The ABN AMRO EHL FINALS is coming rapidly into view as clubs around Europe return to domestic action after a winter indoors on the FIH Pro League circuit.

Chief among them is the Dutch Hoofdklasse with the men’s competition returning this weekend with the women’s league coming back a week later.

Of the EHL Men’s sides, Rotterdam face Oranje-Rood on Saturday afternoon in the 2025 curtain-raiser; Kampong face HDM on Sunday while Bloemendaal are up against SCHC. AH&BC Amsterdam’s date with Pinoké will be broadcast live by NOS Studio Sport.

With that in mind, it is a perfect time to remind you of their star quality with an overview of how each of the five EHL clubs are shaping up with our handy team-by-team guides below.

It is star quality which you can watch all in one place at Easter with tickets selling quickly for the ABN AMRO FINALS.

This year, via our ticketing partners at Eventim, tickets can now be put up for resale so if you unfortunately cannot attend as planned, you may be able to recoup your purchase and let other hockey fans have the chance to enjoy the world’s best club hockey competition.

HC Bloemendaal

Bloemendaal entered this season with a number of significant changes to their line-up as they look to win back the title they have won six times already.

Read all about them here: https://ehlhockey.tv/team/hc-bloemendaal-7/

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HC Rotterdam

Rotterdam return this season to the EHL’s main competition after a six-year break, keen to add to their trio of bronze medals and the 2010 silver.

Find out more here: https://ehlhockey.tv/team/hc-rotterdam-3/

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SV Kampong

The 2016 champions are looking to land their second title in the EHL having come agonisingly close last year when they finished as runners-up to Pinoké with just a single goal settling the tie.

Find out more here: https://ehlhockey.tv/team/sv-kampong-12/

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SCHC

SCHC are back for a third successive EHL Women’s competition and looking to breakthrough into the final for the first time since the competition was introduced.

Find out more here: https://ehlhockey.tv/team/schc-3/

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Den Bosch

Quite simply, one of the greatest club sides put together in hockey history as the stats will attest and they will be looking to use home advantage to full effect at Easter.

Find out more about Den Bosch here: https://ehlhockey.tv/team/hc-s-hertogenbosch-6/

Two EHL-bound players made significant goalscoring milestones as Tom Boon (Royal Léopold) and Sam Ward (Old Georgians) added to their incredible tallies.

Ward etched his name in the history books this week as he became the top goalscorer for Great Britain and England (combined) with 138 goals to his name.

It came during England’s 2-2 draw with Spain, making it nine goals in five games for the striker at that stage of the competition.

Boon, meanwhile, raised his total to 300 goals for the Belgian Red Lions when he scored a hat trick against Argentina last weekend.

His tally is 14 goals in the Pro League in just seven games.

Thirteen of the Dutch side that returned to the top of the FIH Pro League this week are also set to play in the ABN AMRO EHL FINALS at Easter with either Den Bosch or SCHC.

The Dutch side beat England 5-1 and 6-0 in the opening two games of the series before getting a 4-2 win over India on Monday. In the latter match, they were pushed all the way by an Indian side who ran up a glut of penalty corners to make extremely difficult for the Oranje.

SCHC – who will face Railway Union in the FINAL12 on April 16 – are represented by Renee van Laarhoven, Pien Dicke, Marleen Jochems, Trijntje Beljaars and Lisa Post this week.

Den Bosch, meanwhile, provide Sanne Koolen, Frédérique Matla, Joosje Burg, Pien Sanders, Laura Nunnink, Emma Reijnen, Josine Koning and Rosa Fernig. They will be the EHL hosts and begin their campaign against the winner of that SCHC and Railway fixture.

Old Georgians continued their gold-rush as they landed top spot at the men’s EuroHockey Indoor Club Trophy in Budapest, earning promotion to the top tier for 2026.

The reigning outdoor and indoor English champions took first place from the event in what was their debut indoor European tournament with Alan Forsyth earning the top scorer award.

It is another big feather in their cap ahead of the EHL FINAL8 at Easter where they will compete in Den Bosch.

They opened the campaign with a mad-cap 8-8 draw against the other side to eventually be promoted, TJ Plzeň-Litice from Czechia.

OGs then went on a scoring spree with a 7-3 win over Poland’s KS Pomorzanin Torun and 15-3 against HK Sororksári to advance to the promotion pool.

There, they added a blistering 8-1 win over France’s Valenciennes and had promotion wrapped up before taking on AD Lousada in the final game of the tournament.

They barely relented with a big second half performance racking up a 9-4 success against the side from Portugal to assure them of gold.

Royal Léopold became the first Belgian side to win the men’s EuroHockey Indoor Club Cup as they produced a stunning shoot-out win over Mannheimer HC in Wettingen.

In so doing, they became just the seventh non-German side to win the competition in its 35 year history while Philippe Simar starred as top scorer with 13 goals from five games. Tanguy Zimmer was named player of the tournament.

It was the club’s second European trip of the season having made it through the EHL KO16 at Easter and they will next face Gantoise outdoors in the EHL FINAL8 at Easter.

The indoor final was a cagey encounter in which Tom Degroote got the only goal of the first half when Igor Lockwood picked out a beautiful crossfield pass. It set him through on goal on the right board where he loaded up and shot home.

Degroote doubled the advantage in the second half from a corner switch move as Léo hung deep for long periods and then pounced when they could.

Mannheim got a lifeline late in the third quarter when Ben Hasbach’s shot from the top of the D scrambled over the line.

And they were level midway through the final quarter from a clever corner move when Léo were left with just three defenders minding the goal.

The Belgian side survived to the shoot-out where they took the initial advantage with Degroote again scoring. Romain Henet saved twice, then, allowing Viktor Lockwood the chance to spin home the winning shoot-out.

Earlier in the competition, they sailed through the group stages with wins over Voordaan, Rotweiss Wettingen and HAHK Mladost, scoring 27 times. They followed up with a narrow 5-4 win over Sanse Complutense in the semi-final.

Royal Léopold will be looking to enjoy the use of a wider panel at the EuroHockey Indoor Club Cup this weekend in Wettingen following 2024’s miracle of Arminen.

A string of late withdrawals last year due to injury and Pro League call-ups left the Belgian indoor kings with only seven regular players for the intense four-day tournament a year ago.

Key players like Philippe Simar, who was the top scorer at the last World Cup in Croatia, Dylan Englebert, and Romain Henet who also participated in the World Cup were all unable to make the event.

As such, they had to field 48-year-old coach Christophe Moraux but they nonetheless finished in sixth place in the 10-team tournament, avoiding the bottom four who were all relegated.

This time around, the seven-time Belgian champions will be much stronger with star indoor players like Tanguy Zimmer and Tom Dergoote getting much more help in the rotation.

In addition, they also have the services of two French men, Olympian Viktor Lockwood and his brother Igor, who will be crucial

They begin their campaign on Friday in a group featuring 2024 bronze medalists HAHK Mladost, Switzerland’s Rotweiss Wettingen and Dutch newcomers Voordaan.

It will be the second of three European club events for Léo this season – they won through the EHL KO16 in October and will now face Gantoise in the ABN AMRO EHL FINAL8 at Easter in Den Bosch.