Monday, November 10, 2025

England Hockey Premier Division: Top 6, bottom 6 or straight league?

We sought the views of clubs in both halves of the split leagues in the men’s Premier Division. Tomorrow, we will publish verdicts from the women’s coaches

For the first time this season, we saw a split league at the Christmas break. There were also split views on whether the format was beneficial for top flight hockey or if the second half of the season created meaningless matches for some teams fighting for little more than points.

It is understood that the intention is to retain the mid-season split, which will now consist of Top 6 and Bottom 6 for next season with 12 clubs. England Hockey is currently in consultation with clubs as to how to make the mini leagues hold more interest, which could include end-of-season play-offs and a final decision is set to be announced before June 1.

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1 COMMENT

  1. Top 6 – top 4 playoff for Europe.
    Bottom 6 – reset to zero with top 4 playing for plate championship via playoffs and bottom 2 relegated. Gives a level playing field all teams something to play for after Christmas. If you had reset this season and 2 teams had been related, Beeston would have gone down with Durham.

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