Volleyball England

Volleyball England is the trading name for the English Volleyball Association Limited, which was formed in 1972,[1] and is the national governing body for volleyball in England. It picks the national team, runs the National Volleyball League, National Knock-Out Cup and Student Cup and organises the training and assessment of referees and coaches. Volleyball England is a member body of the FIVB and has its offices at SportPark, Loughborough University, Loughborough, Leicestershire.

National Volleyball Centre

With £3.5million of funding from both the UK Government and the UK National Lottery in the run-up to London 2012, in 2007 Volleyball England signed an agreement to accommodate the National Volleyball Centre within the Kettering Conference Centre. Made possible with a grant from Kettering Borough Council, Northamptonshire Enterprise Ltd, and the East Midlands Development Agency, the four-year agreement came into place on the opening of the centre in November 2010.[2]

The 2,000 square metres (22,000 sq ft) facility houses both National Volleyball Centre, as well as home of Volleyball England's national men's and women's volleyball squads, and several national competitions.[2]

League history

In the past, men's volleyball in England has been dominated by London Malory, led by Canadian coach Jefferson Williams. In recent years, IBB Polonia London have been the most successful team winning 3 of the last 4 editions.

Women's volleyball in England has also been dominated by London Malory in the past, again led by Jefferson Williams. However, in 2008, the University of London Union (ULU) women's team defeated London Malory in the Cup quarter-finals and left them out of the Final for the first time in 13 years. The student side, which competes in the London Premier League and is led by coach Mark Kontopoulos, then defeated Wessex-Team Bath in the semi-finals and London Polonia in the Final to become the first ever non-national league team to win the National Cup. In recent years, women's volleyball has been dominated by northern sides with Team Northumbria winning the title five times in a row from 2012 to 2016, followed by Team Durham's two consecutive titles in 2017 and 2018. In 2019, Tendring VC Ladies won their first National league championship to bring the trophy to Essex.

League organisation

The National Volleyball League (NVL) is split into men's and women's competitions, each with 4 levels. In season 2018-19, the top three levels are the same for men and women: National Super League, Division 1 and Division 2 (North & South). Men's Division 3 is divided into North, Central and South. Women's Division 3 is divided into North, Central, South-East and South-West.[3]

The following table shows how many teams are in each division for the 2018-19 season.[4]

Division Men's Teams Women's Teams
National Super League 9 9
Division 1 9 10
Division 2 (North) 9 10
Division 2 (South) 9 10
Division 3 (North) 7 6
Division 3 (Central) 7 9
Division 3 (South) 9 -
Division 3 (South-West) - 9
Division 3 (South-East) - 8

2018–2019

Teams competing in each National Volleyball League division for the 2018-19 season:[4]

