Irish Hockey League - Qualifications

Qualification to the Irish Hockey League is based on the team's placing within the provincial league in the preceding season.

This means that qualification takes place as follows:

• Leinster and Ulster: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th all qualify
• Munster: 1st, 2nd qualify
• Wildcard play-offs: 1st, 2nd

As the League is made up of two pools of six qualifying teams are allocated to the pools based on provincial league finishing position, as follows:

Pool A:
Is made up of Ulster 1st, Ulster 4th, Leinster 2nd, Leinster 3rd, plus 1 team from Munster and 1 wildcard qualifying team.

Pool B:
Is made up of Leinster 1st, Leinster 4th, Ulster 2nd, Ulster 3rd, plus 1 team from Munster and 1 wildcard qualifying team

Munster & Wildcard Pool Allocation:
To determine the pool allocation for the two Munster qualifiers and two wildcard qualifiers a draw is held to allocate M1 / M2 and Wildcard 1 / Wildcard 2 to each pool.

Wildcard Play-offs:
There are two wildcard spots for the Irish Hockey League, from which 1st & 2nd place qualify, the following teams qualify for a chance at the wildcard:
• Men: Ulster 5th, Leinster 5th, Munster 3rd
• Women: Ulster 5th, Leinster 5th, Munster 3rd, Connacht 1st 

Deciding on Home Advantage:
Branch provincial league winners and runners up will play 3 home matches. A draw will determine home match advantage between M1 and (U1 or L1) and M2 and (U2 or L2).

Winning the Irish Hockey League:
The winner of the IHL shall represent the IHA in the senior EHF tournament in the following season.

In the event that the winner also wins the Irish Senior Cup, then the IHL runner-up shall represent the IHA at the second place EHF competition otherwise given to the ISC winner.

Next Year's Qualification:
It should be noted that all teams, including the winners, have to earn the right to entry in the next season based on their Branch league position.