The 2016–2017 English Hockey League season took place from September 2016 until April 2017. The regular season consisted of two periods September until December and then February until March. The end of season playoffs known as the League Finals Weekend was held on 22 & 23 April.
Surbiton won the Men's Premier League title despite being 3-0 down in the final against Wimbledon with only 10mins to go. Surbiton also won the Investec Women's Premier League as well as finishing top of the regular season league standings, making it their 4th in a row. Whilst Canterbury finished one off the bottom and survived the relegation playoffs for the 3rd time in a row as Loughborough Students were relegated having just got up into the top flight last season. Sevenoaks beat Team Bath Buccaneers and Durham University to secure promotion and go up to the top flight next season in the men's competition. In the women's Reading got relegated and Buckingham beat Wimbledon and Brooklands Poynton to secure promotion, as Bowdon Hightown won the group to keep their place in the Premier League.
The Men's Cup was won by Reading with the biggest score difference in 15 years against Canterbury in the final. The Investec Women's Cup was won by Surbiton.
Men's Premier Division League Standings Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts 1 Wimbledon 18 13 4 1 56 32 24 432 Holcombe 18 11 3 4 50 30 20 363 Surbiton 18 9 8 1 62 39 23 354 Hampstead and Westminster 18 9 5 4 54 40 14 325 Beeston 18 8 3 7 40 37 3 276 East Grinstead 18 8 2 8 52 41 11 267 Reading 18 6 4 8 40 45 -5 228 Brooklands Manchester University 18 5 3 10 31 54 -23 189 Canterbury 18 3 3 12 37 59 -22 1210 Loughborough Students 18 0 1 17 18 63 -45 1 = Qualified for League finals weekend = Relegated
Results
Women's Investec Premier Division League Standings
Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts 1 Surbiton 18 15 2 1 53 14 39 472 Holcombe 18 11 5 2 44 25 19 383 East Grinstead 18 9 6 3 32 20 12 334 University of Birmingham 18 10 2 6 38 35 3 325 Leicester 18 8 5 5 31 24 7 296 Clifton 18 9 1 8 42 31 11 287 Canterbury 18 5 5 8 25 38 -13 208 Slough 18 3 3 12 15 37 -22 129 Bowdon Hightown 18 1 5 12 18 44 -26 810 Reading 18 1 2 15 17 47 -30 5
= Qualified for League finals weekend = Relegated
Results
League Finals Weekend Held at the Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre Semi-finals Division Team 1 Team 2 Score Men's Premier Wimbledon Hampstead and Westminster 2-1 Men's Premier Holcombe Surbiton 2-3 Women's Premier Surbiton University of Birmingham 3-1 Women's Premier Holcombe East Grinstead 2-1
3rd/4th Playoff Due to Wimbledon's finishing fourth in the 2016–17 Euro Hockey League a third team from England is allowed to join the competition meaning a 3rd/4th playoff is necessary. Division Team 1 Team 2 Score Men's Premier Hampstead and Westminster Holcombe 3-7
Finals Men Team 1 Team 2 Score Scorers Ref Surbiton Wimbledon 3-3 (3-2 p)Ball, Weir, Mantell/Forsyth, Furlong (2) Squads Surbiton Harry Gibson (gk), Taylor Seager-Green (gk), Brendan Creed, Lewis Prosser (capt), Rob Farrington, David Goodfield, Jonny Gall, David Beckett, William Marshall, Zach Wallace, Gareth Furlong, Arjan Drayton-Chana, Richard Hildreth, Alan Forsyth, David Bartram, Morgan Males, Nick Parkes, Luke Noblett, Coach: Mark Pearn
Wimbledon James Bailey (gk), Oliver Meyer-Bothling (gk), Ben Arnold, Peter Friend, Henry Weir, Chad Conlon, Ian Sloan, Simon Mantell, Steve Ebbers, Phil Roper, Michael Hoare, Phil Ball, Chris Gregg, Borja LLorens, Nathanael Stewart, Ben Tibble, Gordon McIntyre, Johnny Kinder (capt), Coach: Ben Hawes
Women Team 1 Team 2 Score Surbiton Holcombe 3-1
Men's Cup Quarter-finals Team 1 Team 2 Score Beeston Reading 1-3 Havant Bromley and Beckenham 0-2 Bowdon Canterbury 2-5 Brooklands Manchester University Oxford Hawks 3-1
Semi-finals Team 1 Team 2 Score Bromley and Beckenham Canterbury 0-2 Reading Brooklands Manchester University 4-2
Final (Held at the Lee Valley Hockey & Tennis Centre on 29 April) Team 1 Team 2 Score Reading Canterbury 6-1 Squads
Reading Tommy Alexander (gk), Ciaran O'Connell, Richard Mantell, Montgomery Jefferson, Ben Boon, Edward Carson, Dan Shingles (capt), James Carson, Jonty Clarke, Andy Watts, Tim Atkins, Rhys Doherty, Imre Gerrits, Nick Park, Ajai Dhadwal, Jonny Gooch, Coach: Andy Watts
Canterbury Diccon Stubbings (gk), Kris Glass, Bill Cain, Tom Bean, Jack Balsdon, Chris Laslett. Matt Burton-Bowen, Sam George, Craig Boyne (capt), Sam Barrett, Hamish Roberts, Edward Welch, Andrew Dunn, Sean Gilmore, Will Heywood, Max Liebenshutz-Jones, Coach: David Mathews
Women's Cup
Final
Promotion Tournaments The winners of the 3 regional conferences and the second to bottom placed team in Premier League play a Promotion Tournament with the top 2 placed teams playing in the Premier League next season while the bottom 2 play in the conference leagues.
Men's competition
Women's competition
References