Since the dawn of the Modern Olympic era in 1896, countries have revelled in staging an Olympic and Paralympic Games, and rightly so, but they often do this without taking account of what happens next for their particular nation.

The grandeur can be so often followed by the dour.

Beijing, host of the 2008 Games, has been accused of having too many white elephants in terms of stadia - the same goes for Athens.

Next in the legacy firing line is London 2012, with negativity around the subject increasing by the day and dissenting voices appearing louder by the minute.

Concerns over the impact staging the Games has had on Britain, outside of a rapid development and improvement in performance at the elite level, has even caused Sports Minister Tracey Crouch to launch a wide-ranging public consultation on sport in the United Kingdom amid growing worries that the country is failing to live up to the legacy promise in terms of health benefits for youngsters.

Let’s not kid ourselves - Olympic Legacy gets tarred with the same brush, no matter whether we are talking about the amount of people taking up sport or how the venues will be used post-Olympic euphoria.

In fairness to London, the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, situated in a run-down part of Britain’s capital which has received a new lease of life, is truly an area to be proud of, with stadiums and facilities that any country would be envious of.

While it currently resembles a building site as the strive for improvement and enhancement continues, it is still a sight to behold and one for Britons to take immense pride in, with facilities that elevate the country onto a completely different sporting level.

Next to test these facilities is the sport of hockey as the Unibet EuroHockey Championships come to the fore between August 21 and August 30 at the revamped Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre, reopened last year following a £30 million ($50 million/€37 million) facelift.

The event is one of the biggest to be staged on the Olympic Park, attracting Europe's top eight men’s and women’s teams.

Ticket sales have been promising, with many sessions close to selling out, and it is hoped the atmosphere created at London 2012 will return once more to spur both England teams to glory.

Many of those who will be swapping the Union Jack for the St George Cross are part of the British outfits that have recently secured their Rio 2016 berth after qualifying through the International Hockey Federation World League tournament.

Barry Middleton, who recently earned his 350th combined Britain and England cap but shows no sign of winding his career down, can hardly wait to get started.

The 31-year-old looks set to compete at his fourth Olympic Games when the world’s grandest sporting event travels to Rio de Janeiro next and he offered strong views on Olympic Legacy having witnessed it first-hand.

The usually light-hearted Middleton, who poked fun at the lack of ties within the England Hockey communications team as I stood proudly wearing my insidethegames tie, changed his tune when the topic of legacy was discussed, providing deep and thoughtful insight on a topic that simply won’t go away.

“Even now I walk towards the Olympic Park with my mouth open,” he said.

“Obviously we have a great deal of connection with it but it still amazes me how good it really is every time I’m here.

“When we won the bid for the Olympics all I heard was negative stuff about it, how the British can’t do it, how we are spending too much money on this and how it is going to be a horrible experience for everyone and no-one cares.

“Then we get there and lo and behold it was unbelievable. It is without doubt the greatest Olympics I have been to.

“But then people want to knock the legacy and the negative in England and in Britain always seems to be shouted out louder than the positives and for me there are so many positives to it.

“I hear all of the negative opinions but if you look at some of the other host countries of Olympics over the past 20 years you see what they have done with the stadiums - you can’t please everyone I guess but I’m a 31-year old who has played in a hell of a lot of hockey tournaments and I still walk around this place in awe.”

Another English hockey veteran who knows the venue well is England and Britain women’s captain Kate Richardson-Walsh, part of the team which secured bronze in thrilling fashion with a 3-1 victory over New Zealand almost exactly three years ago to the day.

Memories of that moment still resonate deep within the psyche of those players - Richardson-Walsh informed me that an “anniversary e-mail” among the players had been sent around to mark the occasion - and they are sure to try and evoke that spirit during the Championships.

The 35-year-old, who married team-mate Helen back in 2014, remembers London for her own unique reason after she was struck in the face by a flailing stick in Britain’s 4-0 win over Japan in their opening match on home soil, fracturing her jaw.

After successful surgery to insert a metal plate to stabilise the freak injury, Richardson-Walsh, considered the linchpin of the side, played on through the pain barrier to help guide her team to their first Olympic medal since Barcelona 1992. 

“I never make it easy for myself that’s for sure," she said. "I looked back at my career recently and at all the injuries I’ve had and that was definitely the worst.

“The surgeons at the Royal London Hospital were just amazing and I honestly didn’t think I would play another part in the tournament.

“The doctor was so confident that I would make it through and they really were miracle workers.”

Neither the men’s nor the women’s England teams will quite need miracles if they are to be standing proudly atop the podium come EuroHockey Championships finals day as both harbour realistic ambitions of taking home the gold.

It isn’t just the England teams who will have recalled the Olympic Park fondly though as both Olympic champions - Germany on the men’s side and The Netherlands on the women’s - will return to the scene of their respective triumphs 36 months ago.

The two teams are considered powerhouses in the hockey world and are likely to be the main challengers to England’s bid for European success in front of their home crowd, but such is the strength of the field, the cliché of anyone can win it really does apply.

Despite the fact that the event itself is sure to provide high drama over the intense 10 days of competition, attended by a healthy, boisterous crowd, there are sure to be those who still want to tarnish the legacy of London.

But, one of the main aspects of the "L" word is an host city's ability to attract major sporting events long after the Olympic and Paralympic Games, and London seems on the right track with that at least.