St Albans Hockey Club haven appointed the 2012 men's Olympic hockey team manager and current head coach of England's indoor hockey programme Andy Halliday as the head coach for their men's team.

Halliday is a former St Albans player and has been appointed as part of a restructure which also sees Matt Burton-Bowen come in as ladies head coach and John Garner as strength and conditioning coach.

The restructure of the performance teams aims to give the players at the club access to a range of support services that will maximise their training and preparation efforts.

The men's and ladies teams, who both play their hockey in the respective national league East Conference, have been training hard over the traditional break in preparation for their final push in the 2013/14 campaign. Both teams have a lot to play for with the men currently staring down the barrel of the play-off route to ensure their survival and the ladies pushing for a top-three position.

Halliday said: "Our boys have a tough two months of hockey ahead of them but I'm pleased with the progress the group has made over the break. We've worked hard and created a tangible feeling of belief amongst the players who have put themselves in the best position possible to improve their fortunes in the league."

The first home match for the men is on February 16 against Brighton & Hove at 2pm.

Visit http://www.stalbanshc.co.uk/ for more information about the club.