May 29, Dublin: Ireland Men’s Head Coach Mark Tumilty has announced his 20-man squad to travel to London and take on Germany and Great Britain in the last round of four matches to complete the 2023/24 FIH Pro League Series.
The games will take place at the Lee Valley Centre which was the venue for the 2018 Women’s Hockey World Cup when Ireland won silver. David Harte returns to the squad after winning the Hoofdklasse championship with Kampong last week and replaces Mark Ingram.
Following a successful series in Antwerp where Ireland recorded two wins over the World ranked #2 hosts Belgium, the side go into this game full of confidence.
Three of the squad, Jamie Carr, Luke Madeley and Sean Murray won the Belgian championship with Gantoise. Kyle Marshall won the English championship with Old Georgians and Peter Brown and Johnny McKee won the EYHL here at home with Banbridge. So, there is a winning mentality within the squad as they head to face their last four matches of Ireland’s first ever FIH PRO League campaign.
The four-game series gets underway on Saturday 1st June with a game against Great Britain with a 12:15 start. The second game is on Sunday 2nd June against Germany with a 10:00 a.m. start.
Monday and Tuesday are rest days for Ireland with the third game taking place on Wednesday 5th June against Germany with a 5:45 p.m. start. The series ends on Thursday 6th June with a final game against Great Britain with an 8 p.m. start
Speaking about the selection and upcoming fixtures Head Coach Mark Tumilty said:
“There’s a reduced squad for London, to give players an opportunity for pitch time in preparation for Paris. I am bringing 19 players from Antwerp and David Harte comes in. We have three players who won the Belgian championship with Gantoise and one each who won the Hoofdklasse in the Netherlands and the English Championship and of course two members of the EYHL League and Champions Trophy winners Banbridge is good for the squad.”
Speaking about the upcoming Olympics Head Coach Mark Tumilty said:
“The hardest part of the job is deciding who to bring and who to leave out. The 16 players who go will be representing everyone in the entire squad. The quality of players that we are leaving at home shows the depth of the squad and that’s something that we have to develop and maintain as we go on. We can only take 16 players to Paris, with a goalkeeping reserve and two outfield reserves on stand-by. Those players can only be brought in if there’s a tournament ending injury and that would be a permanent switch in that event. That’s a change from the arrangements in the previous Olympics.”
Speaking about the FIH Pro League in general:
“The opportunity to play against the top 8 nations in the World on a consistent basis cannot be underestimated. The players have grown and we have also grown as coaches in the three series played so far of the FIH Pro League and the national teams can only benefit by being exposed to this level of competition on a consistent basis. Hopefully the women’s team can get over the line in their FIH Nations Cup tournament and qualify for the Pro League too.”
FIH Pro League, London – Squad
| David Harte | Jonny Lynch |
| Jaime Carr | Sean Murray |
| Shane O’Donoghue | Peter Brown |
| Kyle Marshall | Michael Robson |
| Luke Madeley | Ali Empey |
| Peter McKibbin | Johnny McKee |
| Mark McNellis | Ben Walker |
| Daragh Walsh | Ben Johnson |
| Nick Page | Matty Nelson |
| Tim Cross | Jeremy Duncan |