Alan Sothern has become the latest Irish international player to make the move to the Netherlands to play in the Hoofdklasse, confirming his move from Pembroke to Den Bosch to The Hook last Friday.
While there, Sothern will link up with Mitch Darling who moved across the Belgian border from KHC Leuven as well as Dutch international Rob Reckers.
They start their campaign on September 12 with a tough away day at EHL-bound HGC but no longer have the services of Barry Middleton at their disposal following a switch to Club an der Alster in Germany.
Former Irish international Mark Gleghorne, meanwhile, moves away from the Dutch club to play in England as part of his three-year process of changing his international status from Irish to English.
It continues a busy summer of international transfers between European clubs, with Irish players getting in on the act with 13 of Paul Revington’s national panel that played at last weekend’s INSEP Five Nations’ event in Paris.
Conor and David Harte will take up residence in the SCHC defense and begin their league programme against EHL finalists Rotterdam.
It will be a slightly changed Rotterdam side, though, with Dutch international star Roderick Weusthof the Harte’s first major challenge following his summer move from SCHC, replacing New Zealander David Burrows.
Andy McConnell is the fifth Dutch-based player, returning to Hurley where he played four seasons ago before winning Irish national titles with Three Rock Rovers and Pembroke. They play in the Overangsklasse, the Dutch second tier of competition.
Phelie Maguire will continue his stay in Belgium with KHC Leuven where he will be joined by Argentinean trio Juane Garreta, Nahuel Salis and Agustin Mazzilli.
Geoff McCabe, Eugene Magee and Mikey Watt will remain at Dragons in Antwerp where they will be joined by Stephen Butler for the club’s first run at the EHL.
Ronan Gormley moves to Club de Campo this week in Madrid while David Ames is another moving to an EHL club, linking up with Nottingham’s Beeston. Chris Cargo stays with Reading for another trip to Europe and a league campaign which tips off on September 19.
Paul Gleghorne and former Pembroke man Stu Loughrey will also make their seasonal bow that day, donning the Loughborough colours against East Grinstead, for whom Ashley Jackson is a big name signing.
John Jackson is the sole member of the panel returning to Ireland, moving back to hometown club Mossley after a spell in England. It leaves just Iain Walker, Joe Brennan, Timmy Cockram, Peter Caruth and Alan Giles from last weekend’s squad as domestically based for the upcoming season.
| Pos | Team | Pld | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | • | Monkstown | 10 | 25 |
| 2 | • | Pembroke | 10 | 23 |
| 3 | • | Glenanne | 10 | 20 |
| 4 | • | YMCA | 10 | 18 |
| 5 | • | Railway Union | 10 | 16 |
| 6 | • | Corinthian | 10 | 12 |
| 7 | • | TRR | 10 | 11 |
| 8 | • | UCD | 10 | 7 |
| 9 | • | Fingal | 10 | 7 |
| 10 | • | Clontarf | 10 | 1 |
| Pos | Team | Pld | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ↑ | Railway Union | 11 | 27 |
| 2 | ↓ | UCD | 10 | 25 |
| 3 | • | Loreto | 10 | 23 |
| 4 | • | Hermes | 11 | 19 |
| 5 | • | Old Alex | 10 | 18 |
| 6 | • | Trinity College | 11 | 13 |
| 7 | • | Corinthian | 10 | 8 |
| 8 | • | Pembroke | 11 | 7 |
| 9 | • | Glenanne | 11 | 6 |
| 10 | • | TRL | 11 | 4 |
| Pos | Team | Pld | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | • | Avoca | 11 | 22 |
| 2 | • | Suttonians | 11 | 22 |
| 3 | • | Dublin University | 11 | 18 |
| 4 | • | Weston | 10 | 17 |
| 5 | • | Rathgar | 12 | 15 |
| 6 | • | Portrane | 10 | 14 |
| 7 | • | Mullingar | 11 | 3 |
| Pos | Team | Pld | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ↑ | Loreto II | 12 | 29 |
| 2 | ↓ | Pembroke II | 12 | 29 |
| 3 | • | North Kildare | 11 | 22 |
| 4 | • | Railway Union II | 12 | 20 |
| 5 | • | Old Alex II | 11 | 17 |
| 6 | • | Hermes II | 12 | 16 |
| 7 | • | Newbridge | 12 | 14 |
| 8 | • | Genesis | 12 | 10 |
| 9 | • | UCD II | 12 | 8 |
| 10 | • | Corinthian II | 12 | 1 |
August 30, 2010 1:14 pm
eggz_eleven says
It’ll be interesting to see how this mass exodus effects Pembroke this season, will we see a huge influx of players or what?
