Volleyball England


Volleyball England is the trading name for the English Volleyball Association Limited 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.
The 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.

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 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 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. 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.
The following table shows how many teams are in each division for the 2018-19 season.
DivisionMen's TeamsWomen's Teams
National Super League99
Division 1910
Division 2 910
Division 2 910
Division 3 76
Division 3 79
Division 3 9-
Division 3 -9
Division 3 -8

2018–2019

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

Men

National Super League
National Super League
The table below shows the men's and women's national league champions from season 1977–78 through to 2017–18.
SeasonMen's ChampionWomen's Champion
1977–78Sefton AKirkby
1978–79KestrelsHillingdon
1979–80Speedwell FurnessTSB Kirkby
1981–82Speedwell RucanorHillingdon
1982–83Speedwell RucanorHillingdon
1983–84Capital City SpikersHillingdon
1984–85Team MizunoHillingdon
1985–86PoloniaSpark
1986–87SpeedwellSale
1987–88Malory CLCAshcombe
1988–89Malory CLCBritannia
1989–90Team Mizuno MaloryBrixton Knights
1990–91Team Mizuno MaloryMizuno Britannia Woolwich
1991–92Team Mizuno MaloryWoolwich Brixton
1992–93Mizuno LewishamWoolwich Brixton
1993–94Mizuno Malory LewishamWoolwich Brixton
1994–95Mizuno Malory LewishamLondon Malory
1995–96Mizuno Malory LewishamLondon QKX
1996–97Malory LewishamBritannia Music City
1997–98Tooting AquilaLondon Malory
1998–99Malory LondonLondon Malory
1999–00Malory LondonAshcombe Dorking1
2000–01Malory LondonAshcombe Dorking1
2001–02Malory LondonLondon Malory
2002–03London MaloryLondon Malory
2003–04London MaloryLondon Malory
2004–05London MaloryLondon Malory
2005–06London MaloryUniversity of Birmingham
2006–07London DocklandsLondon Malory
2007–08London MaloryWessex
2008–09SheffieldSwiss Cottage
2009–10Malory Eagles Tameside Polonia Ladies
2010–11London PoloniaPolonia IMKA London
2011–12Leeds CarnegieTeam Northumbria
2012–13London PoloniaTeam Northumbria
2013–14Sheffield HallamTeam Northumbria
2014–15Team NorthumbriaTeam Northumbria
2015–16IBB Polonia LondonTeam Northumbria
2016–17IBB Polonia LondonTeam Durham
2017–18Team NorthumbriaTeam Durham
2018–19IBB Polonia LondonTendring VC Ladies