Statistical Talk: Men’s FIH Pro League
The 6th edition of the FIH Pro League would get underway in December 2024. The inaugural FIH Pro League was held in 2019 that was won by the Australia. Belgium won the 2020-21 edition, while the Netherlands won the 2021-22 and 2022-23 editions. Australia won the 2023-24 edition. Let us take a statistical deep dive into the FIH Pro League across all six editions.
Top Goal Scorers:
Alexander Hendrickx – Belgium (53)
Harmanpreet Singh – India (52)
Samuel Ward – Great Britain/England (37)
Jip Janssen – Netherlands (37)
Blake Govers – Australia (33)
Only Team to be Suspended from Pro League: Pakistan in the inaugural 2019 edition
Number of Teams Featuring Across All Editions: 12 nations.
Image Credit: FIH
First Goal of Pro League: Maxime Plennevaux (Belgium) vs Spain at Valencia on January 19, 2019
Team Scoring Most Goals: Belgium (227 Goals)
Number of Global Venues Used in Pro League Across All Editions: 34
First Come-From-Behind Win of Pro League: Belgium beating Australia 4-1 at Melbourne
Only Team to Pull Out of the Pro League Owing to Lack of Sponsorship: South Africa in the 2023-24 edition
Teams Featuring in All 5 Editions of Pro League: Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Spain, Great Britain, and Spain
Most Goals Scored in any single Pro League Edition: Harmanpreet Singh (India) 18 goals each in the 2021-22 & 2022-23 editions
Nations hosting Pro league matches at Most Venues: Germany across 7 venues
Teams That Withdrew from Pro League for One Edition Owing to Covid-Related Travel Restrictions: Australia & New Zealand in the 2021-22 edition
Team Scoring Most Goals: Spain (194 Goals)
Most Hat-Tricks in Pro League: Harmanpreet Singh (India) 4 – vs South Africa at Potchefstroom, vs England at Bhubaneshwar, vs Argentina at Antwerp & vs Australia at Rourkela
Biggest Win of Pro League: Netherlands beat South Africa 11-1 at the 2021-22 edition at Potchefstroom
Teams Making Solitary Pro League Appearance: South Africa, France, and Ireland
Fastest Goal of Pro League: Daniel Beale (Australia) in the 1st minute vs Belgium at Melbourne
Team Winning Most Matches in Regulation Time in a Single Pro League Edition: Australia 10 wins in the 2019 edition
Top Team Handed Frequent Heavy Defeats by One Team in Pro League: Germany – they lost 0-8, 1-6, and again 1-6 to Belgium on three occasions
Team Winning Pro League on Most Occasions: Australia & Netherlands on two occasions each
First Hat-Trick of Pro League: Sam Ward (Great Britain/England) vs New Zealand at Christchurch
First Match of Pro League: Spain drew Belgium 2-2 in regulation time and won the shootout 2-0 at Valencia on January 19, 2019
Only Player to score 2 Hat-Tricks against Same Opponents at the Same Pro League Venue: Sam Ward (Great Britain) vs New Zealand in the 2019 edition & 2022-23 edition at Nga Puna Wai Hockey Stadium, Christchurch
Team Posting Most Shootout Wins in a Single Pro League Edition: Spain 5 in the 2019 edition
Most Goals Scored in Any Single Pro League Edition: 376 Goals in the 2021-22 edition
Image Credit: FIH
Most Goals Scored in a Pro League Match: Harmanpreet Singh (4) vs South Africa at, Potchefstroom, Sam Ward 4 vs India at London, Tomas Domene (4) vs New Zealand, & Alexander Hendrickx (4) vs Argentina
Number of Players Scoring Hat-Tricks in Pro League: 11 Harmanpreet Singh (India), Sam Ward (Great Britain), Jugraj Singh (India), Alexander Hendrickx (Belgium), Tomas Domene (Argentina), José Basterra (Spain), Tom Boon (Belgium), Jacob Anderson (Australia), Gaspard Baumgarten (France), Álvaro Iglesias (Spain) & Joel Rintala (Australia)
Team Losing Most Matches in Regulation Time in a Single Pro League Edition: South Africa 14 defeats in the 2021-22 edition
