The clubs and management of the National Ice Hockey League (NIHL) have held their annual section meetings and agreed on the competition structures for the 2025/26 season, which gets underway in September 2025.
The NIHL continues to operate under a four-tier structure, with the Planet Ice NIHL National League sitting at the top, followed by Division 1 (North and South) and Division 2 (North and South).
Some finer details around the format of certain Cup and Playoff competitions are still to be signed off by divisions, but the information below is confirmed.
NIHL: National
The Planet Ice NIHL National League will feature 11 teams competing across a full regular season, Cup, and Playoff schedule.
At the end of the regular season, the top eight teams from the overall standings will qualify for the playoffs. The quarter-finals and semi-finals will both be played over two legs (home and away), with winners advancing to the Finals Weekend, to be held at the Coventry Skydome Arena.
There will also be a National Cup, where each club plays ten qualifying fixtures — five home and five away — against league opponents. The top four sides from this Cup table will qualify for the semi-finals, which will be played over two legs. The highest-seeded team will have the option to choose its semi-final opponent, with the remaining two sides also matching up.
The 2025/26 NIHL National season will follow the updated Rules of Competition 2025–26, under which teams may register multiple non-British trained (import) players, but may dress a maximum of two per game.
NIHL: Division 1 – South
Division 1 South remains part of the regional structure sitting below the National League. The top eight sides will qualify for the post-season playoffs, which will be played over two legs (home and away) to determine semi-finalists and finalists. Cup competition discussions are ongoing, and formats will be confirmed following agreement among clubs and NIHL management.
NIHL: Division 2 – South
Division 2 South will also commence on the 6/7 September 2025 weekend. Clubs will compete in a regular home and away season, with playoffs and cup competitions to follow.
The South 2 Cup will again take place this season, culminating in a Cup Final Weekend in February 2026, as part of the NIHL’s unified calendar.
NIHL: Division 1 – North
Division 1 North will feature a similar competition structure to the South Division. Teams will play a two home and two away schedule against each other, with the top six sides qualifying for the playoffs.
The playoffs will be played in two groups of three, with one home and one away fixture per opponent. The top two sides from each group will qualify for the semi-finals.
There will also be additional cup competitions involving invited teams from the Scottish National League (SNL) and NIHL North 2, creating mixed-group tournaments with home and away fixtures. The exact number of Cup games will be confirmed by the participating clubs.
NIHL: Division 2 – North
There are nine sides in this division – Widnes Wild, Telford Tigers 2, Hull Jets, Bradford Bulldogs, Sheffield Senators, Coventry Blaze, Deeside Dragons, Altrincham Aces and Blackburn Hawks 2. North 2 clubs will play two home and two away against each other with the top four sides qualifying for the playoffs.
NIHL Division 1 and 2 seasons are likely to begin on 7/8 September. The winners of North 1 and South 1 are likely to play at the Coventry weekend for a national championship game. There is also an appetite to retain the NIHL2 championship game which has played at Coventry for the past two years. NLMG are investigating options for this fixture.
The annual review of Rules of Competition is underway while clubs will be providing their available dates to the NLMG to begin the fixture list compilation.
The NIHL management would like to thank all clubs and their representatives for their valuable input at the meetings and look forward to working with them to prepare for the new season.
There will be further news releases in the coming days as finer details of competition formats are confirmed after discussions between clubs and NLMG.