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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. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
  4. "Ehl Men Set for New Knock-out Format in 2019/20 Season". ehlhockey.tv. Euro Hockey League. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
  5. "Uitgestelde Euro Hockey League in Amstelveen alsnog afgelast". nos.nl (in Dutch). 14 August 2020. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
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