ROMFORD, UK – The Romford Raiders have not been the most stable hockey club over the last few years. A high turnover of owners, coaches and players, not to mention problems with the rink owners and some horrendous luck with injuries have caused the team to struggle in recent seasons. New owner Ollie Oliver wants to change all that now though.
This will be Oliver’s second spell in charge of the Raiders, with his last period ending five years ago. Romford fans will remember that time fondly as the Andy Power and Kyle Amyotte-inspired Raiders were very competitive, and there was often a party-like atmosphere at the rink.
Ollie wants to bring these good times back to Rom Valley Way. He said: “I wanted to come back to Romford for a couple of reasons really. I had become very despondent with the team since I retired back in 2005. The team owners had done their best to keep the team going but the results just got worse, and the supporters were dwindling rapidly. I felt that the team should be given a new lease of life.
“The other reason is that during my illness in 04/05, the support that my wife Joan and the rest of my family were shown by the Romford supporters was fantastic, and one of the ways for me to repay them was to make sure the Raiders kept playing.”
Before Ollie stepped up to run the Raiders it looked as though the team might cease to exist. Last season’s owner John Scott stepped down at the end of the season leaving the team’s future in doubt. As it turned out, Oliver wasn’t the only interested party, but he was the only one able to hammer out a deal to take the team on. He said: “Believe it or not Derek Bartlet, owner of the Chelmsford Chieftains, tried to negotiate with the rink management, but obviously he was not successful. If I hadn’t stepped in I honestly think the Raiders would have folded leaving the Fury as the senior team.”
Oliver has a lot of experience when it comes to hockey team ownership, having also previously been in charge at Chelmsford. This experience, along with that of team manager Mick Cahill, will be valuable to the Raiders this season. Ollie said: “ My duties are many and varied as owner , but luckily I have a great team of people around me who are all taking on some of those duties. Mick Cahill as you know is the team manager. Mick has got so much enthusiasm for the club and his knowledge of the sport is second to none. He is a real asset to me and I am proud to work with him.”
This combined experience will be particularly valuable with Romford legend Danny Marshall taking on the coaching role alongside his playing duties for the first time. Oliver is impressed with the squad put together so far by Marshall though.
“As everyone knows Danny is Romford through and through, well other than when he came to play for me at Chelmsford, but I won’t mention that as it may not help his reputation! I don’t think he even scored for me at Chelmsford, that’s why I shipped him out! Seriously though, Danny has taken a very big step becoming player coach and has proved in a very short time he can put a good squad together. Danny is in total charge of player signings but he does run it by either Mick or me before confirming it to the player.”
Despite the strong squad being assembled at RVW, some Romford fans are still upset with the decision for the Raiders to drop from the EPL to the ENL for the coming season, but this is a decision that Oliver stands by. He said: “I discussed it with Mick and Danny and we all were of the opinion it was the only way forward, as the Raiders were becoming stagnant and as I have said I think the team would have folded if attempting to stay in the EPL.
“This season I expect us to compete to a good standard, make the playoffs, attract back supporters that have drifted away and still be there at the end of the season ready for the following one! I’m not expecting to set the league alight and win everything, although that would be nice! Remember we are starting afresh with many new players in our team and it will take awhile for them to gel.”
Oliver concluded by outlining his vision for hockey in Romford this season: “When I was at Romford before I had a very good family orientated base of supporters and this is something I would like to bring back.
“My aim is to put on entertainment not only through the team but in other ways and give the supporters value for money. Children will have a very big part to play in my ideas and I want them to bring mum, dad, nan and grandad back each week. I want more involvement with the Fury and all the junior clubs as I think this is very important to their development and ours. I want Sunday night to be hockey night!”
Contact the author dave.lambert@prohockeynews.com
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