England Hockey moved quickly to announce that all club and community hockey has been suspended.

While some sports, such as golf and swimming, have attempted to persuade the government to make a u-turn in their decision to halt non-elite sport, hockey took the halt in play on the chin.

They announced on Sunday that, while disappointed, all play will cease for the period of the second national lockdown, and potentially beyond. England Hockey - the sports governing body - say that no club or community hockey will take place “until after 4 December at the earliest.”

Hockey usually takes a break over the Christmas period and it may not be until 2021 that competitive action resumes.

The England Hockey statement said: “The government announcement made reference to returning to the Covid Alert Levels after the end of this period of lockdown, and should that be the case we are confident that clubs will be able to resume promptly in line with our previously-issued Return to Play guidance.

“If it becomes clearer in time that the lockdown will end on 4 December we encourage clubs to consider resuming some activity before Christmas if at all possible.

“To mitigate the risk of changes and with the uncertainty about what level the club may be in at the end of this period, we recommend that the time until Christmas is used for training and very local matches. The aim of this is to ensure that activities fall in line with any Level-based restrictions that may be in place.

“It will take time to determine the best approach to reorganising activity and we ask that players and clubs respect the need for organisers to consider the next steps properly in light of the timing and extent of the upcoming break.”

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