Champions and European places to be decided this weekend

It all comes down to one last weekend of action in Glasgow! The Grand Finals weekend is the culmination of the season`s Premiership action – it will decide the Scottish champions as well as allocating next season`s European spots while at the other end finalise the relegation issue.

The championship title is the ultimate but a carrot is one of the two European places on offer. By winning the league Edinburgh University men and Watsonians women have already booked a European place, but they will only grab the first spot by winning Sunday`s final.

Some changes to the men`s EHL format have just been announced. Starting at Easter 2027 the KO 16 will be replaced by the Final 12, similar to the present women`s set-up. And so in the previous October twelve teams will play out Round 1 in four groups of three teams, with only the four winners progressing to the Final 12. After Watsonians stirring effort to come second in the recent EuroHockey Club Trophy in Vienna it is to be hoped that Scotland`s top team will participate in Round 1 with the other side at the Trophy level.

Watsonians were the first Scottish side to reach the women`s Final 12 and after making the quarter-finals it is to be hoped that they have grasped enough ranking points for this weekend`s winning side to keep Scotland`s place at this level.

At the moment Scotland are ranked seventh in the women and the men ninth – within the limit for one team in the EHL. It is to be hoped that this is maintained, or even improved upon, when the new ranking for the 2026-2027 campaign is announced at the end of June.

So what of the contenders this weekend? These are the top teams in the land and it is therefore envisaged that the matches will be close with form on the day perhaps the deciding factor.

So how did they fare in their top six Premiership action which might give a little guidance?

In the open/men`s competition, Uddingston have been one of the success stories of the season by finishing fourth.   And they were a bit unlucky to go down 2-1 to champions Edinburgh University, it took a last gasp penalty corner strike from Jamie Golden to rescue the three points for the students. Uddy might take heart from the students losing out in last weekend`s Scottish Cup Final, and in any case they have nothing to lose…and so you never know.

Western Wildcats` clash with Watsonians ended in a 1-1 draw in the league – Iain McFadden`s opener for Wildcats was cancelled out by Danny Cain.  The Edinburgh side are on a bit of a high at the moment, a successful European campaign in Vienna was followed by winning the Scottish Cup, so Sam Judge`s charges are not afraid of the big occasion.

Azets Clydesdale Western completed the latter part of the women`s Premiership season with some impressive results and that included a 3-0 win at Edinburgh University, the side they meet in the semi-finals on Saturday. A double from Jenny Eadie and one from Jika Nyirenda did the damage, and so the Titwood side must fancy themselves for this one, especially having just won the Scottish Cup last weekend. The students did manage to finish third in the Premiership although they only recorded one win in the final five games.

Premiership winners Watsonians will set out to see off fourth placed GHK in the other semi-final…but there is a story to tell here.   Firstly it was the Glasgow side that dumped Watsonians out of the Scottish Cup in a penalty shoot-out after a 1-1 draw. Further, 1-1 was also the score in the recent league encounter until Fiona Burnet sunk a penalty corner for Watsonians in the closing seconds.  So it`s not been plain sailing for the champions and it might be tight again on Saturday.

Also to be decided are the final places in next season`s Premiership with the promotion/relegation play-offs.   In the open/men’s Premiership Dundee Wanderers, who finished second from bottom take on Dunfermline Carnegie, runners-up in the second tier.   This could be tight as the Fifers have had recent experience in the top flight and so are aware of the standard required.     Automatically promoted are winners Kelburne, and so the return of Premiership champions of the past after a few seasons in the lower echelons.

The women`s play-off sees Hillhead trying to maintain their Premiership status against the challenge of Grove Menzieshill.   Here it is Gordonians who have the automatic promotion spot.

Get your tickets here! – Playoff Tickets

Watch the live stream here – https://tv.scottish-hockey.org.uk/

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