Roehampton won the European Club League Grand Final

[<<] [>>] by Ian Burridge at Sussex County
14th October (GC)

The Grand Final of the 3rd European Club League took place at Sussex County Croquet Club (England), 10-12th October. The hosts were joined by 11 teams that had won their way through to the final from heats spread across Europe from Vigo in the West of Spain to Ikskile in Latvia.

The teams of 4 players were divided into two blocks of six for the initial phase of the competition, with a match between the teams consisting of two doubles and four singles games. Block A was dominated by Roehampton (England), who went unbeaten but were held to a draw by Vigo (Spain). All the teams in the block secured at least a draw and the last of the four qualification places was determined in the final round when Vigo managed to secure the draw they needed at the expense of their opponent's Broadwas (England). Balgreen (Scotland) progressed to the Quarter- Finals in second place with Phyllis Court (England) third. In contrast Block B was far more clear cut with it being clear from a long way out that Sussex County (England), Cheltenham (England), Carrickmines (Ireland) and defending champions Real Club de la Puerta de Hierro (Spain), were going to take the quarter-final places. It was therefore rather surprising when in the Quarter-Finals, following a standard A1v B4, A3vB2 etc draw that all the teams from block A ran out victorious, Roehampton without dropping a game. This was a sign of things to come as they convincingly beat Phyllis Court in the Semi-Final 6-1 before securing the title with a 7-1 win over Balgreen, who had equally convincingly seen off Vigo in the other semi-final. The unsung star of the Roehampton team, with the best individual record over the course of the event, was Nick Yates losing only his opening doubles game and ending with a record of 8/8 singles and 8/9 doubles.

As a consequence of their early exit from the Championship the Bowl was contested by the four qualifiers from block B, with Carrickmines who had only managed 3rd place in the block coming out victorious. The Plate, contested by the four teams that did not qualify for the championship knock-out, was won by Ikskile (Latvia).

Final Standings

Winners: Roehampton (England)

Runners-Up: Balgreen (Scotland)

3rd: Phyllis Court (England)

4th: Club de Campo de Vigo (Spain)

Bowl Winners: Carrickmines (Ireland)

6th: Cheltenham (England)

7th: Sussex County (England)

8th: Real Club de la Puerta de Hierro (Spain)

Plate Winners: Ikskile (Latvia)

10th: Real Club de Golf Vista Hermosa (Spain)

11th: Broadwas (England)

12th: Real Club de Golf Novo Sancti Petri (Spain)

Full results available at https://croquetscores.com/2025/gc/european-club-league-grand-final-1