Paul Drinkhall is back in the Senior British Clubs League, Premier Division!

The three-time Olympian will play in this weekend’s round of fixtures after signing for Drumchapel Glasgow.

It will be the first time in almost exactly 10 years that Drinkhall has featured in the top domestic division, since he helped Sycamore to win the title in February 2016. He has played for other clubs including Ormesby and Barrow over the years.

“I practice with Aaron McKibbin quite a bit and obviously he plays for Drumchapel,” said Drinkhall, explaining how the move came about.

“I think with only one foreign player allowed, every team started to look into some British players being available and I’m not signed for a club abroad, so I guess I was the obvious target.

“Over the years I’ve played quite a lot, mainly Ormesby in the early years, then round a few different clubs and I’m looking forward to it.

“Whether it’s British Clubs League or in another competition, I always enjoy playing at home because you don’t get to do it very often, and in a team event as well – so it should be good.”

Drumchapel are currently bottom of the Premier Division, having lost all four matches on Weekend 1, but with four matches this weekend at BATTS, there are certainly opportunities for them to move up the table – and Drinkhall believes there is not much to choose between the teams across the division.

“There’s quite a few strong teams out there who if they played each other twice in two days it could be a totally different outcome,” he said.

“Drumchapel are sitting bottom at the moment but a few results and that could change quite quickly – anything is possible and it’s going to be an interesting season.”

The prospect of a match against England colleague David McBeath, who plays for Ormesby, will have to wait as the teams are not scheduled to meet this weekend, but Drinkhall would relish a meeting in future, as well as the opportunity to face some of the England pathway youngsters who are active in the division, such as Isaac Kingham (BATTS) and Larry Trumpauskas (Fusion).

“It would be good to play Dave and some of the youth players I’ve worked with a little bit now and seen a bit more of them,” said Drinkhall, who is also looking forward to the central weekend format, as opposed to the home-and-away format which has been in pace in recent seasons.

“I think there’s pros and cons to both but maybe this way is more accessible and a slightly better atmosphere and possibly you get a slightly higher level because you can bring players in for more than one match at a time,” he said.

Follow all the action this weekend on the BCL social media channels, and look out for details about live-streaming!

The action begins at 10:30am, Saturday 13 December, with one match per round streamed live on the Table Tennis England YouTube channel, full fixtures, results, and tables are available on the official British Club Leagues website.