National Ice Hockey League
 | |
| Sport | Ice hockey |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1996 |
| No. of teams | 47 |
| Country |  United Kingdom |
| Level on pyramid | 2–4 |
| Official website | eiha |
The National Ice Hockey League (NIHL) is a set of semi-professional ice hockey leagues administered by the English Ice Hockey Association. It is currently the second tier of British ice hockey, below the Elite Ice Hockey League. Formerly called the English National Ice Hockey League (ENIHL), it was renamed in 2012 to recognise the inclusion of several teams from Scotland and Wales.[1]
The English Ice Hockey Association announced a new structure of the men's senior league for the 2019/20 season, at a meeting of NIHL clubs in Warwickshire. A new ten-team division was approved to sit above the existing Division 1 in North and South, to be known as the National League.[2]
In the inaugural 2019–2020 season the National League comprised
. There is no promotion to or relegation from the National League.Below the National League, the leagues are split into two regions, North and South, meaning teams do not have to travel long distances for away games. Each region has 2 divisions, with promotion and relegation between the divisions in each region.
History
The ENIHL was formed in 1996; following the dissolution of the British Hockey League (BHL), and the creation of the Ice Hockey Superleague and the British National League (BNL) as the top two tiers of British hockey. The ENIHL served as the third tier of hockey; operating below the BNL.
Tiers of British ice hockey since 1995
| 1995–96 | 1996–97 | 1997–98 | 1998–99 | 1999–00 | 2002–03 | 2005–06 | 2012–13 | 2017–18 | 2019–20 |
| BHL Premier Division | Ice Hockey Superleague | Ice Hockey Superleague | Ice Hockey Superleague | Ice Hockey Superleague | Elite Ice Hockey League | Elite Ice Hockey League | Elite Ice Hockey League | Elite Ice Hockey League | Elite Ice Hockey League |
| BHL Division 1 | British National League | British National League | British National League | British National League | British National League | English Premier Ice Hockey League | English Premier Ice Hockey League | National Ice Hockey League | National Ice Hockey League National League |
| ENIHL | National Division | Premier Division/League | English Premier Ice Hockey League | English Premier Ice Hockey League | ENIHL | National Ice Hockey League | National Ice Hockey League League 1 | ||
| ENIHL | ENIHL | ||||||||
| ENIHL | ENIHL | National Ice Hockey League League 2 |
Following its inaugural season, an upper tier within the ENIHL was founded, so as to serve as a league for the members of the BNL who could not afford to remain in that league due to the increased operating costs; but at the same time played ice hockey to a higher standard that of the other ENIHL teams. This division was originally known as the National Division, and during the 1997–98 season the teams in this division played dual schedules; a series of games solely amongst themselves, and another amongst all of the teams which fell under the jurisdiction of the ENIHL at this time. Solihull Blaze won the league and play-off trophies of both formats during this inaugural season.
At the start of the 1998–99 season the divisions, whilst still both under the ENIHL umbrella, performed in their own separate competitions; and the national division adopted the name Premier Division, and later on became known as the Premier League. By the end of the season the league had established itself outside of the ENIHL as the English Premier Ice Hockey League (EPIHL); reducing the ENIHL to the fourth level of Britain's ice hockey pyramid.
However, in 2005 the BNL disbanded; leaving the EPIHL to take its place as the second tier of the national game and, consequently, re-establishing the ENIHL as the third tier of British ice hockey.
Following the 2012–13 the league was renamed the National Ice Hockey League, removing the word English due to non-English teams participating. In 2013, it was agreed at the EIHA AGM to restructure the Northern league into two conferences; Moralee and Laidler. The split was done primarily on regions and neither conference was regarded as being higher than the other. However, at the following year's AGM, it was agreed to return to a tiered Division 1 and Division 2 format. However, the conference names remained in place with Division 1 taking the Moralee Conference title and Division 2 the Laidler Conference title.
In 2014, it was agreed at the EIHA AGM to restructure the Southern Division 2 league to have Western and Eastern Conferences. Due to the odd-number of teams in the league, the Eastern Conference had six teams while the Western Conference had five teams. Both conferences were run completely separately and each winner was only regarded as being the conference winner, with no implication of one conference winner being regarded as the league winner. A two-round playoff format was introduced at the end of the season to determine a league-wide winner. The winner of the playoffs would then be the team promoted to Division 1. In 2017, the two conferences were reunited.
Players
The league itself is considered to be a development league, and as such the players are normally amateur. Many teams have affiliate teams in higher leagues. Other teams are aligned with junior ice hockey clubs, and exist to ensure that when players hit 18 there is still a possibility for them to play competitive hockey if they have not joined a professional team.
The system
Teams in the 2023–24 NIHL;
Blue: North (Moralee); 
Red: South (Britton);
