Matthew Myers and Aaron Nell will be part of Great Britain’s coaching staff for next month’s men’s European Cup of Nations in Poland.
Myers and Nell will be Assistant Coaches for the tournament, joining Head Coach Pete Russell and Goalie Coach Euan King.
GB will face hosts Poland – along with Italy and Ukraine – in Sosnowiec from 5th to 7th November. Matches will take place at the 3,500-seater Arcelor Mittal Park ice rink.
Ice Hockey UK National Teams Programme Director, Jonathan Phillips, said: “We talk about the importance of the pathway for our players, but the same is true for our coaches.
“Aaron has been hugely successful in Swindon and led the Wildcats to the league title last season. He’s now an established and highly-regarded Head Coach in the NIHL.
“Matthew has already had success as Head Coach, winning the Romanian Supercup title last season.
“I think it’s important to get the next generation of coaches embedded in the GB Programme – just like we will be doing with the players – and having Matthew and Aaron go to Poland for the tournament does exactly that.”
GB’s roster for the tournament will be announced in due course.
Great Britain schedule
Thursday 5th November: Great Britain v Italy 16:00 (15:00 GMT)
Friday 6th November: Ukraine v Great Britain 16:00 (15:00 GMT)
Saturday 7th November: Poland v Great Britain 14:45 (13:45 GMT)
Matthew Myers
Myers appeared in 19 World Championship tournaments and five Olympic Qualifiers, playing 114 games, scoring 22 goals and 21 assists for 43 points.
The Cardiff-born forward never missed a World Championship and was part of GB’s gold medal-winning campaigns in Belfast (2017), Hungary (2018) and Nottingham (2023).
Myers also won silver medals in 2011, 2015 and 2016, as well as a bronze in 2009. He played in three successive top-flight World Championship tournaments, starting with Slovakia in 2019.
Myers had a glittering playing career with Cardiff Devils and Nottingham Panthers for over two decades.
He helped Nottingham win five Playoff Championships, five Challenge Cup trophies and the Elite League title in 2013.
With the Devils, Myers won the Elite League twice as well as two playoff Championship and two Challenge Cup titles.
Myers was named Assistant Coach of Cardiff Devils in 2024/25 and last season was named Head Coach of CSM Corona Brasov, leading them to the
Aaron Nell
Nell represented Great Britain as a player at under-18s and under-20s, before going on to play for his country at the 2013 World Championship in Hungary.
Domestically, he began his junior career in Swindon and then had two years in North America. On his return, he played over 100 Elite League games for Coventry Blaze and Sheffield Steelers and spent the majority of his playing career with Swindon Wildcats.
He took up the player-coach role in Swindon partway through the 2015/16 season and won the Autumn Cup and National Cup double in 2017/18.
Last season, he led Swindon to the NIHL title and was named Coach of the Year. He retired from playing at the end of the season after icing in over 800 games for the Wildcats, scoring a remarkable 1,300 points. He is now Head Coach and GM of the Wildcats.
Nell has also spent time as Assistant Coach of Great Britain Under-20s, winning bronze medals in 2018 and 2019.