Byes are commonplace these days when it comes to England Hockey’s Cup competition. Farewell has also long been said to the national governing body’s premier knock-out as far as care and attention goes.
For one of three chances to win a top tier trophy after the outdoor and indoor national league, this is hard to fathom.
“We need to look at the player experience and to make sure they feel valued and then clubs will want to be a part of it,” says Beeston women’s coach James Sordillo.
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Good win for Timperley ladies, however you really should have also given the detail that Timperley men conceded their quarter final, even though Brooklands were happy to play on Sunday, just a day after a 450 mile round trip to Oxted. Also Brooklands were happy to play midweek.
The current GMS is poor for leagues, but is utterley atrocious for cups, it is so difficult to work out what is going on with any cup competition, no info on what round things are, with games that are drawn it is often unclear who won the shootout.
The Bowdon v Beeston fixture is not in GMS yet, are any of the other 3 games going to be played, who knows? (Who cares?)
No doubt the draw will be regionalised and Brooklands can play Beeston for the 4th time this season, or play Bowdon for the 4th time also, (3 friendlies)
It hasn’t been a top tier trophy on the mens side for many a year. Unless the M25 mob enter, it isn’t top tier. Well done to OG’s for doing so this year.
Perhaps a way of revitalising the cup would be to have it structured regionally, with regional winners qualifying for a finals weekend (remember those?). A real event to look forward to for players and supporters alike