Graphic: The logo of the EGCA Champions League
The 2024 Champions League season has just concluded, but the EGCA Competition Committee has the pleasure and honor of announcing the organizers and dates for the 2025 season events that you can find below.
Next the EGCA Competition Committee will decide the rules and regulations for the upcoming season, where EGCA member clubs will also have the opportunity to influence and propose updates to the rules and regulations.
Club registration for the next season will begin at the start of September. For the Women’s Champions League, registration will commence in early 2025.
HOSTS AND DATES OF THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 2025
EGCA Champions League Qualification Stages:
- 20th – 23rd February, Peterborough, Great Britain organized by Fen Tigers
- 6th – 9th March, Rostock, Germany organized by RGC Hansa
- 20th – 23rd March, Podgorica, Montenegro organized by GC Niksic
- EGCA Champions League Final Stage 2025: 19th – 23rd June, Matosinhos, Portugal organized by ANDDVIS & FC Porto
- EGCA Women’s Champions League 2025: 23rd – 27th October, Berlin, Germany organized by Füchse Berlin
THREE QUALIFICATION STAGES FOR THE FIRST TIME IN CHAMPIONS LEAGUE HISTORY
The EGCA Champions League has broken records year after year in terms of the number of participating clubs, with 22 clubs from all over Europe taking part last season. The goal for the next season is 25 participating clubs, with three qualification stages being held for the first time in the league’s history.
Each qualification stage will include up to eight teams, with the top three advancing to the season-ending Final Stage, where the host team, FC Porto, will automatically qualify.
Fen Tigers became the first British club to participate in the Champions League in the 2022 season. The very active club is making history again by hosting the first-ever Champions League tournament in the UK.
On last Sunday RGC Hansa, the pride of Rostock, celebrated their silver medal in the Champions League. This highly reliable and experienced tournament organizer, along with the fantastic venue OSPA Arena, is an unbeatable combination for a successful tournament weekend in early March.
The series of qualification stages will be completed by the bronze medal team of the Champions League GC Niksic, who will host a qualification tournament in Montenegro for the second time (previously in 2022). The event will be held at the Sport Verde sports center, which hosted the Goalball European Championships in December 2023.
NEW TOURNAMENT FOR NON-QUALIFYING TEAMS
The EGCA Competition Committee has launched a new tournament format for teams that do not manage to advance from the Champions League qualification stages to the Final Stage. The tournament, named the EGCA European Goalball Cup will be held at the end of 2025, hosted by one of the non-qualifying teams.
“With this innovation, we aim to offer teams that do not qualify for the final tournament another high-level club competition during the year,” commented EGCA President Erkki Miinala on the new format.
SEPARATE TOURNAMENT WEEKEND FOR WOMEN
Graphic: The winning team,Füchse Berlin women in the prize ceremony at the Champions League Finals 2024
For the past five seasons the Champions League Final Stageand the Women’s Champions League tournament have been held simultaneously on the same weekend, as was the case this year in Blankenberge, Belgium. Next year, this will change.
The Champions League final will be played at the usual time, in late June in Matosinhos, Portugal, near the city of Porto. The Champions League Final Stage was last held in Portugal in 2021. Matosinhos has also hosted the Goalball World Championships and the European Championships B-division in 2022. The Champions League final tournament will feature a record 10 teams.
The Women’s Champions League tournament on the other hand will be held in late October in Berlin, hosted by the current Women’s Champions League winner, Füchse Berlin who also hosted a Champions League qualification stage last season. The aim is to have a record 10 participating teams in the Women’s Champions League.
“We wanted to give these two wonderful tournaments their own weekends so that we can better enjoy the performances of Europe’s best players and also slightly reduce the workload of the tournament organizers. We want the Women’s Champions League to flourish in the same way as the men’s and believe that a dedicated weekend for the women could increase interest in this tournament. Additionally, Berlin is an excellent meeting place for Europe’s best women’s teams next October,” Miinala explains the reasons behind this change.
One thing is certain: next year will be an amazing year for club goalball. Stay tuned, and let’s make it great together – All for goalball!