Cannock Hockey Club has been selected to host the 33rd EuroHockey Club Champions Cup being held from 1-4 June 2006 and will also be representing England in the competition.
The championship will see the top clubs from England, Spain, Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium, Belarus, Czech Republic, and Poland compete for the prestigious title of European champion at the Midlands club, which celebrated its centenary last year.
“The EuroHockey Club Championships Cup is the most prestigious and fiercely contended club competition in the hockey calendar. It’s hockey’s equivalent of football’s Champions League,” Cannock Hockey Club chairman Peter Sharpe, said.
“We are extremely proud to welcome Europe’s elite hockey players to Cannock and are honoured to host the championships for England.”
The teams have already been drawn into two pools prior to the event:
Pool A - MHC Oranje Zwart (NED), HTC Stuttgarter Kickers (GER), and Royal Leopold HC (BEL), Stroitel Brest (BLR)
Pool B - Cannock HC (ENG), Atletic Terassa HC (ESP), SK Slavia Praha (CZE), KS Pocztowiec (POL).
The first three days of the championship will see all teams play each other within their pool once, and battle it out for the top place in their group.
The two top teams will then play each other for gold and silver on the final day, with the two second place teams from each pool playing for bronze.
“We have a world class team at Cannock and are confident that we can bring the cup home,” Cannock manager Martin Gilbody said.
“In 2001 we were beaten into second place by Harvestehuder from Germany so this year we’re looking to go one better and take the top spot.”
