Following completion of the 2023 EuroHockey Indoor Club Championships (Men & Women), the final ranking, promotion and relegation positions are confirmed below.
In the men’s Club Trophy, Mannheimer HC’s dominant performance in their home hall sees them return Germany’s representative to the top tier for 2024 along with a Dutch club thanks to Pinoké who were runners-up.
Next year, the Club Cup will be a 10-team tournament. Those countries’ club will join representatives from the eight nations who had been due to play in Alanya, Türkiye until it was cancelled due to the effects of the earthquake .
Portugal’s AD Lousada and Scotland’s Western Wildcats, meanwhile, earned their respective nations promotion from the Club Challenge I to the Club Trophy. Denmark and Sweden’s champions are provisionally relegated to the third tier but this will be formally determined on April 1st, 2023 depending on whether Russian and Belarussian sides are accepted back into competition or not.
On the women’s side, England’s East Grinstead, Ireland’s Railway Union and Scotland’s Clydesdale Western won promotion from the Club Trophy for their country up to the Club Cup level with their top three finishes in Cambrai. It will mean Ireland will have a side in the top division for the first time since 1994.
Like the men’s Club Cup, the national champions from that trio of nations will join sides from the seven nations who had been due to play in the Club Cup in Alanya, Türkiye last weekend, making up a 10-team tournament.
The Netherlands’ representative, meanwhile, will play in the Club Trophy as a result of HC ‘s-Hertogenbosch’s withdrawal from the Club Cup.
There, they will be joined in the second tier by Polish and Lithuanian opposition following KS Hokej Start Brzeziny and Šiauliai Ginstrektė ŠSG’s success in Skierniewice in the Challenge I. Provisionally moving down from the Trophy to the third tier are Croatia and Wales – again, this will be dependent on whether Russia and Belarus’s involvement.
***
Club Cup (M), Alanya (TUR) – 17-19 February 2023 – Cancelled
Club Trophy (M), Mannheim (GER) – 17-19 February 2023
1. Mannheimer HC (GER) (promoted to the Cup in 2024)
2. Pinoké (NED) (promoted to the Cup in 2024)
3. Luzerner SC (SUI)
4. HC OKS-SHVSM Vinnitsa (UKR)
5. SK Slavia Prague (CZE)
6. Three Rock Rovers (IRL)
7. Slagelse Hockeyklub (DEN) (relegated to the Challenge I in 2024) *
8. Partille SC (SWE) (relegated to the Challenge I in 2024) *
Club Challenge I (M), Lousada (POR) – 10-12 February 2023
1. AD Lousada (POR) (promoted to the Trophy in 2024)
2. Western Wildcats (SCO) (promoted to the Trophy in 2024)
3. KPH Rača (SVK)
4. Építők HC (HUN)
5. HK Triglav Predanovci (SLO)
6. Baltic Champs (LTU)
7. FHC Slavia 1921 (BUL)
8. ABC-Team (FIN) (relegated to the Challenge II in 2024) *
***
Club Cup (W), Alanya (TUR) – 24-26 February 2023 – Cancelle
Club Trophy (W), Cambrai (FRA) – 17-19 February 2023
1. East Grinstead HC (ENG) (promoted to the Cup in 2024)
2. Railway Union HC (IRL) (promoted to the Cup in 2024)
3. Clydesdale Western (SCO) (promoted to the Cup in 2024)
4. WAC (AUT)
5. Cambrai HC (FRA)
6. KPH Rača (SVK)
7. HK Zelina (CRO) (relegated to the Challenge I in 2024) *
8. Swansea HC (WAL) (relegated to the Challenge I in 2024) *
Club Challenge I (W), Skierniewice (POL) – 17-19 February 2023
1. KS Hokej Start Brzeziny (POL) (promoted to the Trophy in 2024)
2. Šiauliai Ginstrektė ŠSG (LTU) (promoted to the Trophy in 2024)
3. HF Lorenzoni (ITA)
4. Copenhagen HC (DEN)
5. Lisbon Casuals HC (POR)
6. Partille SC (SWE)
7. Ukimerioni Kutaisi (GEO)
8. HK Moravske Toplice (SLO) (relegated to the Challenge II in 2024) *
* On 1st April 2023, it will be confirmed if these teams indeed are relegated or remain in their 2023 competition levels. This has to do with the ‘shadow ranking’ that has been created for Russian and Belarusian teams to come back into the competitions, if allowed/accepted.
