English Hockey League (field hockey)
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| Sport | Hockey |
|---|---|
| No. of teams | 80 |
| Country | England |
| Official website | www |
The England Hockey League (EHL) is the top tier of the national field hockey league system in England, and is run by England Hockey. The men's league is known as the Men's Hockey League, and the women's league is sponsored by Investec and is known as the Investec Women's Hockey League.
England Hockey also run the Super 6s Indoor Championship and from the 2017-18 season the EH cup will be re-branded to England Hockey Championships.
The EHL was founded in 2003. The league structure was altered for the 2008/2009 season with the aim of promoting appropriate competition for the teams involved whilst reducing the overheads incurred by teams having to travel long distances. Previously there was a national Premier and national Division One league, which had players fed into it by a North league and South league. There is now only one Premier Division, which is fed by three "Conference" leagues, split into North, West and East regions.
The EHL takes new teams into the National North/West/East leagues from five separately run regional hockey associations: East, Midlands, North, South and West. These associations run a multiple-division league structure of their own, and are in turn fed by teams from county or sub-regional hockey associations or leagues. For example, the Yorkshire Hockey Association runs 11 divisions, and those promoted out of the top Division will be received into the lower divisions of the North Hockey Association. Those promoted from the North Hockey Association's top league will be entered into the EHL Conference North league, from which they can gain promotion to the EHL Premier league.
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