by Matt Newsum

Middlesbrough are into Europe for the first time in their history

Middlesbrough Football Club stunned European football when they reached the final of the prestigious UEFA Cup tournament back in May 2006.

Against all the odds Steve McClaren's bunch of homegrown talents and less fashionable imports battled their way to Eindhoven, where the dream came to an end with a 4-0 defeat at the hands of Spanish side Sevilla.

Two years on, and a small band of roller hockey players from the town are hoping to repeat the success of their beloved football club, and once again put 'Boro' on the sporting map.

Middlesbrough Roller Hockey Club are one of the top sides in the English Premier League, along with Herne Bay United in Kent and Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk.

Their third-place finish in the domestic league last season earned them qualification for the CERS Cup, roller hockey's answer to football's UEFA Cup.

And it will be a proud moment for a club that began life in 1947 to take its place among Europe's best for the first time.

Their opponents in the preliminary round of the CERS Cup are German side RESG Walsum, based in Dusseldorf.

Hockey in Europe is far more developed than it is in England, with professional and semi-professional leagues operating in Spain, Portugal, Italy and Germany.

Peter Lonsdale is one of the club's longest serving players, having joined the club as a youngster and has progressed through the youth ranks and into the first team.

He is looking forward to the club's European adventure but admits it will be tough to compete with the standard of hockey on the continent.

"Walsum train three or four times a week, they have a nice big stadium of their own and I'm sure it will be full of German fans baying for our blood," he told BBC Sport.

"I've played in four national cup finals, but as far as I'm concerned this is the big one.

Boro have been training hard ahead of their Euro trip

"It's the first time I've played in Europe and given my age it will probably be my last chance."

European competition has not come cheap either; Middlesbrough are an amateur outfit as opposed to those from the continent who are funded for their travel, participation and expenses.

Peter and his team-mates have been working hard to raise cash, running the town's 10km race and also working to attract sponsorship.

Again the emphasis has been on maintaining local links, with Teesside organisations such as Cleveland Bridge, Sangwin, Crisp Thinking, Access Training Services and Mobile Plant Training Sevices offering their help.

Just getting the team and all their kit over to Germany will be a tough call, and Lonsdale, as a senior member of the side, has taken on the responsibility.

"There's been a lot of work with this German trip, just getting things sorted," he said.

"Each round is going to cost about £3,500 when we've paid for the venue, the referee and our travel expenses and for an amateur club it's been difficult to find.

"Dealing with hockey players is like dealing with a load of children.

"They can't be trusted to do anything themselves. But I like organising this, and when I pack in playing I'm going to get involved with that."

Should Boro progress to the first round proper they will be paired with another German side in the shape of RSC Cronenberg.

Lonsdale is under no illusions with regard the size of the task ahead, in particular with their two-legged affair with Walsum.

"Cronenberg are strictly professional, they've got more foreign players than they have German," he said.

"They'll be training every day of the week, for six or seven hours a day, so you can imagine us coming from our office jobs going to play against those guys it will be a massive test.

"But firstly it will be a big test against Walsum and if we can go out there and get something, then it'll be a huge credit to the players and the work we've put in."

Middlesbrough face Walsum in the first leg of their CERS Cup tie in Germany on Saturday 18 October at 2000 BST, with the return leg taking place at Eston on Saturday 15 November.

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