How to start a hockey club in England

1. Affiliate through your Area

England Hockey works through eight Areas (East, London, Midlands, North West, South Central, South East, West, Yorkshire & North East), each a company limited by guarantee that runs every adult league below the national league, junior competition, masters, umpiring and discipline, with 45 counties beneath them. Your first email is to the Area.

The 2026/27 club fee, passed at the 2025 AGM, is £175 per adult league team plus £16.50 per U13+ player and £10.50 per U12, processed mid-August to 30 September and paid by 31 October. The member count is derived from the prior season’s team sheets, or 22 per team for a new side. It includes personal-accident cover, £10m public liability, £5m directors’ and officers’ cover, abuse cover, and free coaching, umpiring and safeguarding courses.

The Membership Policy requires open membership, a constitution with a dissolution clause, an elected committee of three unrelated people, a Discipline Officer, a Welfare Officer, independently reviewed accounts and approved insurance.

2. The pitch, and why every match has a fee

League hockey is played on artificial turf, hired by the hour at £90 to £100 with a 90-minute minimum, and the home team must provide hospitality (“teas”). That is why match fees on top of subs are universal: £12 to £13.50 a match for adults and £5 to £7 for juniors is typical, on top of annual subs of £180 to £250. Book a home slot for the whole season on one pitch; the Area needs your home times and venues uploaded to GMS by 8 September.

England Hockey has no grant pot of its own. Sport England’s Movement Fund (£300 to £10,000), Crowdfunder match funding to £10,000, a Pitch Together loan fund, and Section 106 or CIL money from local development are where pitch projects are funded.

3. GMS is mandatory

Every adult league has run on England Hockey’s Game Management System since 2022/23. Each season the club registers every player; uploads home fixtures by 8 September and 1 December with ten days’ notice for changes; names a league Liaison Officer per gender and two Team Contacts per team. On match day the captain populates the match sheet before the game, confirms the score by 20:00 on match day, and enters scorers and cards by 20:00 the next day. Fines are £25, £50 and £100, doubled for repeats. Juniors file the match sheet an hour before with 16-player squads.

4. Umpires: the home club appoints both

At Grades 4 and 5, where a new club starts, the home club appoints both umpires. Grades 3–4 need Level 1 assessed umpires, Grade 2 needs Level 2, all registered in the England Hockey Officiating club. Failure costs a fine and points. Get two members through the free Level 1 course before your first home match and make Umpire Coordinator a committee post.

5. Grades, Fair Selection and the pyramid

The pyramid is the same shape for men (“Open” since 2025) and women. Grade 1 is the England Hockey League. Grades 2–5 are Area leagues: an Area Premier, then parallel geographic divisions of about twelve teams, 3-1-0 points, two up and two down. A club’s 1s to 8s sit at different grades. New or withdrawn teams are notified to the Area by 1 May for a September start.

Fair Selection is the anti-ringer system: play up freely, play down at most one team (Grades 1–2) or two (Grades 3–5), “doubling up” only at Grades 4–5, and the last four games need 50% prior appearances. Adult league minimum age is 13 on match day.

6. Juniors

Age groups follow the academic year with age on 31 August: U8, U10, U12, U14, U16, U18. Mixed to U12, single-sex from U14. U10 and U12 play In2Hockey, six or seven-a-side with Area rounds and finals. U14 and U16 have four tiers from England Hockey zonal leagues down to seven-a-side festivals. Under-18 names appear on public team sheets only with parental consent recorded in GMS; put the same rule on your website.

Adult entry routes worth running from day one: Back to Hockey for returners, Walking Hockey, and Flyerz disability hockey.

7. The year

1 September Area season starts. 8 September home fixtures uploaded. 30 September membership processed. 31 October fees due. December–January indoor Super 6s. 1 February registration and transfer deadline. 30 April Area leagues end. 1 May new or withdrawn teams. May–June AGMs and masters. May–August mixed summer leagues. 31 July regulations republished. England Hockey publishes the whole thing as an Excel calendar.

8. Your first season, in order

1. Constitution (with dissolution clause), committee of three, bank account, Welfare Officer and Discipline Officer.
2. Home pitch slot booked for the season; a training slot separately.
3. Area contacted; new-team notification by 1 May.
4. Two umpires through Level 1; Umpire Coordinator appointed.
5. Players registered on GMS; team contacts named; home fixtures uploaded by 8 September.
6. Website with training times, subs and match fees, the welfare officer and a Back to Hockey session.
7. First league match in September; score in GMS by 20:00; teas provided.