David Ralph named new England and GB women's hockey coach

Assistant coach David Ralph has been promoted to become the new head coach of the Great Britain and England women's hockey teams.

The former Scotland international has twice been interim head coach, guiding England to EuroHockey bronze in 2017.

He takes over from Mark Hager who resigned after leading GB to bronze at the Tokyo Olympics.

"It's a privilege and an honour to continue working with such an excellent group," said Ralph.

"There is a fantastic foundation to build on, due to the tremendous work that has already taken place in creating a vision and a culture that the team pursues and lives by.

"This is a programme that has a rich history of success and has been at the forefront of raising the profile of women's team sport.

"I relish the opportunity to continue that work and write our own history as I believe we possess a great deal of quality within the group.

"This is a group of people that I fully believe in and have loved working with."

Ralph has also been assistant coach to the GB men, including a spell as their interim head coach - and coached both the England men's U21 and indoor teams.

Performance director Ed Barney welcomed Ralph's appointment.

"David was the outstanding candidate and expressed a real depth of passion and excitement for the role," he said.

"Alongside this, the panel could clearly see the creativity and innovation that David will bring not only to the senior women, but also the deep commitment to supporting the full women's pathway."