The EuroHockey Club Trophy is an annual men's field hockey competition organised by the EHF for European hockey clubs. It is the second most prestigious European club competition, being one tier below the top men's European club competition the Euro Hockey League, and the top women's European club competition the EuroHockey Club Champions Cup. In that sense the ECT is hockey's equivalent of the UEFA Europa League.
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The tournament features 8 clubs from EHF member countries.
Each year one of the 8 available league places is allocated to a EHF member country's National Association. The clubs admitted are the second club of those National Associations ranked 9-12, the clubs of the 2 National Associations promoted from the previous year's EuroHockey Club Challenge I, plus the clubs of the next two lowest ranked nations in the ranking table.
The teams are separated into 2 pools of 4 teams. In each pool (pool A and B) the teams play one match against each of the other three teams in their pool (making a total of six pool matches). The teams then go on to play classification matches based on their relative ranking from these pool matches to determine their final tournament position.
In each pool, A and B, all the teams play each other once, with points awarded as follows:
Upon completion of these matches, each team in the pool is ranked according to the number of points each has accumulated. If any teams in the pool have the same rank, then these teams are ranked:
Once the relative ranking of the teams in pools A and B is settled, the classification matches proceed as follows:
If the score at the end of the regulation time of a classification match is a draw, then a penalty stroke competition is played to establish a winner.
Above the EuroHockey Club Trophy is the Euro Hockey League, and below it is the EuroHockey Club Challenge 1, the EuroHockey Club Challenge 2, and so on. This structure is designed to give every EHF member nation the opportunity to enter their best clubs into European competition at an appropriate level, and through that exposure to improve the level of their domestic hockey.