The silver medal that Netherlands men won at the Odisha Men’s Hockey World Cup was well-deserved and a good indication of how this team of talented players will always be at the business end of things when it is major tournament time.
Although they lost the final to a brilliant and determined Belgium team, there was little to choose between the sides in the 60 minutes of match play. The outcome was decided on shoot-out and even this went to sudden death, so closely matched were the teams.
But Max Caldas and his team will now turn their attention to a very new challenge – the FIH Pro League. A global league that calls for consistency in performance on a week to week basis, interspersed with long distance travel.
“It’s a huge addition to the calendar,” is Max Caldas’ view of the FIH Pro League. “We will have to work out the travel and the games will have to be worked out without making a marked effect on the club hockey.”
One very positive impact the new league will have on the Dutch clubs is increased visibility of the national men’s and women’s teams in action. While the KNHB, the Dutch national hockey association, will work out the minutiae detail of the next few months, the hockey-loving Dutch spectators will be eagerly awaiting home matches as the FIH Pro League will go on a tour of the famous Dutch hockey clubs.
Five giants of the Dutch club game will play host to FIH Pro League fixtures, meaning hockey fans across the country will all have easy access to top-class international hockey.
HC Rotterdam is in the Dutch province of South Holland; SV Kampong is in the medieval city of Utrecht in central Netherlands. The province of North Brabant hosts two venues, HC Oranje-Rood in Eindhoven and HC ’s-Hertogenbosch in Den Bosch. The final venue is the iconic Wagener Stadium in Amsterdam.
All five venues have played host to some fantastic hockey events over the years, particularly EuroHockey Club Championships, but the venue that will be taking centre stage in the latter part of the inaugural FIH Pro League is the recently refurbished Wagener Stadium in Amsterdam.
The stadium has been the KNHB’s home of hockey since 1980 but the venue itself has a much longer history. It was built by the Amsterdam Hockey and Bandy Club (AHBC) in the 1930s in honour of the club’s president at the time Joop Wagener. The build itself was completed in 1939, just before the outbreak of World War II.
It was bought from AHBC in 1980 by the KNHB, who continue to own the venue to this day.
The stadium played host to the 1973 men’s World Cup, where the Netherlands won the first of three World Cup titles. Since then it has seen three EuroHockey Nations Championships – in 1983, 2009 and 2017 – plus seven Champions Trophy events – four men’s events and three women’s events. The Netherlands teams could be forgiven for feeling distinctly at home in the Wagener Stadium because they have a terrific record of winning performances there.
Of the three EuroHockey Nations Championships, Netherlands men have won two [1983 and 2017], and the women won all three. Of the four men’s Champions Trophy events hosted at the venue, the Netherlands have emerged as winners on three occasions [1982, 2000 and 2003], while the women have won two Champions Trophy titles in front oaf a packed house at the Wagener Stadium.
The Wagener Stadium, which has a capacity of 9,000 [increased to 10,000 with additional seating], was renovated ahead of the 2017 EuroHockey Championships and will host the men’s and women’s matches against Argentina on 19 and 20 June and the men’s and women’s matches against Australia on the 22 and 23 June.
It will then take centre stage as the competition reaches its exciting finale, with the placement matches, semi-finals and finals taking place from 27-30 June.
For further information on the FIH Pro League, click here.
