The biggest hockey event ever to be held in the UK is coming to London next year and supporters have a chance to secure their tickets this weekend.

The women’s World Cup will be held at the Lee Valley Hockey & Tennis Centre next summer, when England go head to head with the best teams from across the globe in a battle for gold.

And a special ticket ballot opens on Saturday at 9am, for fans to get the chance to be there in person to cheer on their heroes.

Applicants need to register, select which sessions and tickets they would like and give payment details. A ballot will be drawn after the September 6 deadline and those successful will be notified and charged for the tickets.

Sign up at fih.ch/events/world-cup.

England’s men and women head to the Netherlands this weekend to compete in the EuroHockey Championships looking for more success.

The men finished fourth in the 2015 tournament and are set to face Poland, Germany and Ireland in their pool in Amsterdam.

The women are aiming to defend the title after winning gold in London two years ago and meet Ireland, Germany and Scotland in their pool.

Great Britainn’s Olympic gold medal-winning goalkeeper Maddie Hinch already has one eye on the 2018 World Cup and said: “Our priority is to win medals and I wouldn’t want that to change for a minute.

“This is absolutely massive. It’s the next biggest event after the Olympic Games. Everyone says the Olympics is the pinnacle and then the World Cup is huge and to have it at home in London and off the back of what happened in Rio makes it even more special.

“The idea of having fully-packed stands while we’re playing is everything we want as athletes because they do, literally, give us that extra push when the games are tight.

“That has been shown a number of times, when people think it’s all over, the crowd gets behind us and we magically bring it back.

“I’m sure that will happen next summer as well, so we’re going to need all the support we can get.”