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More excitement, more Super Handball League! Learn about Season 2025/26

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More excitement, more Super Handball League – Season 2025/26

The 2025/2026 season is just around the corner. In this article, you’ll find everything you need to know about the start of the competition. Last year, Sezoens Achilles Bocholt claimed the championship title, taking revenge on HC Visé BM, the winner of the year before. We say goodbye to Sasja HC and Limburg Lions, but this season we welcome no fewer than four new clubs. With the new format, the league now features fourteen teams instead of twelve. More matches, more excitement, more SHL.

Participating Teams 2025/26

Royal FloraHolland HV Aalsmeer (NL)
Sezoens Achilles Bocholt (BE)
HUMBY BEVO HC (NL)
HV Hellas Den Haag (NL)
HUBO Handbal (BE)
JD Techniek/Hurry-Up (NL)
Besox Handbalclub Izegem (BE)
Kreasa Houthalen (BE)
KTSV Eupen (BE)
L. van Raak Milieutechniek/Houten (NL)
Sporting Pelt (BE)
HC Visé BM (BE)
KRAS/Volendam (NL)
B&B Healthcare/WHC-Hercules (NL)

SHL Finals

On the weekend of May 9 and 10, 2026, everything will come together during the big SHL Finals weekend. This is when these matches will be played:

SHL Semi Finals and the Grand Final will decide who becomes champion.
The Relegation Final and Relegation Decider will determine who stays in the SHL and who gets relegated.

Road to the SHL Finals

After the regular season, in which all teams play each other both home and away:

Top 8 → SHL Quarter Finals (best of two). The winners advance to the Semi Finals during Finals weekend. The two finalists play the Grand Final for the championship.
Positions #11 to #14 → Relegation pool to fight for survival.

Relegation Pool – How It Works

Semi-finals (best of two)

#14 vs #11
#13 vs #12

Finals

Relegation Final: Winners face each other, winner stays in the SHL.
Relegation Decider: Losers face each other, loser is directly relegated.

After that, teams in positions #12 and #13 play an additional playoff (best of two) against top clubs from the Next Handball League (Netherlands) or the Eerste Nationale (Belgium). This will determine definitively who remains in the SHL and who gets relegated. Depending on the results and the distribution between Dutch and Belgian teams, it is possible that multiple teams will be relegated. For all scenarios, consult the official promotion and relegation regulations of HandbalNL or the Royal Belgian Handball Federation (KBHB).

Season 25/26

From the first matchday to the Grand Final, every game in the 2025/26 season will be decisive. More teams, more matches, more excitement – more SHL.