New format 2nd Tier

James

Administrator
Thread starter #4
Cardiff Fire have officially accepted promotion and joined the new second tier of British Hockey.

Following the demise of the EPL, the new look NIHL One will include Basingstoke Bison, Swindon Wildcats, Bracknell Bees, Peterborough Phantoms, Chelmsford Chieftains, Invicta Dynamos, Streatham IHC, London Raiders, Oxford City Stars, Milton Keynes Thunder, Solent Devils and Cardiff Fire.
The league will be split into two exciting conferences:

Conference A

Basingstoke Bison

Bracknell Bees

Cardiff Fire

Milton Keynes Thunder

Oxford City Stars

Solent Devils



Conference B

Chelmsford Chieftains

Invicta Dynamos

London Raiders

Peterborough Phantoms

Streatham Redhawks

Swindon Wildcats



Teams will play each other twice home and twice away in their conference and once home once away outside the conference to make up the league table.

In addition, Cardiff Fire have also had a second team accepted into NIHL Division 2. This team will play a crucial part in the development process, with a mix of players coming out of junior hockey looking to step up to senior semi/pro league and talented senior players passing on their experience.

NIHL South Division 2 reverts to a single division of 13 teams,
playing one home and one away. Discussions on a NIHL S2 Cup will
continue.

Basingstoke Buffalo

Bristol Pitbulls

Bracknell Hornets

Cardiff Fire 2

Chelmsford Warriors

Guildford Phoenix

Haringey

Invicta Mustangs

Lee Valley Lions

Oxford NIHL2

Peterborough Phantoms 2

Slough Jets

Swindon Wildcats 2
Mark Cuddihy continued “We understand that this is going to be very tough for us to play in this league, for the development in Cardiff its imperative that we are playing at the highest level possible. We feel with our current crop and some additions we can compete and will only grow as the season and seasons go on. This is a very exciting time for hockey in Cardiff and the league as a whole. The players, fans and commercial partners of the Fire will all benefit greatly from this step up in level. Its been two years in the making and we are delighted to be joining the new look set-up. We look forward to welcoming the new teams and fans to Ice Arena Wales and cant wait to get the season started. It’s going to be a long hard summer and we are ready to work hard to achieve the best we can for Cardiff hockey”
 

ASHIPP

Well-Known Member
#6
Hopefully there may be some exciting young prospects in this pool of teams for future recruitment and development at Elite level.
 

James

Administrator
Thread starter #8
Telford is a difficult one as there is already a Telford team in the existing North structure I think. They still seem to be updating their site as if they are a going concern so I guess something is being worked out.
 
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