Frequently Asked Questions

For help please check these FAQs before reaching out to support@gmsfeed.co.uk if you are having any problems.

How do I find the Competition, Team and Club IDs?

To show league tables you need to find the numeric identifier used by the GMS data warehouse for the competition. Similarly, to show fixtures and results for a team you need to find the ID used for the team. To show match day fixtures for a club you need to find the ID for the club.

We have a search/lookup button on the relevant pages to help you find the numeric IDs required. The lookup will help you find the IDs based on the names of the areas, competition groups, competitions and teams.

Please note that you may need to update your widgets and shortcodes for each new season:

  • After the end of the normal hockey season, between May and August, the more static data such as seasons, competition groups and competitions will be updated. During this period you may find stale or inconsistent data. Typically the new season's competition groups will appear in July, and the new fixtures will appear during August after the next club match day rolls over to the start of the new season.
  • If you have created widgets or shortcodes that include a competition ID (comp_id) for specific league tables, then you will need to update them as the competition ID for a league will change each season. We recommended updating widgets or shortcodes in August after the next match day rollover has happened.
  • Club and team fixtures and results will automatically show next season's fixtures, when the next club match day is updated from the last day of the previous season to the first day of the next season. For the last two seasons rollover has happened on 31st July.

How do I show multiple tables on a page?

Although it is possible to have multiple widgets on the same page we recommend you consider the following to improve performance and the experience of anyone using your web site.

  • In general we recommend having one widget per page. Each widget requires a round trip visit to this web service to retrieve data. More widgets means more waiting for data that may not be required.
  • When generating a widget you may select multiple tables e.g. league, results and fixtures. This allows you to display multiple tables (e.g. for a team). The widget will have the following attribute data-show="league+results+fixtures", in this case all three tables will be retrieved in one round trip.
  • You may use the Dynamic option to create a single flexible widget for a club which includes a filter to select results, fixtures and league tables by team. So visitors to your web site can select the tables they wish to see.
  • If you do need to put multiple widgets on a page then note that the <script> is only required once on each page. If you place the <script> before the tables then you should add the defer attribute.

How can I change the styling of the tables and lists?

Full control of styling is possible using CSS. We provide defaults to get you started which you can enhance or replace depending on your requirements, skills and experience with CSS. Most elements within the tables and lists displayed, have classes prefixed with 'gms-' so that you can select the elements with your custom CSS as necessary.

The default CSS can be found here CSS Default. This is the CSS code that is inserted automatically into the head section of your page when you embed the HTML widget code. You DO NOT need to embed this CSS into your pages yourself. The same CSS is added as an external file by the Wordpress plugin. If you find the default CSS unworkable, even with your own additions, then you can disable this CSS by using the methods described below depending on whether you are embedding HTML widgets or using the WordPress plugin.

  • HTML Widget - Disable the default CSS by adding the data attribute data-css="no" to the HTML widget.
  • WordPress Plugin - When using the WordPress plugin the handling of the default CSS is controlled by the 'Default CSS' option within the plugin settings. Disable this CSS by setting the default CSS option to "No".
  • When disabled you may copy the CSS Default code and use as a starting point for your own custom CSS.

Note that the default is to show fixtures and results as tables. Use the options="showList:yes" parameter to show as a mobile friendly list or options="showList:auto" to make selection responsive to show as tables by default or as list if viewport < 1024px.

What are the latest Widget/Shortcode generator features?

The following is a list of new features and options for the Widget/Shortcode generator for the 2024/25 season:

  • 26/07/2024 - Show season for competitions

The following is a list of new features and options for the Widget/Shortcode generator for the 2023/24 season:

  • 16/04/2024 - Show As List option added to custom league
  • 04/04/2024 - Custom League option to create your own competition for selected teams
  • 05/03/2024 - Fixture Detail option to click through to fixture details including players and officials
  • 27/02/2024 - Show WebCal Link option when showing a list of club teams
  • 23/02/2024 - Calendar Options to change subject/title of events in calendar
  • 25/10/2023 - Calendar subscription for fixtures through WebCal page linked into site menu
  • 18/10/2023 - Show As List and Automatic options added to provide responsive lists rather than tables for fixtures and results
  • 26/08/2023 - Show Gender option added for clubs that have same names for female and male teams
  • 18/07/2023 - The Dynamic option creates a flexible widget which includes a filter to select results, fixtures and league tables
  • 30/06/2023 - Option to show a list of club Teams with links to England Hockey
  • 27/06/2023 - Sort By option to order fixtures by time or reverse date

The site was first launched during the 2021/22 season and upgraded to use the EH GMS Data Warehouse (Azure) prior to the 2022/23 season.

What are the Terms of Service when using this site?

We reserve the right to amend these terms, and will notify you via updates to this page.

  • Fair Use Policy - The service is free to use for hockey clubs and affiliated organisations, subject to the service not being abused. API requests are currently limited to 10 per minute for each IP address. We reserve the right to change these limits to restrict traffic and ensure the service is not overloaded.
  • Service Availability - Occasional outages, whether through hardware, software or network faults, that affect the uptime and service availability, do and will occur from time to time. We take no responsibility for the impact of such disruptions to the service.
  • Website Links - This website contains links to, and content from, other websites operated by parties that are not associated with us ("third parties"). We have no control over the information on these sites. By linking to sites operated by third parties, we are not authorising the reproduction of any material on such websites, as such material may be the subject of intellectual property rights.
  • Disclaimer Statement - The tools and services are provided "as is" and without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied. We assume no responsibility for errors or omissions in the data provided by this site, and as such bear no responsibility for misuse by you or any person or organisation to which you choose to submit these data.

What is the temporary GMS Match Site?

The GMS Match Site was a temporary solution for the 2021-2022 season to show fixtures, results and league tables. An improved service was available from the 2022-2023 season which provides an API to a data warehouse, which is now used by this web service as the primary source. The web service to access this legacy data was deprecated in 2022 and has now been removed.

Temporary GMS Match Site