Ireland lost to Austria in the 2017Image caption: Ireland lost to Austria in the 2017
The EuroHockey Championships take place every two years with men's and women's tournaments which involve the eight best teams from around the continent.
This year’s contest is being held in Antwerp, Belgium and the men's edition includes England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland as they aim not only to win the
coveted title but also to secure automatic qualification for the 2020 Tokyo
Olympics.
While the champions will be on their way to Japan, the bottom
two teams will suffer relegation to the EuroHockey Championship II, and will be
replaced by the top two teams from that tournament for the 2021 edition.
England are the only one of the home nations to have won the men's tournament, doing so in the Netherlands in 2009, but Ireland finished third in
2015, beating England 4-2 in the third-place playoff. Wales and Scotland both
earned promotion from EuroHockey II in 2017. Germany are the most successful
side in EuroHockey history, with eight men's titles since the competition began in
1970.
The eight teams are divided into two pools of four, who will
compete in a round robin before the top two teams from each group advance to
the semi-finals. The bottom two teams in each group will drop into Pool C,
where they will play off to avoid relegation.
The England team
Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images
Ashley Jackson during the 2016 OlympicsImage caption: Ashley Jackson during the 2016 Olympics
England have named five players who have never been involved
in the EuroHockey Championships before, including Surbiton’s 19-year-old Zach
Wallace.
The youthful look of the side will be offset by the return of the experienced
Ashley Jackson, who hasn’t played in a major tournament for England since the
Rio Olympics in 2016.
Danny Kerry’s men will be looking to reach at least the
semi-finals of the contest for the sixth consecutive time.
A hugely experienced side features many of the players who
earned the Welsh team promotion to the EuroHockey Championships for the first
time since 2003.
Gareth Furlong, Owain Dolan-Gray and joint-captain Lewis
Prosser have all turned out over 100 times for the national side.
18-year-old Rhys Bradshaw already has 12 caps to his name and
is the least experienced member of a side with a huge number of games under
their belt.
EuroHockey Championships on the BBC
All times are BST and subject to change.
The BBC will have
live coverage of all of the home nations’ matches in both the men’s and women’s
competitions, as well as the semi-finals and finals.
All of the matches
will be available to watch on the BBC Sport website and app as well via the BBC
iPlayer, where you can also watch the matches back on catch-up.
Click here for the full schedule for both the
men’s and women’s matches – below is the list of England and Wales men’s matches you can watch on
the BBC.
Saturday 17 August
10:15-12:15 – England v Wales,
BBC Sport website and app & Connected TV
Sunday 18 August
12:30-14:30 – Spain v Wales, BBC Sport website and app & Connected TV
17:00-19:00 – England v
Belgium, BBC Sport website and app & Connected TV
Tuesday 20 August
12:30-14:30 – Spain v England, BBC Sport website and app & Connected TV
20:30-22:30 – Belgium v Wales, BBC Sport website and app & Connected TV
Thursday 22 August
17:00-19:00 - 1st Pool A v 2nd Pool B, BBC Sport website and app & Connected TV
19:30-21:30 - 1st Pool B v 2nd Pool A, BBC Sport website and app & Connected TV
Saturday 24 August
19:30-21:30 - Men's Final, BBC Sport website and app & Connected TV
How to get into hockey
Get Inspired
#GetInspired
Video content
Video caption: Emma Watson gets back to hockeyEmma Watson gets back to hockey
Hockey is in some
ways like football. It's an 11 a-side team game, where the aim is to score a
goal in the opposing team's net.
There are different
variations of the game, so hockey is for everyone, regardless of age, ability
or gender. There's also a real social side, with a culture of team bonding off
the field.
Play Hockey is a good place to start for those who are new to the game
or interested in coming back to it after years away. Simply type in your
postcode to locate your nearest club.
Live Reporting
All times stated are UK
Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images Ireland lost to Austria in the 2017Image caption: Ireland lost to Austria in the 2017 
Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images Ashley Jackson during the 2016 OlympicsImage caption: Ashley Jackson during the 2016 Olympics 
Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images Lewis ProsserImage caption: Lewis Prosser 
Video caption: Emma Watson gets back to hockeyEmma Watson gets back to hockey
Latest PostWhat are the EuroHockey Championships?
The EuroHockey Championships take place every two years with men's and women's tournaments which involve the eight best teams from around the continent.
This year’s contest is being held in Antwerp, Belgium and the men's edition includes England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland as they aim not only to win the coveted title but also to secure automatic qualification for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
While the champions will be on their way to Japan, the bottom two teams will suffer relegation to the EuroHockey Championship II, and will be replaced by the top two teams from that tournament for the 2021 edition.
England are the only one of the home nations to have won the men's tournament, doing so in the Netherlands in 2009, but Ireland finished third in 2015, beating England 4-2 in the third-place playoff. Wales and Scotland both earned promotion from EuroHockey II in 2017. Germany are the most successful side in EuroHockey history, with eight men's titles since the competition began in 1970.
The eight teams are divided into two pools of four, who will compete in a round robin before the top two teams from each group advance to the semi-finals. The bottom two teams in each group will drop into Pool C, where they will play off to avoid relegation.
The England team
England have named five players who have never been involved in the EuroHockey Championships before, including Surbiton’s 19-year-old Zach Wallace.
The youthful look of the side will be offset by the return of the experienced Ashley Jackson, who hasn’t played in a major tournament for England since the Rio Olympics in 2016.
Danny Kerry’s men will be looking to reach at least the semi-finals of the contest for the sixth consecutive time.
Read more and see the full squad here.
The Wales team
A hugely experienced side features many of the players who earned the Welsh team promotion to the EuroHockey Championships for the first time since 2003.
Gareth Furlong, Owain Dolan-Gray and joint-captain Lewis Prosser have all turned out over 100 times for the national side.
18-year-old Rhys Bradshaw already has 12 caps to his name and is the least experienced member of a side with a huge number of games under their belt.
EuroHockey Championships on the BBC
All times are BST and subject to change.
The BBC will have live coverage of all of the home nations’ matches in both the men’s and women’s competitions, as well as the semi-finals and finals.
All of the matches will be available to watch on the BBC Sport website and app as well via the BBC iPlayer, where you can also watch the matches back on catch-up.
Click here for the full schedule for both the men’s and women’s matches – below is the list of England and Wales men’s matches you can watch on the BBC.
Saturday 17 August
10:15-12:15 – England v Wales, BBC Sport website and app & Connected TV
Sunday 18 August
12:30-14:30 – Spain v Wales, BBC Sport website and app & Connected TV
17:00-19:00 – England v Belgium, BBC Sport website and app & Connected TV
Tuesday 20 August
12:30-14:30 – Spain v England, BBC Sport website and app & Connected TV
20:30-22:30 – Belgium v Wales, BBC Sport website and app & Connected TV
Thursday 22 August
17:00-19:00 - 1st Pool A v 2nd Pool B, BBC Sport website and app & Connected TV
19:30-21:30 - 1st Pool B v 2nd Pool A, BBC Sport website and app & Connected TV
Saturday 24 August
19:30-21:30 - Men's Final, BBC Sport website and app & Connected TV
How to get into hockey
Get Inspired
#GetInspired
Video content
Hockey is in some ways like football. It's an 11 a-side team game, where the aim is to score a goal in the opposing team's net.
There are different variations of the game, so hockey is for everyone, regardless of age, ability or gender. There's also a real social side, with a culture of team bonding off the field.
Play Hockey is a good place to start for those who are new to the game or interested in coming back to it after years away. Simply type in your postcode to locate your nearest club.