DURHAM, UK – With the demise of the Newcastle Vipers and uncertainty surrounding the future of the Northern League, hockey in the north east is currently at its lowest point for a number of years. It looks almost certain that the region will have no team in either of Britain’s top 2 divisions next term and north east hockey fans could only have ENL action to watch if the Northern League in which Whitley Warriors traditionally participate does not run next season.
The only positive for hockey in the region at this moment is the re-opening of the Billingham Forum on Teesside. Billingham will play in the English National League 1 alongside local rivals Whitley Bay as the Northern Stars and Billingham Bombers have recently merged to form the Billingham Stars who will take the Stars berth in the top ENL division for the 2011/12 campaign.
Billingham’s return to action will give Whitley Warriors a genuine local rival to compete against and given that the Hillheads outfit were unbeaten in their ENL last season a new competitive adversary is exactly what the Tyneside club needs at this moment in time. Warriors ran away with the English National League last term however Whitley were not able to dominate the Northern League as both the Fife Flyers and Solway Sharks were more than capable of competing with the Warriors on any given night.
However, the Northern League’s future looks extremely shaky. There have been rumours that Solway Sharks hope to compete in the ENL next campaign while there is speculation that Fife Flyers could make the step up into the Elite League.
If either Scottish side were to leave the current set up, the Northern League would struggle to continue as a meaningful competition given the league only had 7 participants last year and the likes of the Flintshire Freeze and Billingham Stars are not certain to take part in the Northern League if it were to run again this season.
If the Northern League were to fold, Whitley would only have the English National League to focus on which would be a great shame as games against the Solway Sharks and Fife Flyers have generally been entertaining affairs in the last few years. Warriors could see their crowds drop if ENL hockey was the only product on offer to supporters at Hillheads as it would appear that many north east fans are not willing to attend games which are played at an ENL level.
It is hard to believe that only 5 years ago the Newcastle Vipers were crowned Elite League Playoff Champions at the National Ice Centre in Nottingham. These days the region only has 2 rinks and no sides in either the Elite League or in the games ‘second tier’ the English Premier League. It is hard to see where the sport can go from here unless a new top class rink is built in the area in the near future. This scenario does not seem to be very likely which could well mean that the north east hockey nuts can either opt to watch Whitley or Billingham in the ENL or travel outside of the region to get their hockey fix.
Contact the author – chris.mackenzie@prohockeynews.com
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