Field Hockey Match Format Interpreter
Field Hockey Match Format Interpreter
Field hockey is 60 minutes in four quarters under the current FIH Rules, and was 70 in two halves before September 2014. Indoor and Hockey5s are different again. Say which format and how far in you are.
Which period is this, and how long is the match
Format and clockOutdoor hockey under the current FIH Rules, 38 minutes of play elapsed
Every format on this page, with the document that sets it
| Format | Periods | Minutes of play | Intervals | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Outdoor hockey, current | Four quarters of 15 minutes | 60 | 2 minutes after quarters 1 and 3; 10 minutes at half-time | FIH Rules of Hockey effective 1 March 2026, Rule 5.1; FIH General Tournament Regulations 26 May 2025, Appendix 1 Article 2 |
| Outdoor hockey, as the 2019 Rules had it | Four quarters of 15 minutes | 60 | 2 minutes after quarters 1 and 3; 5 minutes at half-time | FIH Rules of Hockey effective 1 August 2019, Rule 5.1 |
| Outdoor hockey, before 1 September 2014 | Two halves of 35 minutes | 70 | Half-time only | FIH news release of 20 March 2014 announcing the change |
| Indoor hockey | Four quarters of 10 minutes | 40 | 1 minute after quarters 1 and 3; 5 minutes at half-time | FIH Tournament Regulations — Indoor, August 2024, Appendix 1 Regulation 2 |
| Hockey5s | Two halves of 15 minutes | 30 | 2 minutes at half-time | FIH Tournament Regulations — Hockey5s, June 2023, Appendix 1 Regulation 2(a) |
| Ice hockey, for contrast only | Three periods of 20 minutes | 60 | 15 minutes, or as the IIHF designates | IIHF Official Rule Book 2026/27, Rules 77.1 and 77.2 |
What the 2014 change did to per-match statistics
| Quantity | On 70 minutes | On 60 minutes | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minutes of play in a match | 70 | 60 | A match lost 10 minutes of play, about 14% of it |
| A goals against average over 240 minutes of play, 7 conceded | 2.04 | 1.75 | The older base reads 16.67% higher for identical play |
| Minutes that make four full matches | 280 | 240 | Four matches is 40 fewer minutes than it was |
| Per-60 rates | Unaffected | Unaffected | A per-60 rate is indifferent to the match length, which is exactly why it is the safe base for comparing across the change |
A match length is a regulation, and this one changed
This page is about field hockey, the eleven-a-side game played on a turf pitch and governed by the International Hockey Federation (FIH). It is not about ice hockey, whose rules, periods and statistical definitions are different and are set by the IIHF and by individual leagues. Ice hockey’s periods are listed below for contrast, and only for contrast: three periods of 20 minutes under IIHF Rule 77.1, with an intermission set by Rule 77.2. Every other figure on this page is the FIH’s, and the two bodies’ regulations have nothing to do with each other.
Match length in field hockey is a regulation, not a constant. The FIH Rules of Hockey effective 1 March 2026 give four quarters of 15 minutes at Rule 5.1, which is 60 minutes of play; before 1 September 2014 the same body’s match was two halves of 35 minutes, or 70 minutes. Rule 5.1 also allows other periods by agreement between the teams except where a competition’s own regulations specify otherwise, which is how halves survive in club hockey.
The clock itself is not the wall clock. Field hockey stops time when a penalty corner is awarded and after a goal is scored, so a 15-minute quarter takes noticeably longer than 15 minutes to play, and a quarter may be extended to allow a penalty corner already awarded to be completed. That is why this page asks for minutes of play rather than minutes since the start: the two drift apart across a match, and every per-match statistic in the sport is built on the first of them.
The 2014 change is the one that matters most for anybody reading old numbers. On 20 March 2014 the FIH announced that from 1 September that year a match would be four quarters of 15 minutes rather than two halves of 35, taking ten minutes of play out of the game. Nothing was done to the statistics already recorded, so the sport’s history contains two incompatible bases for every per-match figure, and almost nothing published says which one it is on. The 2019 Rules kept the quarters and set half-time at 5 minutes; the Rules effective 1 March 2026 keep the quarters and set half-time at 10. The goals against average page takes the match length as an input for exactly this reason, and prints the per-60 and per-70 figures side by side so the divergence is visible rather than assumed away.
