Sitting Bucks fly the flag in France

They will take on opposition from France (ASUL Lyon and Neptunes de Nantes) and Italy (Gas Sales Blue Nergy SV) in the group stages of the Silver EuroLeague for men. 

The serial English champions travelled to Lyon, France last year where they were beaten in straight sets by Kyiv Ukraine VC and KSO Spid Sarajevo, but took a set off IOK Borac-Beograd before beating ASUL Lyon 3-0, and losing 3-2 to Gioco Parma VC Cesena.  

They were also in action in 2024 where they were twice defeated by Slovenian hosts ECE Šempeter in a two-team Bronze EuroLeague Group. 

The Bucks will hope to use those experiences to good effect as they prepare to journey across the Channel and will warm-up with the fourth round of the sitting Grand Prix in Loughborough this weekend.

“As a club we are continuing to push our limits and, with the support of our sponsor Guidant Global, we are going to Nantes,  to compete in our third PVE European competition,” said Bucks founder and player, Steve Smith.

“We have a strong delegation of 12 of us (nine players, assistant coach, trainer and referee) and we aim to compete at the highest level in the silver league and challenge for one of the top two spots to earn a place in the Gold league later in the year in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

“Our team is strong and includes the regular GB and former GB players of Rob, John and Kev, as well as unleashing our new talent, Aedrin on the French and Italian club sides.

“We are flying Friday and have a training session planned after we land, followed by two matches Saturday and one match Sunday (all live streamed).

“We plan to block well and attack the ball as much as we can whilst trying remain ultra-alert for plays coming back from the opponents

“We have found that focusing on doing our job well as a team is the key to success - your opponents will do whatever they do, but if you can be switched, organised and focused within your own team then anything is achievable.”