New PSL Season Welcomes Three New Clubs

The new season of the Premier League (PSL) will get underway on Tuesday 3rd October, with three clubs making their debut in the 24th season of the sport's longest-established national league.

Esporta Oxford will join defending champions Benz-Bavarian Duffield, from Derbyshire; league stalwarts Nottingham; Birmingham University; and Yorkshire club Pontefract in Group A. Fellow newcomers Probuild Bristol and Luxfords St George's Hill, from Surrey, will compete in Group B alongside Tinos Homes Chichester, UniSport Guildford and Croydon's Surrey Health & Racquets.

Led by Australia's Berkshire-based world No24 Cameron Pilley, Esporta Oxford - also featuring two Oxfordshire-based players, former British national champion Mark Cairns and Scott Handley - visit Birmingham University for their opening PSL fixture. Rapidly improving Englishman Joey Barrington, from Somerset, will lead Birmingham University for the second season.

Londoner Adrian Grant, the Halifax-based world No17, will spearhead the Probuild Bristol attack, supported by Australian Joseph Kneipp, the world No32, and Welshman David Evans, the former British Open champion. The west country team will make its debut on Tuesday 24th October, hosting fellow PSL newcomers Luxfords St George's Hill.

The Surrey club squad boasts a notable international flavour, with Dutchman Laurens Jan Anjema, the world No22, leading the men's attack, backed by Frenchman Renan Lavigne and Egyptian Hisham Mohd Ashour. After a distinguished and unbeaten four-season run for former league club Edgbaston Priory, Australia's record five-times world champion Sarah Fitz-Gerald makes her return to the PSL with Luxfords St George's Hill - and will appear in the club's first home fixture against Surrey Health & Racquets.

Despite his retirement from the international circuit this month, Peter Nicol will again represent the Croydon club in the new PSL season. Australia's world No5 Anthony Ricketts will lead the Surrey Health & Racquets attack for the first time, in tandem with Malaysia's world champion Nicol David.

Title-holders Benz-Bavarian Duffield will again be led by British national champions Nick Matthew and Tania Bailey. Matthew was cheered to success by supporters of his East Midlands club in Nottingham earlier this month when he became the first home grown Englishman to win the British Open crown since 1939!

Club squads:
Benz-Bavarian Duffield - Nick Matthew, Peter Barker, Jonathan Kemp, Dan Jenson, Lee Drew, Andrew Whipp, Laurence Delasaux, Sam Miller, Tania Bailey, Laura Hill
Birmingham University - Joey Barrington, Jonathan Harford, Joel Hinds, Stephen Coppinger, Jaymie Haycocks, Jonathan Tate, Chris Truswell, Tom Power, Steve London, Laura-Jane Lengthorn, Georgina Stoker, Leonie Holt
Esporta Oxford - Cameron Pilley, Scott Handley, Mark Cairns, Aaron Frankcomb, Chris Ryder, Rob Sutherland, Kristen Johnson, Darren Lewis, Ryan Thompson, Thomas Phipps, Jason Martin, Stuart Summers, Deon Saffery, Julie Peachey
Nottingham - Ong Beng Hee, Simon Parke, Tommy Berden, Jethro Binns, James Wright, Hardeep Reel, Duncan Walsh, Lewis Walters, Natalie Grinham, Dominique Lloyd-Walter, Sarah Kippax
Pontefract - James Willstrop, Lee Beachill, Saurav Ghosal, Ryan Thompson, Andrew Cross, Neil Cordell, Adam Taylor, Sam Wileman, Shelley Kitchen, Rebecca Botwright, Lauren Siddall, Kirsty McPhee
Probuild Bristol - Adrian Grant, Joseph Kneipp, David Evans, Hadrian Stiff, Chris Clare, Ricky Davies, James Snell, Asa Morris, Tegwen Malik, Emma Chorley
UniSport Guildford - Stacey Ross, Stephen Meads, Jesse Engelbrecht, Mick Biggs, Phil Rushworth, Alex Ingham, Alison Waters, Jenny Tranfield, Rachel Willmott
Luxfords St George's Hill - Laurens Jan Anjema, Renan Lavigne, Hisham Mohd Ashour, Daryl Selby, Alister Walker, Tom Richards, Joe Lee, Danny Lee, Jason Barry, Sarah Fitz-Gerald, Adel Weir, Lauren Selby
Surrey Health & Racquets - Anthony Ricketts, Peter Nicol, Davide Bianchetti, Bradley Ball, Tim Garner, Simon Rosner, Chris Simpson, Phillip Barker, Ben Ford, Nicol David, Lauren Briggs, Stephanie Brind
Tinos Homes Chichester - Alex Gough, Mark Chaloner, Ben Garner, Peter Genever, Tim Vail, Tom Pashley, Matt Holland, Linda Elriani, Suzie Pierrepont, Line Hansen

1st round, Tuesday 3 October 2006
Group A:
Pontefract v Nottingham
Birmingham University v Esporta Oxford
Group B:
Tinos Homes Chichester v UniSport Guildford
Luxfords St George's Hill v Surrey Health & Racquets Croydon