Promotion & Relegation Notes

Following changes in the regulations for the 2026-2027 there are some major and some minor changes in the promotion and relegation procedures for the upcoming season.

Generally the biggest change for most Teams is the change in 4.5.8 whereby, should events mean that there would be a net drop in the number of teams in a division at the end of the season, the priority now switches to promoting the next highest placed team in the division below rather than reprieving a team in a normal relegation spot. We would note that if additional relegations were already being applied, teams in the additional relegation spots would be reinstated in the first instance.

Regulation 4.5.4 gives the ALMC discretion to implement alternative promotion and relegation arrangements, these will be applied as follows:

Grade 2

For both Leagues, this season we will be deciding promotion and relegation as follows:

Premier Division 

• Top side promoted to EHL
• Bottom three teams relegated. If no teams are relegated from the national league, the 10^th placed team in Prem will be reprieved

Division 1N/S

• Top team from each of 1N & 1S will be promoted, plus:
• The two second placed teams shall play off in a one off match held on 17^th April 2027 in a neutral location.
• Bottom three teams relegated as previous regulations.

Full details of the playoff matches will be confirmed nearer the time depending on the likely participants, however this statement represents notification of the intended solution and date.

Grades 3-5:

As previous seasons, the ALMC will be implementing 4.5.4 (b) for bottleneck divisions

Womens North East Quadrant

Following consultation with impacted Clubs during the summer, Clubs have agreed by majority vote that for the 27-28 season Divisions 3NEN & 3NES will be merged into 3NE. Teams will be allocated on the basis of:

            Teams relegated from 2NE

            Second placed side from 3NES & 3NEN not promoted as best second placed side.

            Third – Fifth placed sides from 3NES & 3NEN

            Winners – 4NEN, 4NES

Any changes required due to team number changes above will be on the basis of the highest ranked 6^th place on PPM, then other 6^th placed team, highest 7^th placed team etc. Regulation 4.4 governing the number of teams from any given Club in a division will continue to apply.

General Cascading of National League

Where numbers of teams are stated, these are made based on one team being relegated from the national league, should this vary rules 4.5.5 will be enacted with the execption of if no teams come down from the national league the team finishing 10^th in East Prem will be reprieved relegation.

If an extra team comes down from the national league the team in 9^th place in East Prem will be relegated. The team in 9^th in 1S and 1N with the lowest PPM will be relegated.

In all instances where “the best second placed team” is being selected for promotion, should an additional promotion spot become available, the other second place team will take priority irrespective of the points / ppm of the third placed team in the division.

As last year:

• Both Men's and Ladies leagues will have the same structure for grades 2&3, and rules will apply to both.
• At division 1 level it is assumed that once the 24 teams for 2026-27 have been established they will be split into two geographical divisions.
• At division 2 and below Clubs will be allocated to “quadrants” and all teams from a club will play in that quadrant unless agreed with the ALMC on a case-by-case basis.
• The quadrants will be self-contained regarding promotion and relegation, with different splits not affecting other divisions at the same level, i.e. Men’s 5SE is a 1 to 1 division, however Division 5NE is split into further subdivisions
• For grade 4 & 5 divisions the ALMC will make best endeavours to arrange divisions to prioritize maximising consistency of fixtures by attempting to place as many teams in divisions of 12 as possible, this may mean that 11 team divisions may occur at grade 4 and 10 team divisions at grade 5. In order to facilitate this, there may be additional relegations over the normal two as stated in the regulations.
• For the purposes of division allocation, teams will be ranked within their respective quadrants from division 2 down. Teams finishing in promotion spots will be placed above those teams within the standard relegation positions from the division above to allow the divisions to be split.
• Based on the inherent unpredictability of the promotion and relegation situation as demonstrated over the last two years, along with other geographical alignment issues, Clubs should be aware that in many cases third from bottom in a twelve division should not be considered a safe spot until the 2027/28 entries have been formulated into a new league.
• Unlike previous seasons, the ALMC will not be publishing "as it stands" versions of the promotion and relegation lines within the season. 

Non-Standard 12 Team Divisions

This season there are a number of divisions that don’t have a 12 team / 22 match structure.

Where there are less than 12 teams each team will play each other twice as normal. If a team drops out their results will be omitted from the tables.

Where there are more than 12 teams each team will play every other team once, and most teams twice. If there are an odd number of teams, each team will have a bye week, some teams may have 2 bye weeks if they are due to “play” the bye twice. In these cases, for the final standings teams will be ranked on points per match first, then goal difference to allow a fair comparison of performance as teams may have played a different number of games. If a team withdraws from the division, all results against that team will be removed. If multiple teams withdraw and leave gaps, or if clubs wish to arrange extra matches against the teams they only play once, please speak to the GMS coordinator. 

Major Changes for 27-28

Should the ALMC wish to make significant changes  to the division structure for the 27-28 season, all notes above may be superseded via an area wide Club consultation and corresponding Club vote. Any such consultation will be carried out on a league by league basis.