What Happens Next In The Men’s & Vitality Women’s Hockey Leagues?

Photo credit: Debbie Christopher (L), Peter Smith (R)

Following the thrilling conclusion of the indoor competitions at the Super 6s Finals Day on Sunday, the Men’s and Vitality Women’s Hockey Leagues return this weekend.

There’s still plenty to play for across all three tiers, with European places, championship winners and relegation spots all to be decided across the next two months.

Find out more about what will happen in each division below. To see all the fixtures, results and league tables, click here.

Mens and Vitality Women’s Premier Divisions

Across the first half of the season, each team played once against everyone else in the league to determine league placings before the winter break.

Those who finished in the top six will now contest a top tier, playing the other teams twice to determine who will be crowned this year’s champions. In addition, the top two teams will also qualify for next season’s Euro Hockey League competitions.

The teams who finished in the bottom five will contest a separate tier, also playing each other twice over the course of the next few weeks. Those who finish in the top three places in this mini-league will retain their Premier Division places for next season while the bottom two will be relegated to Division One North/South.

The Vitality Women’s Premier Division returns this weekend (Saturday 5 February) and will run every week subsequently, with the final round of fixtures in the top tier taking place on Saturday 9 April. The bottom tier will conclude on Saturday 23 April.

Action in the top and bottom tiers of the Men’s Premier Division resumes next week (Saturday 12 February), with matches held each week until Sunday 10 April before the final round of games on Saturday 23 April.

The teams contesting each division are as follows (in the order in which they currently sit in the table):

• Men’s Premier Division (top tier): Old Georgians, Wimbledon, Hampstead & Westminster, Surbiton, Holcombe, East Grinstead
• Men’s Premier Division (bottom tier): Oxted, Beeston, University of Durham, Brooklands MU, University of Exeter
• Vitality Women’s Premier Division (top tier): Hampstead & Westminster, East Grinstead, Surbiton, Wimbledon, Beeston, Clifton Robinsons
• Vitality Women’s Premier Division (bottom tier): University of Birmingham, Loughborough Students, Holcombe, Buckingham, Swansea

Men’s and Vitality Women’s Division One North/South

Having provided some thrilling entertainment in the first half of the season, the Men’s and Vitality Women’s Division One North and South resume this weekend in the battle to earn promotion to the top flight for next season.

Only the top team from each division will earn the right to move up to the Premier Division, while the bottom two sides in each league will be relegated to the Conferences.

Matches across the two women’s leagues resume this Saturday (5 February) and run every week until they conclude on Saturday 2 April. This will be mirrored in the men’s league except their matches will take place on Sundays.

Men’s and Vitality Women’s Conferences

It’s a similar story across the Men’s and Vitality Women’s Conferences, with only the winner of each league set to earn promotion to Division One North/South for the 2022/23 season.

The bottom two teams from each league will be relegated and replaced by the winner of each of the Area Premier Divisions.

Matches will also resume this weekend (5-6 February) and run each week until the conclusion of the season on 2-3 April.