National Super League
Division 1
  • Black Country I
  • Cambridge VC and Anglia Ruskin University
  • Cardiff Celts
  • Leeds RGA
  • London Aces
  • Nasze UK Intervolley Manchester
  • Sheffield II
  • Team Sunderland
  • Tendring
Division 2 North
  • Darkstar Derbyshire
  • Manchester Marvels I
  • Melton Lions
  • Norwich Spikers
  • Nottingham Rockets I
  • Stockport
  • Tamworth Spartans
  • The Miners Doncaster
  • University of Nottingham
  • York
Division 2 South
Division 3 North
  • Blyth Valley
  • Haughton Darlington
  • Hull Thunder
  • Lincoln Cannons
  • Manchester Marvels II
  • Nottingham Rockets II
  • Warrington Wolves
Division 3 Central
Division 3 South
  • Dartford
  • Guildford
  • London Baks
  • South Hants
  • Southampton II
  • Surrey Spikers
  • Urbond Volleyball Club Portsmouth
  • Weymouth Beach Volleyball Club
  • Wiltshire Mavericks
National Super League
Division 1
  • Birmingham II
  • Cambridge VC and Anglia Ruskin University
  • City of Salford
  • Darkstar Derbyshire
  • Herts
  • London Inter
  • Oxford Students
  • Petroc Beach Academy (North Devon)
  • Team South Wales
  • University of Nottingham
Division 2 North
  • Black Country
  • Coventry and Warwick Riga
  • Hull Thunder
  • Leeds RGA
  • Lincoln Cannons
  • Manchester Marvels I
  • Newcastle Staffs (Ladies)
  • Tameside
  • Team Sunderland
  • York Falcons
Division 2 South
Division 3 North
  • Chester Amazons
  • Leeds RGA Panthers
  • Manchester Marvels II
  • Sheffield Honeybees
  • Wirral Wasps
  • York Vipers
Division 3 Central
  • Ashfield Vipers
  • Coventry and Warwick Riga II
  • Leicester Athena
  • Loughborough Students
  • Northampton
  • Norwich Spikers
  • Nottingham Rockets
  • Tamworth Spartans
  • Telford Ladies
Division 3 South West
  • Cardiff Celts Ladies
  • Cardiff Falcons
  • City of Bristol Ladies
  • Plymouth
  • Plymouth Mayflower VC
  • Southampton II
  • Team Bristol
  • Wessex II
  • Yeovil
Division 3 South East
  • Ashcombe Dorking II
  • Ipswich Ladies
  • London Lionhearts
  • Maidstone
  • Portsmouth
  • Richmond II
  • South Hants
  • Sussex Dolphins II

League champions

The table below shows the men's and women's national league champions from season 1977–78 through to 2017–18.[5][6]

Season Men's Champion Women's Champion
1977–78 Sefton A Kirkby
1978–79 Kestrels Hillingdon
1979–80 Speedwell Furness TSB Kirkby
1981–82 Speedwell Rucanor Hillingdon
1982–83 Speedwell Rucanor Hillingdon
1983–84 Capital City Spikers Hillingdon
1984–85 Team Mizuno Hillingdon
1985–86 Polonia Spark
1986–87 Speedwell Sale
1987–88 Malory CLC Ashcombe
1988–89 Malory CLC Britannia
1989–90 Team Mizuno Malory Brixton Knights
1990–91 Team Mizuno Malory Mizuno Britannia Woolwich
1991–92 Team Mizuno Malory Woolwich Brixton
1992–93 Mizuno Lewisham Woolwich Brixton
1993–94 Mizuno Malory Lewisham Woolwich Brixton
1994–95 Mizuno Malory Lewisham London Malory
1995–96 Mizuno Malory Lewisham London QKX
1996–97 Malory Lewisham Britannia Music City
1997–98 Tooting Aquila London Malory
1998–99 Malory London London Malory
1999–00 Malory London Ashcombe Dorking1
2000–01 Malory London Ashcombe Dorking1
2001–02 Malory London London Malory
2002–03 London Malory London Malory
2003–04 London Malory London Malory
2004–05 London Malory London Malory
2005–06 London Malory University of Birmingham
2006–07 London Docklands London Malory
2007–08 London Malory Wessex
2008–09 Sheffield Swiss Cottage
2009–10 Malory Eagles (London) Tameside Polonia Ladies
2010–11 London Polonia Polonia IMKA London
2011–12 Leeds Carnegie Team Northumbria
2012–13 London Polonia Team Northumbria
2013–14 Sheffield Hallam Team Northumbria
2014–15 Team Northumbria Team Northumbria
2015–16 IBB Polonia London Team Northumbria
2016–17 IBB Polonia London Team Durham
2017–18 Team Northumbria Team Durham
2018–19 IBB Polonia London Tendring VC Ladies

References
  1. Volleyball England About Us. Volleyball England https://www.volleyballengland.org/about_us/. Retrieved 29 September 2020. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. "National Volleyball Centre". Volleyball England. Retrieved 13 August 2012.
  3. "New name and format for top divisions". Volleyball England. 8 May 2018.
  4. "National Volleyball League Tables". Volleyball England. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
  5. "NVL Winners and Runners–Up (Men)" (PDF). Volleyball England. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
  6. "NVL Winners and Runners–Up (Women)" (PDF). Volleyball England. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
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