MK

BostonBart22

Well-Known Member
Thread starter #1
With MK not competing at EIHL level next season has anyone heard of a new club joining EIHL , seem to remember Telford were intrested last season. also if not, season tkts will give fans extra games next season at least 3 if i am correct.
 
#2
If I remember properly hull wanted to take the caps place last season and that strange racers incident. Although the new national league looks decent and I doubt any are dropping out of that so soon after announcement. That leaves Edinburgh as the only one, but I have no idea on how they are doing since the inception.
 

Devil94

Well-Known Member
#3
Telford will never be allowed to join with their rink.
Hull and Edinburgh the only options I would say, with maybe Leeds in a few years.
 

mjh

Well-Known Member
#5
Can't see anyone joining in next couple of years with the new second tier set up. Hopefully manage to keep all 10 current teams afloat during that time.
 
Last edited:

James

Administrator
#6
There is a campaign to keep MK up https://www.letsplayhockey.org/ Not sure of the viability to be able to see out the season but they want to give it a go. The problem with MK over the last few seasons has allegedly been the owners and their lack of competence, something Devils fans of more than 5 years can relate too :)
 

Wannabe2

Well-Known Member
#7
Would love for MK to stay in this league. there fans are awesome, and deserve better. New ownership is obviously wanted, and easier said than done, but never say never if passion and dedication mean anything then anything could happen. As James have stated we know this story only too well, we were very fortunate, let’s hope MK can pull it out of the fire.
 
#8
I haven't heard of any new teams joining so what we have now will be the status quo I'd imagine. From a league/marketing perspective, I wouldn't be surprised to see Leeds joining at some point and I did read something about a team based in Dublin. We're surely overdue a London based team too!
 

Ger-Devils

Well-Known Member
#10
Unfortunately Dublin and London don’t have any venues that could sustain a Elite team, mores the pity.
Dublin have a chance but the number of rejections for the build application stopped it.

All to do with location they’re looking at and the infrastructure surrounding.

Dundalk is meant to open next year but wouldn’t be suitable for pro game.
 

Mooney#16

Well-Known Member
#11
Wasn’t the London team raised again at the fan forum at the play offs. It’s a work in progress and I think they said Wembley would be the venue. Neil Black owns the franchise so when he gets the conditions he wants then he’ll kick start it. Guess he still has reservations about financial viability . Myself personally and in contradiction to a lot of opinions I think hockey in London will forever be a bust and isn’t required. People in London are travel averse on the weekends given the stress the daily commute is. London is a tribal city with its own distinct districts and groups and has a huge population of non indigenous Londoners who lack an affinity to anything under a unified London banner. I wager no one south of the river would travel to Wembley for starters. The running costs would be hugely expensive from a salary and accommodation side also. Neil Black is probably a smarter businessman than me but I wouldn’t touch putting a team in London with a barge pole at least not if you expect it to be competitive and non loss making.

Given the BBC relocation to Salford having a high end team in Manchester would be of bigger use but that arena is just to damn big to make it a goer.

The city i’m surprised has never been pushed higher up the agenda is Birmingham with the NEC and is there any mileage in trying to resurrect Newcastle out of the arena. The further away from historical politics that area gets the more chance it has of becoming a huge success again.
 

James

Administrator
#12
I can't remember where I read it but apparently the owners of the MRA were very keen to get a Newcastle team back in there playing. Im not sure whether their occupancy has dipped but they were the major roadblock for the Vipers in the past and if they are willing it could happen.
 

Gazza272

Well-Known Member
#13
Wasn’t the London team raised again at the fan forum at the play offs. It’s a work in progress and I think they said Wembley would be the venue. Neil Black owns the franchise so when he gets the conditions he wants then he’ll kick start it. Guess he still has reservations about financial viability . Myself personally and in contradiction to a lot of opinions I think hockey in London will forever be a bust and isn’t required. People in London are travel averse on the weekends given the stress the daily commute is. London is a tribal city with its own distinct districts and groups and has a huge population of non indigenous Londoners who lack an affinity to anything under a unified London banner. I wager no one south of the river would travel to Wembley for starters. The running costs would be hugely expensive from a salary and accommodation side also. Neil Black is probably a smarter businessman than me but I wouldn’t touch putting a team in London with a barge pole at least not if you expect it to be competitive and non loss making.

Given the BBC relocation to Salford having a high end team in Manchester would be of bigger use but that arena is just to damn big to make it a goer.

The city i’m surprised has never been pushed higher up the agenda is Birmingham with the NEC and is there any mileage in trying to resurrect Newcastle out of the arena. The further away from historical politics that area gets the more chance it has of becoming a huge success again.

I don't think Londoner's are travel averse at weekends, I think it's more to do with the sheer amount of options you have on the weekends there. Theatre, drinks with friends, Travelling home for the weekend to see family, football, a nice restaurant, the list of things to do is pretty much endless, and you don't want to be tied down to an evening activity every week, especially on a Saturday.


Sunday games at say a 17:00PM face off would probably give you the best bet, but that does rule out a lot of families. and would clash with a lot of Football for travelling etc.

it's a complex proposition, and I agree with you that other areas of the country would hold a lot less problems and a lot more opportunity. At the risk of plagiarising John Donovan, Durham would be the market I'd go to first to try and build a facility.
 
#14
You have to think that getting some of the big cities on board would help to raise the perception/status of the UK game. Obviously can't comment on infrastructure but seems like a no brainer to me.
 

Temme

Well-Known Member
#15
also if not, season tkts will give fans extra games next season at least 3 if i am correct.
Season tickets cover us for a set amount of games, rather than "entire season", it's somewhere around 30-33 that are covered and any additional will need to be paid for (like this year x3 games needed paying for)
 

rocketbob

Well-Known Member
#16
I can't remember where I read it but apparently the owners of the MRA were very keen to get a Newcastle team back in there playing. Im not sure whether their occupancy has dipped but they were the major roadblock for the Vipers in the past and if they are willing it could happen.
I remember Mr Ragan (apologies for mentioning he who cannot be named) had spoken with a number of owners about getting the Vipers back into the Arena but that it was no longer financially viable (due to high rents). There was an attempt 2 or 3 seasons ago to resurrect the Vipers in a rink share with the Whitley Warriors (of Mike Babcock fame) but apparently the rink owners did not want to accommodate two teams in the rink. As far as I am aware there has been no further attempts to get the Vipers going but I did see quite a few Vipers jerseys at POFW. One day hopefully.
 

Gough60

Active Member
#19
With Dublin not being part of the UK and when Brexit kicks in, how would it affect rules of qualification (Brit minimum) & salaries (euro) just to bring up 2 points. I'm sure there are more bumps in the road as far as non UK teams are concerned.
 

Hedd Wyn John

Well-Known Member
#20
With Dublin not being part of the UK and when Brexit kicks in, how would it affect rules of qualification (Brit minimum) & salaries (euro) just to bring up 2 points. I'm sure there are more bumps in the road as far as non UK teams are concerned.
I'm sure they could find ways to adjust the rules to accommodate a multi-national league
 
Top