One thing this page cannot do is tell you what your own competition plays. FIH Rule 5.1 allows other periods and intervals to be agreed by both teams except where a competition’s own regulations specify otherwise, which is the clause under which halves survive in club hockey, in schools and in veterans’ hockey. No FIH rule change reversing the move to quarters was found while this page was written, and none is claimed here: what exists is the FIH stating that four quarters is its standard, and a permissive clause that lets a competition do otherwise. If your league plays two halves of 35, it is entitled to, and its playing conditions are the authority. For what the clock reaching zero on a level score leads to, see the shoot-out page, and for what the result is worth in the table, the league points page.
Frequently asked questions
How long is a field hockey match?
60 minutes of play, as four quarters of 15 minutes, under FIH Rule 5.1 in the Rules of Hockey effective 1 March 2026. The FIH General Tournament Regulations of 26 May 2025 repeat it at Appendix 1 Article 2. Intervals are 2 minutes after the first and third quarters and 10 minutes at half-time. A competition’s own regulations may specify something different.
When did field hockey change from halves to quarters?
From 1 September 2014. The FIH announced the change on 20 March 2014: two halves of 35 minutes became four quarters of 15, which took the match from 70 minutes of play to 60. The announcement also introduced a 40-second time-out when a penalty corner is awarded and after a goal.
Did hockey go back to two halves?
Not in the FIH’s rules, and no rule change reversing the move was found while this page was written. The Rules of Hockey effective 1 August 2019 and those effective 1 March 2026 both give four quarters of 15 minutes, and the 2019 edition’s introduction says the FIH has chosen four quarters as its standard. What does exist is Rule 5.1’s clause allowing other periods by agreement between the teams except where a competition’s regulations specify otherwise, which is how halves persist in club and school hockey.
How long is an indoor hockey or Hockey5s match?
Indoor is four quarters of 10 minutes, 40 minutes in all, under Appendix 1 Regulation 2 of the FIH Tournament Regulations — Indoor of August 2024. Hockey5s is two halves of 15 minutes, 30 minutes in all, under Appendix 1 Regulation 2(a) of the Hockey5s Tournament Regulations of June 2023 — which replaces the 10-minute halves in the base Rules of Hockey5s, so the rule book and the tournament regulations disagree and the regulations win.
Is a field hockey match the same length as an ice hockey match?
Since 2014, yes, by coincidence: both are 60 minutes of play. Ice hockey plays three periods of 20 minutes under IIHF Rule 77.1. The totals matching does not make the statistics comparable — a shot on goal is defined by the NHL and undefined by the FIH, and field hockey channels much of its shooting through a set piece ice hockey does not have.
Should I use the match clock or the wall clock?
The match clock. Field hockey stops time when a penalty corner is awarded and after a goal, and a quarter can be extended to let an awarded penalty corner be completed, so playing time runs behind elapsed time all match. Every per-match and per-60 statistic in the sport is built on playing time, and using elapsed time inflates the denominator.
Related calculators
References
- International Hockey Federation. Rules of Hockey, effective from 1 March 2026. Lausanne: FIH; 2026. Rule 1 and Field Specifications, Rule 5.1, Rule 12.3, Rules 13.3, 13.5 and 13.6, Rule 14.
- International Hockey Federation. General Tournament Regulations for Outdoor Competitions, 26 May 2025. Appendix 1 Article 2, Appendix 3 Articles 1 and 2, Appendix 12 Articles 11, 12, 14, 20 and 21.
- International Hockey Federation. Rules of Hockey, effective from 1 August 2019. Rule 5.1 and the introductory note that the FIH has chosen four quarters as its standard match format.
- International Hockey Federation. “FIH announces format change set to improve hockey experience.” FIH news release, 20 March 2014 — the move from two halves of 35 minutes to four quarters of 15 minutes from 1 September 2014.
- International Hockey Federation. Tournament Regulations — Indoor, August 2024. Appendix 1 Regulation 2, Appendix 3 clause 1, Appendix 8 Articles 11, 12 and 19.
- International Hockey Federation. Tournament Regulations — Hockey5s, June 2023. Appendix 1 Regulation 2(a), Appendix 3 clause 1.
- International Ice Hockey Federation. IIHF Official Rule Book 2026/27, Rule 77.1 (three periods of twenty minutes of actual play) and Rule 77.2 (intermission). Cited only where ice hockey is contrasted with field hockey.