Paul Gleghorne represented Ireland in the men’s hockey tournament at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games.

A central defender from Antrim, Gleghorne comes from one of Irish hockey’s most distinguished families – his father Andy played for and served as club secretary at Antrim Hockey Club, his mother Anne played and coached at Randalstown, and two of his aunts, Margaret Gleghorne and Jackie McWilliams, were Ireland and Great Britain women’s internationals.

His older brother Mark also represented Ireland before switching allegiance to England and Great Britain, going on to represent GB at the 2016 Olympics – meaning the brothers lined out on opposing sides when England eliminated Ireland from the 2018 World Cup in Bhubaneswar.

Gleghorne attended the Royal Belfast Academical Institution, where in 2003-04 he won the McCullough Cup, Burney Cup and All-Ireland Schoolboys Hockey Championship alongside future Ireland teammates John Jackson and Michael Watt, playing in the McCullough Cup final just hours after the death of his mother. He graduated with first class honours in Accounting and Financial Management from Loughborough University and qualified as a chartered accountant with KPMG.

He made his Ireland debut in June 2009 and went on to accumulate more than 218 caps. He won the EuroHockey Nations Championship bronze medal in 2015 and the Men’s Irish Hockey League with Lisnagarvey in 2015-16.