Tuesday, January 20, 2026

England Hockey’s Game Management System: Getting Phase 1 live

Previously, we heard how ideas for the centralisation of administration for GMS would reduce club and league administration. DAVID LLOYD-WILLIAMS continues to chart the story behind the GMS

It was summer 2020. The professional project managers (PMs) had started work reviewing the market for potential suppliers, and putting together a full project management structure and plan. I would be part of the small ‘Design Authority’ team, to plan out the functions of GMS. The Project Board were EH managers – fine. They would have to worry about finance, timescales, and everything else. The informal group of 20 experts faded away from regular involvement.

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David is a current and past volunteer for the London League and former Chair of Southgate HC.

The story behind the GMS

READ: How the GMS system first arose
Experts, the Dutch and match sheets
Was England Hockey’s GMS too radical?

Hockey Factory Shop

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3 COMMENTS

  1. Wow. Labelling people as “bottle-throwers”. That’s … constructive.

    England Hockey have taken a lot of stick for what’s happened, quite rightly in all honesty, but they’ve also taken responsibility and made huge gains in fixing and working around the problems that have arisen.

    Perhaps, though, recognising that grass-roots hockey is dependant upon those who volunteer their time alongside full-time jobs, alongside young families, alongside other responsibilities beyond hockey. Those that put what time they have remaining to ensure that their clubs, the teams, the club members, the fixtures, etc. etc. are all ready to go at the start of the year – efforts that the new GMS System have, to be most generous about it, “hampered” and given additional work to.

    But yes. Let’s start throwing insults around instead,

    • Well said

      Pointing out that the launch of GMS was handled very badly, or that the failure to pilot it before national roll out was a big mistake, is not bottle throwing

      If someone at EH had actually accepted responsibility for the errors that would have been a start

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