August 30, 2010 2:18 pm
Edward E. Nigma says
I doubt it. Who cares to be honest. All of them gone. The question is, will Pembroke dominate like they have over the past few years……??
August 30, 2010 3:15 pm
The Hooded Claw says
Will be very interesting to see how they get on.
How will it work now for the Irish set up? Will coaches etc be travelling abroad to check on form etc?
August 30, 2010 3:45 pm
Head Scratcher says
What’s interesting is the difference between the ladies approach and the mens. Centralisation vs Diversification? Does Revs think the standard here really is so poor that our top players need to leave for competitive reasons? If so….will this help?
Interesting season ahead now. Glenanne to dominate whilst Pembroke will remain competitive but not outstanding.
August 30, 2010 4:54 pm
theophulus t.wildebeast says
its a shame that so many of irelands best players have left for foreign climes.leinster hockey and the ihl are the poorer for it.i dont think anyone can deny these guys the oppurtunity to make a living while they can.current structures in irish hockey dont help and the sooner we get a proper all ireland league the better.clubs say they cant afford it when we all know they pay hand over fist for coaches in dublin anyway!
August 30, 2010 10:20 pm
flo says
no doubt pembroke will replace these guys by jetting in 3 to 4 foreign players. Its a pity Leinster hockey is going in this direction because it is making it very hard for other clubs to compete. I really fell there should be a cap on the amount of foreign players. Otherwise in an Amateur sport the clubs with the most amount of cash will always prosper and those doing the owrk at grass roots will find it very hard.
August 31, 2010 9:42 am
Jan says
David Harte will probably be playing 2nds since SCHC signed a new goalkeeper 2 days ago.
August 31, 2010 10:00 am
Alex says
@theophulus t.wildebeast – contrary to belief an All Ireland League would not revolve solely around Dublin – so regardless of whether Dublin based teams will pay hand over fist for top rate coaches – don’t assume that the same is true for the top teams in Ulster and Munster as well.
I agree that for competitive reasons an AIL would work for the better, but one only has to look at the number of top rugby teams that have been financially impacted in bearing the running costs of an AIL.
Teams cannot rely on local businesses for sponsorship to the same extent that they have done in recent years – and let’s be honest here, crowd attendance at matches is so dismal on the most part that this “sponsorship” is in reality a donation.
I doubt many local businesses have seen a significant increase in business due to their sponsorship agreement with a hockey club. The media exposure for hockey is infinitely smaller than that of GAA sports and this doesn’t help with trying to obtain sponsorship deals either.
What we need is for clubs, affiliate branches (Ulster, Leinster, Munster) and the IHA to work together to realise that hockey in Ireland is still an amateur sport. We need to collectively decide that either hockey will remain an amateur sport, or that it will take the professional route, as seen in Holland etc.
Only then – when all clubs have the same level of exposure to funding will clubs here be able to satisfactorily attract foreign international players to Ireland. In the long term I hope that Ireland *can* become an attractive prospect to international players and that Irish teams can do as well, if not better than what Pembroke have achieved so far in the EHL.
August 31, 2010 10:49 am
Dinger says
Jan, who is the goalkeeper that they are bringing in?
I think David Harte would have a more than decent chance of getting into his fair share Dutch club sides, SCHC being no exception. Bear in mind his major shop window moment was a man of the match performance in the EHL against Rot-Weiss with a load of good saves and everyone who saw the IHL finals in 09 knows he won Pembroke the title with some world class saves.
Over 50 irish caps and what is he? about 22 or 23. I think he could be a major asset.
August 31, 2010 11:44 am
theophulus t.wildebeast says
the concept of a fully fledged all ireland league cant be that far from a reality.the top flite ulster ,leinster and munster clubs allready commute for preseason ,irish senior cup and ihl games.having a two tier system with 10/11 teams would theoretically leave each team hitting the road 4/5 times in league year culminating in rugby league style grand final playoffs.tavelling north to south or vice versa has never bein as good tho munster top two would b worst hit but there has to be a price to compete at national level.
August 31, 2010 12:17 pm
Jan says
Laurens Goedegebuure. Former HCKZ (hoofdklasse) and Holland U21 goalie. Played in Spain last year.
Sure, 50 caps. But ireland always plays the same countries and the level of Ireland doesn’t come close to the Dutch Premier League.
I hope he will make it, think is a very talented goalie. But his lack of experience and probably awareness will make it very though for him. Don’t forget SCHC nearly relegated last year, they will take no risks this year.
