EHL: Goodfield and Surbiton feeling the EHL vibe

Surbiton captain David Goodfield says the buzz around his club is growing ahead of the Euro Hockey League’s first appearance in England for 12 years as Sugden Road welcomes the KO16 Men from October 3^rd to 6^th.

It is an exciting time for the club – they begin their national league on Saturday evening at home against Oxted with the legendary Barry Middleton leading the coaching this term.

A London derby against Richmond follows a week later before they it is all systems go for the EHL KO16 where Surbiton will come up against Waterloo Ducks.

Goodfield has been easing his way back into the fold following post-Olympic rest and recovery and says his club is definitely warming to the challenge.

“There’s a lot of people behind the scenes at the club putting in a lot of work to make sure the club and the venue is in the shape it needs to be for hosting EHL,” he told the EHL website.

“Five years ago for the women’s Euro Club Cup, the club pulled together really well and we can draw on that experience. You can definitely feel that vibe as it gets getting closer and closer and once we play our first game this weekend, it’ll start to pick up even more!”

His side have a wealth of top talent in situ featuring Paris Olympians Furlong, Conor Williamson, Tim Nurse, Nick Park, David Goodfield and goalkeeper James Mazarelo who was a reserve with the GB side.

Strengthened squad

They have also bolstered the panel with Nick Nurse set to join his brother Tim with his Exeter University team mate Jake Payton making the same move.

England Under-21 captain Max Anderson is another strong addition to the line-up, graduating from University of Nottingham. The experienced Arjan Drayton-Chana also returns to the panel from Richmond after a year away.

On the coaching front, England and GB hero Middleton takes over the reins, moving from Holcombe whom he coached in the EHL KO16 in Barcelona a year ago. Now 40, he could also play a significant role on the field.

“He has done a really good job with the guys in preseason with the main part of the squad in August with the rest filtering back in September. Guys are looking sharp and there are really good additions.

“It does mean there’ll be a few guys who will be disappointed not to make the squad because we’ve got an incredibly competitive squad this year.”

As for whether Middleton plays, Goodfield adds: “He is such a good player still that you almost feel it would be a bit of a missed opportunity to not have him on the pitch at times.

“There will be moments where we really need a coach on the sideline, he maybe will take it a little bit of a step back, but if he can play at the same time, then I think he’ll definitely do so.”

Crucially, they have kept the services of assistant coach Andy Watts and manager Matthew Beauman Jones to keep consistency from the Mark Pearn-era.

There is also a lot of coaching know-how within the player group – intriguingly Goodfield and Drayton-Chana were part of the coaching team at new rivals Richmond on their rise up the leagues.

They are among several players whose work-life features coaching in schools or clubs, something which lends itself well to strong game management in key moments.

Clutch player

Few know how to perform in such clinches better than Goodfield. His EHL history has seen him score vital goals in both the 2016 – with Harvestehuder THC – and 2022 Bronze Matches.

The former came in what was his breakout season to the wider public following his university studies at Sheffield Hallam from whom he joined the reigning EHL champions of the time.

Just a month into life in Hamburg, he got his first EHL outing as HTHC hosted ROUND1.

“It was quite a surreal experience; you never expect the first EHL you ever play in to be at your home club. It was absolutely amazing when you see the stands going up and the outside vendors coming in.

“I definitely remember when we started to see that come together and that’s when it starts to hit home.”

That season proved a major breakthrough for Goodfield and his long-time club mate Brendan Creed – who departed Surbiton this summer for Bowdon – as their skills got a wider audience.

“We were both hoping to make it into the GB programme or have a shot at making it into the GB programme post the 2016 cycle.

“It definitely just felt like a really good opportunity. I don’t think I necessarily saw it as showcasing yourself, but it was just a big stage that you obviously want to go and perform at.

“You obviously want to play your best in those moments and especially with the ambition to make it into the GB program afterwards, it was obviously a big opportunity.”

They took the experience with both hands, racing through ROUND1 before producing one of the all-time wins in the KO8 to eliminate Oranje-Zwart in Amsterdam, coming back from 4-1 down to win a shoot-out.

Goodfield netted twice in that shoot-out and while they missed out on the GRAND FINAL in Barcelona, they bounced back to beat Atlètic Terrassa 3-2 with the Englishman clipping in the vital third goal for an “extremely special” medal.

From there, he linked up with Surbiton with whom they won their first three national titles between 2017 and 2020.

The EHL, though, proved a frustrating beast initially – a shoot-out loss to eventual champions Waterloo Ducks put paid to one campaign; Covid-19 denied them a FINAL8 chance in 2020 after a big win over Real Club de Polo.

But 2022 brought bronze, ending an 11-year wait for an English medal in the EHL, something emulated by Old Georgians last Easter.

Raising the game

It gives a sense of something growing at the top end of the English national competition; OGs win over the WatDucks last year and Surbiton’s elimination of Dragons in 2022 has seen their EHL ranking rise to second overall, offering an extra EHL ticket.

Despite that, Goodfield knows the immense quality in the WatDucks line-up, especially with new signings Victor Wegnez, Tomi Domene and Samuel Malherbe joining an already strong line-up.

“It’s going to be an incredibly tough, incredibly tough game. Last time we met, I remember thinking we could have done that bit more before it went to shoot-out.

“That was our first EHL experience and we have a few more guys now have played in it already which will hopefully take away some of those nerves.

“Being at home definitely helps but obviously, looking at their side, they’ve strengthened really well this year.”

Succeed there and there is also a potential meet-up with Wimbledon on Sunday evening in the KO8; while not wanting to look too far ahead, Goodfield reckons that could be a huge way to sign off on the weekend at Sugden Road.

“If we are lucky enough to get through with Wimbledon, I think it would be incredible because we have quite a rivalry between us.

“There’s something weird about playing someone from your own country in the EHL but that could definitely be a really fun Sunday!”