New All Ireland League Structure for Irish Hockey

All-Ireland League Gets The All Clear

Sunday, May 20, 2007

Irish hockey’s proposed All-Ireland League will become a reality in 2008 after the Irish Hockey Association approved its adoption at a Special General Meeting on Saturday.

The new club competition will see the existing Club Championships expanded to create an All-Ireland League that will allow Ireland’s top twelve clubs to compete against each other more frequently and improve the standards of high-level club hockey in the country.

“Its been a big fortnight for Irish hockey,” said IHA Chief Executive Paul Varian. “Recently we have announced a major television deal with Setanta Sports, the formal contracting of our international athletes and the launch of the ASPIRE programme, and now the ratification of an exciting new development in domestic club hockey. It is clear that Irish hockey is entering a new level of its development as one of Ireland’s leading sports.”

The new competition format expands the existing eight-team club championship format to a twelve team competition that will be played over the course of the season in two pools of six. The top two clubs from each pool will qualify for the semi-finals and finals weekend, that will remain in a similar format to the existing competition. Clubs qualify for the League from their performance in their respective provincial leagues the season before.

“The new system is definitely a step format in improving competitiveness in our club system,” continued Varian. “Not only does the system pit Ireland’s top clubs against each other more often, it importantly increases competitiveness in provincial leagues, through which more clubs will now be able to qualify for this exciting new League. With the Eurohockey Club League set to commence later this year, it is essential that Irish hockey clubs are competitive in it and the new All-Ireland League will doubtless help achieve that.”

The new structure was devised by a Branch-led Competition Reform Working Group that was established last year after competition reform proposals put on the table in 2006 were defeated. This year’s revised proposals were met with broad approval at the IHA’s Special General Meeting, being carried by a strong majority of 61 to 10.

The new system will be introduced in the 2008/09 season, giving the IHA’s seven affiliated Branches next season to prepare their provincial leagues for the new competition format.

Ends.

For Further Information, Please Contact:
Paul Varian, Chief Executive, Irish Hockey Association
Tel: 01 260 0028; Email: paul.varian@hockey.ie