11 Of The Best: Alex Danson-Bennett’s Memorable Moments

23/10/2001 - Makes senior international debut against Germany aged 16, becoming the youngest player to be capped for England.

10/08/2008 – Makes her Olympic debut against Germany in Beijing, a Games in which she would go on to feature in every match for GB.

Dec 2011 – Named alongside Helen Richardson-Walsh in the FIH World All Stars Team after enjoying a superb year that saw her help England take bronze at the EuroHockey Championships.

28/08/2015 – Notches 50th England goal in 2-0 victory over Spain in the 2015 Unibet EuroHockey Championships to send the team through to the final.

30/08/2015 – Scores shootout goal to help England defeat the Netherlands in the 2015 EuroHockey Championships Final and take gold on home soil, also being named Player of the Tournament.

19/08/2016 – Helps women’s team to a first ever Olympic gold medal as the team triumph over the Dutch in the final. Despite not scoring in the final, she finished the tournament as the joint-leading goal scorer.

2017 – Sets up Hockey Academy aiming to improve the health and wellbeing of young people through participation in physical activity and to inspire as many children as possible to pick up a stick and play hockey.

10/06/2017 – Captains England for the first time in opening Investec Internationals match against Argentina. The next day, hits 100 international goals as England come back to draw 2-2 with the Netherlands in second Investec Internationals match.

08/11/2017 – Named permanent England and GB captain after being voted into the position by her teammates.

12/04/2018 – Joins an exclusive group of top appearance makers as she collects her 300th combined cap in Commonwealth Games semi-final match against Mark Hager’s New Zealand side.

25/07/2018 – Wins 200th England cap in front of a packed-out crowd of 10,000 at Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre against USA at the Vitality Hockey Women’s World Cup. Making it an even bigger occasion as she also scored her 115th international goal to draw level with Marjorie Pollard as the top women’s international goal scorer for her country. This would be her last international goal. Less than a week later she made what would be her final international appearance in defeat to the Netherlands.

Finishing as one of the most decorated female hockey players in England and GB history, she’s amassed an incredible tally of titles and stats:

• Four gold medals, including the 2016 Rio Olympics and 2015 EuroHockey Championship 
• -17 career medals: 2x Olympics (gold & bronze), World Cup (bronze), 4x Commonwealth Games (1x silver & 3x bronze), 6x EuroHockey Championships (gold, silver, 5x bronze), 2x Champions Trophy (silver & bronze)
• Featured in three Olympics, five World Cups and eight EuroHockey Championships in a career that spanned over 15 years
• Nobody scored more goals than Alex Danson-Bennett in the past two Olympic Games, having bagged five at both London 2012 and Rio 2016 in which she was twice the leading goal scorer. She has ten goals over this time period, two more than the Netherlands’ Maartje Paumen, who has eight
• On four occasions, she finished as runner up for the FIH Women’s Player of the Year award (2013, 2015, 2016 and 2017) and was named as Hockey Writers’ Player of the Year in the UK in 2011
• After bursting onto the scene as a 16-year-old, Alex finished as runner up for the 2001 BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year Award

Great Britain and England Hockey will formally mark Alex’s incredible career in their FIH Hockey Pro League home game against Argentina in the FIH Hockey Pro League in May 2021. With a sell out crowd expected, it will be a great moment to recognise Alex’s service to the sport. Click below to purchase tickets.