England Netball | 2024-25 Premier League reaches the halfway mark

The 2024-25 season started with a big change for our Premier League squad, as we moved venue to Southampton Solent University and now play our home matches in the university’s Performance Hall. The new venue allows us to have lots of spectators (highest number to date is 190 netball fans!) as well as giving us access to the outstanding student groups at Solent Uni who gain valuable ‘real life’ work experience with our club through live-streaming, sports journalism, physiotherapy and sports coaching assistance.

Blades experienced a heady few weeks sitting at the top of division one after some strong victories at the start of the season and we are striving to return to the top! We are proud of the range of club players who have played for Blades so far this season – many of whom have been with Weston Park Blades since they were juniors.

There is lots of positivity and camaraderie throughout the Blades Prem squad and coaching team, and everyone involved is inspired to keep momentum going and to flourish on court in the coming months of the season.

As we reach the halfway point of the season in Premier League 1, Charnwood Rutland Netball Club has experienced a period of both challenge and growth. The squad has seen a significant turnover of senior players, which has created a great opportunity for younger, emerging talent to step up and gain valuable experience. While the transition has been demanding, it has been equally rewarding for the team’s development.

Despite facing some difficult circumstances, the team has shown resilience, competing strongly in every match. The squad has faced challenges in closing out results, with several games slipping away in the final moments. The learning curve has been steep, but the lessons learned have been invaluable, especially in the recent hard-fought victory over Bury (57-49). This win was a testament to the team’s determination and their ability to grind out results, something that will prove crucial as the season progresses.

Looking ahead to the second half of the season, the squad is eager to continue its development. There is a real sense of excitement about the potential growth of the team as young players gain confidence and experience, while the coaching staff focus on refining key areas and ensuring that the team can finish games strong.

The second part of the season presents an opportunity for Charnwood Rutland to build on the progress made so far and to continue developing into a formidable force in the league. The team is excited for what lies ahead and committed to improving and pushing for stronger performances as they move into the latter stages of the season.

It has been a strong start for TDNC, and we head into Christmas top of the league, with eight wins out of nine games.

We have a young team, but with some experienced players in the group and a large and committed squad, we have been able to manage some tough games and long travel, and the team are improving each week.

We are excited for the second half of the season, to see if we can secure promotion again to Prem 1 – this time having the depth of squad to maintain that promotion.

Several players are involved in NXT Gen and NPL, but the culture and environment that has been built should put us in a good position to push on from January.

Coming into the 2024-25 Prem League 2 season, as a club we were focusing on navigating a season of rebuilding to develop a strong foundation for the future. Our opening match against Linden was a real statement of intent, showcasing our team’s attacking flair and precision. However, the following weeks presented a series of challenges, with inconsistency in our execution and injuries to key experienced players.

Despite these struggles, our resilience has been evident and the combination of new players, promising youngsters and experienced seniors has been crucial, with each bringing their own strengths to the court. We stepped up against some of the top teams in the league, demonstrating our ability to fight to the last whistle with true northern grit such as our matches against The Downs and Bath.

The players’ commitment to buying into the team’s processes, training to a high intensity and a shared desire to develop both individually and collectively has been evident. Recent performances reflect this growth, with a seamless mix of creative attacking play and disciplined defence. This recent shift in form has allowed us to regain our competitive edge securing crucial wins against Norfolk and Leeds to finish the first half of the season strongly. We are emerging as a more connected, confident squad, ready to build on this foundation for a push in the second half of the season.

After finishing fourth in Prem 3 in their debut season last year, Blackpool were keen to hit the ground running and have a strong start to the season.

Our first game was a home fixture against the newly promoted Hatfield. As expected Hatfield pushed us all the way, proving why they deserved promotion. The experience of a season in the league showed in the final quarter, as we were able to pull away with the scoreline, ending the match 56-45.

After that, we matched up against Billericay, Ryland, Exeter and Leyton in consecutive weeks, managing to continue our good performances against tough opposition.

Unfortunately for us, Bristol Romans managed to put a stop to the winning streak in round 6. A very tight game, with impressive defensive work from both teams, resulting in a two-goal advantage to our opposition (lost 42-40).

Rounds 7, 8 and 9, against Worcester Reds, Sussex Thunder and Northants Storm, brought Blackpool back to winning ways, to allow us to remain at the top of the table going into the Christmas break.

A great start to the season for Blackpool, we are looking forward to the second half!

The first half of the Worcester Reds’ netball season has been a strong one, with some standout performances highlighting great team connections and seamless passages of play. In particular, games where the team has worked cohesively, demonstrating quick transitions and sharp shooting, have showcased their growing potential. There have also been matches where the Reds have stuck firmly to their game plan, securing crucial wins.

Currently sitting in the top half of the table, the team is on track to continue building momentum, with a focus on increasing wins and securing valuable points as the season progresses.

After a tough season in Premier League 2, were we very excited to hit the ground running in Premier League 3 this season.

With the majority of our squad being new to the Premier League environment, it has been an exciting start to the season for all. We have focused on building momentum as a squad and celebrating individual moments of brilliance.

The experience we’ve gained from playing against some top quality players week in, week out has been invaluable to each and every member of the squad.

The league has felt really exciting and all of our games have been highly competitive, often with really fine margins determining the outcome. We are looking forward to the return fixtures in the second half of the season and will hope to capitalise on those fine margin matches.

As the last game before Christmas was postponed because of the weather, we are looking forward to returning to court as a team in January. As always, our aim is to finish as high as we can in the league and show the improvements we have made across the season.

As a partnership between University of Exeter Sport, Exeter Netball Club and University of Exeter Netball Club, we’d like to thank the University for all their support in enabling us to compete at this level.