Phil Roper

{{Infobox field hockey player

|name=Phil Roper

|image= 150px

|birth_date={{Birth date and age|1992|1|24|df=yes}}

|birth_place=Chester, England

|height=1.80 m

|weight=66 kg

|position=Midfielder / Forward

|youthclubs1=Chester HC

|youthyears1=2000–2010

|clubs1=Brooklands MU

|years1=2008-2009

|clubs2=Sheffield Hallam

|years2=2010-2013

|clubs3=Wimbledon

|years3=2013-2021

|clubs4=Oranje-Rood

|years4=2021-2022

|clubs5=Holcombe

|years5=2022-2023

|clubs6=Old Georgians

|years6=2024-present

|nationalteam1=England & GB

|nationalyears1=2013–present

|nationalcaps1=163

|nationalgoals1=39

|medaltemplates=

}}

Phillip Andrew Roper (born 24 January 1992) is an English field hockey player who plays as a midfielder or forward for Old Georgians and the England and Great Britain national teams.{{cite web | url=https://teamengland.org/team-england-athletes/phil-roper | title=Phil Roper | Team England | Birmingham 2022 }}{{Cite web |url=http://www.englandhockey.co.uk/player.asp?itemid=8546&itemTitle=Phil+Roper§ion=44 |title=Senior Squads | England Hockey}} He competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics and 2024 Summer Olympics.

Biography

= Club career =

Roper started playing hockey, aged 8, for his local club Chester HC and played there for ten years before going to university, where he played for Sheffield Hallam.{{cite web |url=http://w.fixtureslive.com/player/267481/overview/Phil-Roper |title=EHL Statistics |work=Fixtureslive.com |accessdate=2015-01-24}} He played club hockey for Brooklands MU and Wimbledon before joining Dutch club Oranje-Rood for the 2021–22 season.{{cite web |title=Oranje Rood get their man... Phil Roper signs. |date=17 February 2021 |url=https://hockeywrldnws.com/orange-rood-get-their-man-phil-roper-signs/ |access-date=6 March 2021}}

Roper played for Holcombe during the 2022-2023 season before joining Old Georgians. He helped Old Georgians finish runner-up to Surbiton during the 2024–25 season.{{cite web|url=https://www.thehockeypaper.co.uk/articles/2025/05/05/england-hockey-finals-reading-women-and-surbiton-men-land-surprise-titles |title=England Hockey Finals: Reading women and Surbiton men land surprise titles|website=The Hockey Paper |date=5 May 2025 |access-date=5 May 2025}}

= International career =

Roper made his international debut in 2013. He competed for England in the men's hockey tournament at the 2014 Commonwealth Games where he won a bronze medal.{{cite web |title=Phil Roper biography |url=http://results.glasgow2014.com/athlete/squash/1023989/phil_roper.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006132302/http://results.glasgow2014.com/athlete/squash/1023989/phil_roper.html |url-status=usurped |archive-date=6 October 2014 |accessdate=2014-10-04}} On 24 May 2017 he was named as one of a three-man captaincy group, for England and Great Britain. It was a new captaincy structure for the men's international teams.{{Cite web |url=http://www.englandhockey.co.uk/news.asp?itemid=41121&itemTitle=Great+Britain+and+England%27s+men+announce+landmark+captaincy+structure§ion=22 |title=Latest Media | England Hockey}} He represented England and won a bronze medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast.{{cite web|url=https://teamengland.org/news/mens-hockey-team-ready-for-gold-coast-challenge |title=Men’s hockey team ready for Gold Coast challenge |website=England Hockey |date=12 March 2018 |access-date=17 May 2025}}

On 28 May 2021, he was selected in the England squad for the 2021 EuroHockey Championship{{cite web |title=England Squads For 2021 EuroHockey Championships Announced |url=https://www.englandhockey.co.uk/media/news/england-squads-for-2021-eurohockey-championships-announced?dm_i=K8Z,7E1KO,3D8XWY,U036V,1 |website=englandhockey.co.uk |publisher=England Hockey |access-date=28 May 2021 |date=28 May 2021}} and was selected to represent Great Britain for the delayed 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.{{cite web|url=https://www.skysports.com/olympics/news/15234/12334725/team-gb-hockey-21-players-to-make-olympic-debuts-as-mens-and-womens-squads-are-named|title=Team GB hockey: 21 players to make Olympic debuts as men's and women's squads are named |website=Sky Sports|date=17 June 2021 |access-date=16 May 2025}}

He won a bronze medal with England in the Men's tournament at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/commonwealth-games/62463163 |title=Commonwealth Games: England's men win hockey bronze against South Africa |website=BBC Sport|access-date=11 May 2025}}

He was selected to represent Great Britain at the 2024 Summer Olympics.{{cite web |title=GB hockey select Roper for fourth Olympic Games |url=https://www.bbc.com/sport/hockey/articles/ce99edrn13wo |website=bbc.com |publisher=BBC |access-date=9 August 2024 |date=18 June 2024}} The team went out in the quarter-finals after losing a penalty shootout to India.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/olympics/articles/cy799nlnp8lo|title=GB wait for men's hockey medal goes on after shootout heartbreak|publisher=BBC Sport|accessdate=9 August 2024}}

= Other pursuits =

Roper presents the popular Let’s Stick Together podcast alongside fellow international hockey players Brendan Creed and Joep de Mol. He is also a partner in The Social Bean a boutique coffee business, alongside Old Georgians teammate Chris Griffiths (field hockey), as well as David Goodfield, and Jacob Draper.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}

References

External links

{{Sports links}}
[https://www.englandhockey.co.uk/international/senior-squad/phil-roper Phil Roper] on England Hockey
{{Team England|phil-roper}}
{{2022 Commonwealth Games profile|56168|Phillip Roper}}

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Category:1992 births

Category:Living people

Category:Sportspeople from Chester

Category:Male field hockey midfielders

Category:Male field hockey forwards

Category:English male field hockey players