England Roller Hockey

History and development

Roller hockey, originally called "rink hockey," was established in 1896, making it the oldest sports recognised association. It consisted of 10 men on each side, and the first roller hockey games were played with a tennis ball and ordinary walking sticks, or sometimes even old umbrella handles.

During the infancy of the game, the sport built up very rapidly, with many teams starting in the London area. New associations were created for the southern and the northern parts of the country. Whilst roller hockey is still a minority sport throughout the world, it has been developed by many European countries into a well-paid, professional sport. In England, though, after its promising start, roller hockey has declined. Its number of registered players increase in line with the skating trend.

Aside from the professional coaching director, Carlos Amaral, the association is entirely amateur. The England roller hockey team has been a FIRS World Championship winner twice (in 1936 and 1939, when the championships were also contested as the European Championships) and CERH European Championship winner 12 times.

The major competition in English roller hockey is the NRHA Premier League, which has seen both Southsea RHC and Herne Bay United dominate in previous decades. Grimsby RHC is another dominant team. The secondary tournament in England is the National Cup (seniors), in which Herne Bay RHC holds the record for most wins. A recent top contender in the National Cup is Middlesbrough RHC.

The NRHA is divided into three regions: Northern Counties (NCRHA), Eastern Counties (ECRHA) and Southern Counties (SCRHA).

England Roller Hockey and the NRHA

England Roller Hockey is the national association for roller hockey across the country. It is registered as The National Roller Hockey Association of England (NRHA).

In Britain, roller hockey forms one of seven roller sport disciplines affilitated with the British Roller Sports Federation (BRSF), which is recognised as the national governing body (NGB) of all the disciplines. The sport of roller hockey is governed by the Fédération Internationale de Roller Skating (FIRS) through its affiliate, the Comité Internationale de Rink-Hockey (CIRH), which is recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC)

The day-to-day operations of the NRHA are conducted by its executive committee members, with their sub-committees, which are elected every four years at the Annual General Meeting of the Association (AGM). The committee consists of the president, general secretary, treasurer, competitors, officials, and marketing.

In addition, the presidents (or their authorised representatives) of each affiliated region of the NRHA also sit on the association's executive committee.

Although roller hockey is an English creation, it is most popular in Latin countries such as Spain, Portugal and Argentina, where it is played professionally by clubs including as FC Barcelona, FC Porto, SL Benfica and Liceo Coruña.

Northern Counties

The Northern Counties Roller Hockey Association is the regional body within the National Roller Hockey Association of England, which covers the northern counties of England, including Greater Manchester, Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. Notable clubs include Middlesbrough RHC, Manchester RHC and Grimsby RHC. While there have been many clubs in Northern England since the NRHA began in 1896, it now features only six clubs, while Plymouth and West Devon SK8 from County Devon also compete in NCRHA competitions.

Currently, Northern Counties representatives dominate men's senior roller hockey. In the 2010–11 season, while Herne Bay United won the National Cup, Middlesbrough RHC was crowned Premier League Champions. In the 2011–12 season, Grimsby RHC won their first Premier League title, while Middlesbrough RHC finished as runner-up. In the National Cup, Middlesbrough RHC defeated Grimsby 6–3 in the Cup Final on 7 July, at the Bay Arena in Herne Bay, Kent.

Eastern Counties

The Eastern Counties Roller Hockey Association, historically the least successful, is currently the most decorated affiliation to the NRHA. It has the most clubs and members out of the three regions, and covers counties including Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire. Its most famous clubs include Bury St. Edmunds and Letchworth, which are regular senior Premier League competitors, with the former winning the league title back in 2005, and the latter winning the National Cup the same year.

Southern Counties

The Southern Counties is the most prolific region, conceding 29 out of 37 Premier League titles and 70 of the 78 National Cup titles. Herne Bay RHC dominated English roller hockey for much of its early existence, competing at the legendary Pier Pavilion, which was demolished in the year 2011. Their success was followed mostly by Hampshire club, Southsea RHC, and later Herne Bay United, which dominated the Premier League championships up until 2010.

Other notable Southern Counties clubs include Maidstone RHC and Farnham RHC.

The Southern Counties covers the largest distance of land between clubs, spreading from Kent to Devon.

World championships

In the early World Championships, England was successful in winning the first two tournaments:

However, following World War II, England had no success in the World Championships, apart from a second-placed finish in the 1948 games in Montreux, Switzerland.

In the modern game, the World Championships are split into two categories. The World "A" Championships contest is contested by the best teams in the world, while the World "B' Championships, contested every other year to the World A's, see the top three finishers qualify to compete in the World A's the following year in a relegation/promotion system. England usually fights to remain in the World A's, or is relegated and fights for promotion. The national team has finished not higher than 13th in the World A's in many years, although they have been regular contenders in the World A's.

In the 2011 FIRS Men's Roller Hockey World Cup in San Juan, Argentina, England finished in 15th place and competed in the 2012 FIRS Men's B-Roller Hockey World Cup in Canelones, Uruguay.

European championships

England had great success in the early tournaments of the European championships, winning 12 titles. However, after World War II, although England attained one second-placed finish in 1948 and two fourth-placed finishes in 1957 and 1959, they have struggled to make any real international impact for many years on the European stage, which has been predominantly dominated by Spain, Portugal and Italy.

2012–13 Season

View the Premier League 2012–13 Season here.