August 31, 2010 12:26 pm
Jim says
I think it’s harsh to the other Pembroke players involved in 09 to say Dave Harte won them the IHL that year,yes,he made some world class saves,but isn’t that what a goalkeeper is there to do?aside from that,he will have no bother getting into that SCHC side,he is world class.
August 31, 2010 12:33 pm
Head Scratcher says
Doubt pembroke will get in many overseas players and definitely won’t pay them. I don’t think any club in Leinster has the finances for that kind of nonsense.
Time to see if their heralded ‘great squad’ will step up methinks.
August 31, 2010 2:02 pm
Queso says
With the changing player/coach fortunes of Pembroke and Glenanne… could really be an interesting season for Corinthian and Monkstown to finally be the Bride!!
August 31, 2010 4:28 pm
Jimbo Jones says
And Rovers, Queso, and Rovers!! Should be an open league but Glens would be my favourites…
August 31, 2010 10:35 pm
flo says
hey if pembroke ctop an afford to jet in a top SA coach..its not beyond them to fork out to bring in a few more international players. Seemingly very few recognised names at Pembroke preseason training. Mark my words Pembroke will have at least 4 players flying in.
September 1, 2010 7:53 am
fabianski says
Corinthians never had a better opportunity than last year. Without Cronje, Kimfley and Picolli this year they will struggle to stay in IHL for 2011/12. Glens must be favourites with YM to move up the table.
September 1, 2010 9:21 am
confused says
why would schc sign dave harte for him to sit on the bench how ridiculous!!hes one of the best goalies in the world never mind europe and he proves that time and time again when people are flabbergasted by some of the saves he makes!
September 1, 2010 1:58 pm
Bonnie Prince Billy says
I’d fancy Monkstown to be seriously pushing for the league.
September 1, 2010 4:18 pm
Jimbo Jones says
would these players have left if Ned was still there? Why did Ned leave in the first place?
September 1, 2010 9:23 pm
come on says
knowing a little about the GK situation at SCHC i’m pretty confident Dave will be playing. i’ve watched the other keeper they signed play at HCKZ a number of times and he was indeed quite poor. a few members of the club certainly felt he contributed to the relegation of KZ that season.
speaking of Dave winning pembroke the title in 09, did anyone see the number of quality saves he made in last seasons final?
September 2, 2010 8:46 am
Hey you says
As regards players leaving, who would turn down playing hockey as a living. Ned leaving might have had a small part in it but i don’t really think it’d make a difference.
September 2, 2010 8:55 am
Hey you says
Prediction this season:
1 Glenanne
2 Pembroke
3 Monkstown
*4 YMCA
*5 Corinthian
*6 Three Rock
7 Fingal
8 Railway
9 UCD
10 Weston
*I’d say this will go down to goal difference!
What do people think?
September 2, 2010 10:45 am
The Hooded Claw says
How does this fare in comparison to the showers league?
September 2, 2010 1:00 pm
Soap Picker says
Based on: Number of Shower-heads/Power/Temp Control
01 Three Rock
02 Fingal
03 Railway
04 Corinthian
05 Pembroke
06 YMCA
07 UCD
08 Glenanne
09 Monkstown
?? Weston
September 2, 2010 3:00 pm
fabianski says
Prediction this season:
1 Glenanne
2 Monkstown
3 YMCA
4 Pembroke
5 Three Rock
6 Corinthians
7 Fingal
8 Railway
9 UCD
10 Weston
Don’t beleive Pembroke will have the resources to compete at the top end this season.
September 2, 2010 4:13 pm
Jimbo Jones says
i’m amazed so many people are writing corinthians off, i’d say they’re loving it, they’ll be up there come the business end of the season.
September 3, 2010 10:34 am
DInger says
Reckon Three Rock could cement their place at the top of shower league this year. heard they have shower gel dispensers thrown into the mix,.
Just need to remember to keep ‘em turned on for Sunday games.
September 3, 2010 7:44 pm
flo says
jimbo…I dont understand your amazement. Considering they have lost 3 keys players..one of which was player coach and the other two players scored the majority of there goals last season. I don’t thin kthe quality and substance is there to absorb those losses. Have they flown in some players again?
September 6, 2010 9:41 am
fabianski says
Dohertys move must also remove a further goal threat from Corinthians. I wonder if you counted up the goals scored last season by Cronje, Kimfley, Picolli and Doherty what percentage of total goals would that amount to. Not to mention the assists that players of this quality would have provided. It’s hard to see Corinthians being a major threat at the top of the league.