Captain Alex Danson admitted that it was a “huge fillip for the squad” knowing that all England’s pool matches for next year’s women’s World Cup in London were sold out.
England Hockey announced on Friday that over 100,000 applications had been made for the public ballot ahead of next July’s showpiece event at Lee Valley, on top of the 20,000 which had already been made available to the hockey family.
The quarter-finals onwards will also sell out – an unprecedented position with the tournament still 10 months away.
Danson said: “As a team we absolutely cannot wait for the World Cup on home soil, and to have this much demand with almost a year to go is amazing.”
Nearly 25 per cent of applications were for under-18 tickets, while 50 per cent had never taken in an international hockey fixture.
England Hockey said in a statement that the level of demand was “truly astounding, both for hockey and crucially for women’s sport.”
Danson, currently England’s captain, added: “To know that every England pool game is already sold out is a huge fillip for the squad and we cannot wait to put on a show for our supporters.”
McCracken, the International Hockey Federation chief executive, said: “We are delighted to hear about the huge demand for tickets for the Hockey Women’s World Cup London 2018.
“As part of our 10-year Hockey Revolution strategy we are constantly striving for all of our events to be ‘Big, Bold, Packed and Loud’, and with 100,000 ticket applications as part of the public ballot it is clear that the competition at the Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre next summer looks likely to be all of those things and more.”
The women’s event takes place between July 21 and Aug 5.
