Ice Hockey Annual published

BRIGHTON, UK – For over 30 years, like clockwork, The Ice Hockey Annual has been published; documenting all the British ice hockey teams and leagues from the previous season. Its author, Stewart Roberts, began the Annual back in 1976 when he took note of the distinct lack of records and stats for the sport in the UK. “I realised after following the game for a while that there was no publication of record and decided it was just what I fancied doing.  In the days before word processors, let alone the internet, this was not easy but I guess I enjoyed the challenge.” said Roberts. Back then things like computers and photocopiers were still a relative dream to the man in the street so all of the work had to be done manually “The first ten Annuals were all typed by me on a manual typewriter. How I kept my sanity during that time, I’m not sure, especially as I was just about holding down a full-time job as well. But thanks to computers and the internet, I think I can extend the life of the Annual beyond what it would have been were I still producing it on a manual typewriter.” As time went on, things began to change and the Annual grew in popularity and people started taking more of an interest in the stats side of the game and as such sales of the almanac grew at a similar rate. What also helped was the large following the sport attracted during the “Golden age” of British ice hockey, the Heineken era. Roberts remembers the era fondly “I think that over the 40-plus years I’ve been watching, there’s been two, quite different eras that were memorable and stood out for one reason or another. Firstly, the Heineken years, 1982-1993, when the standard of the game was low by comparison to today, but it was hugely entertaining. This, of course, was before the dreaded phrase “grinding out a win” was uttered by the coaches of talent-challenged teams. It was also superbly marketed by Whitbread who were the makes or Heineken. This was also the era when three or four rinks opened every year, thanks to an initiative by the old Sports Council, something we daren’t even dream about these days, sadly. “The other one was the Superleague era. By contrast to the Heineken times, the standard was very high. The highest since the Fifties and, like the Fifties, the teams were staffed almost entirely by overseas players.  Wildly ambitious, it could never last, of course, but it was great to watch while it did.” Prior to the start of the Superleague, Roberts produced and edited a bumper version of the Annual along with Gordon Wade who documented and collated the stats from the Heineken era and beyond. Stewart looks back on that publication as his favourite. “The bumper 288-page 1996-97 edition which covered the final season before Superleague is without doubt the most enjoyable one I’ve written. Knowing that a lot of home-grown players would lose their jobs in the import-dominated Superleague, we carried a year-by-year summary of the scoring records of all the players who were in the old British League in season 1995-96. This was compiled by Gordon Wade, the Heineken League’s and BIHA’s much missed statistician. “We also added our first Roll of Honour, also compiled by Gordon, the year-by-year records of who won which league, right back to 1929. So the 1996-97 Annual is a must-have for all hockey buffs not only in the UK but for Worldwide followers of the game. I don’t think I saw much of the summer that year. Just as well I’d got early retirement from my full-time job by then!” With the advancement of the internet age and readily available stats at a few clicks of the mouse, although the majority of what is in the Annual is not to be found online, is there still a place for books like the Annual? “I think a sport will always need a publication of record. Nowadays, the trick is to find the most efficient way to reach your readers.  The economies of printing are changing fast with many people getting information via the internet – though I always stress that the majority of the information in the Annual is nowhere to be found on the internet.   “Though the book that readers see has changed little in the past few years, behind the scenes I’m always making changes, to keep costs down and reach more readers. The Annual will go on evolving that way but I doubt if the actual format will change much. I’ll keep on producing it for as long as I have enough readers keen to buy it or until I get too doddery to continue with it!” said Roberts. Roberts looks back happily on his efforts over the years and refutes any suggestion that it is routine rather than something he looks forward to each summer. “Doing something you love is, by definition, never a routine.  A habit, yes, and it takes a bit of adjustment twice a year. But I can’t stop, and I hate to think of what I’ll do when the day comes that I can’t do it any longer. When I do step down from producing it, provided the game is healthy at the time, I’m sure someone will come along and keep it going. It’s the ideal pastime for any hockey fan who gets bored when he/she can’t watch their favourite game in the summer. I hope I shall still be around to give them a helping hand if they need it.” People like Roberts are the ones without which British ice hockey wouldn’t exist in the form it does. He does, however, have some criticisms at the current fragmentation of the sport in the UK “I know it’s easier to write about the game than to run it, but some clubs/leagues/governing bodies seem to work very hard to make it more difficult. My blogs, available on the Annual’s website, have been more controversial but that’s what blogs are for and I can give a more personal view on the game as opposed to what goes into the book which is factual. I yearn for all the major clubs to get back on the same page, with one league, with a sensible restriction on imports and a sponsor to market the game. I believe in the long term that is the best way forward”. Stewart Roberts’ book is available at all major ice rinks or online at www.graphyle.com/IHA/ordering priced at £9.95. For any followers of the UK game, it really is a book you cannot do without on your bookshelf!  Contact the author Pete.Lewis@Prohockeynews.com