England’s senior men return to action in home nations tournament

England’s senior men’s water polo team are set to play their first competitive matches on home turf in more than three years when they take part in a Home Nations Tournament this weekend.

The event will take place at the new Alan Higgs Centre, Coventry, on 28-29 May.

The competition has been set up by Swim England in conjunction with a local organising committee led by England’s team manager Ian Elliot.

England will take on Wales, Scotland and Ireland in a tournament that presents a great opportunity to prepare the team for the upcoming EU Nations tournament this summer.

The event is the first matches of the year for the England men’s senior side and comes after the women’s side recently completed their campaign in the Danube League.

This England side haven’t been seen since the last EU Nations tournament in November, where they lost to Ukraine (7-19), Lithuania (9-17) and Belgium (9-17) before defeating Wales 19-3.

England’s squad will be coached by Matt Holland with Elliot as the team manager.

The Home Nations event matches will all be on 30m pitches, and will utilise flying subs for the first time in this country.

Match officials along with delegates, referees and table officials from the British Programme – as well as local volunteers from City of Coventry Water Polo Club and the local community – will all support the event.

This includes Ukrainian referee Anna Gonachrenko, who recently moved to the UK from Kharkiv.

After the tournament, the team will be back in action in Brno, Czech Republic, for the EU Nations Tournament from 24-26 June before a friendly against the 2012 London Olympic team in London on 9 July.

Entry to the event is free and all matches will be recorded and shared by We Play Sport later next week.