Wild Women Finish 6th In Bristol Tournament

The DMUK Widnes Wild women at the 2023 BWIHF Tournament in Bristol 

The DMUK Widnes Wild women’s team enjoyed a roller coaster weekend down in the South west, as they took part in the annual Bristol Women’s Friendship Tournament for the first time since 2018.

This is a fairly unique competition as it involves teams from the different EIHA divisions – Elite League, Division 1 and Divisions 2 North & South - all playing against each other in one big qualifying group. Over the course of the Saturday - and the early part of Sunday - all the teams play each other and the top four in the final group standings go on to play in semi-finals and then a final – played with a slightly longer match time - on the Sunday evening.

Widnes actually led the table after the first round of games after a 6-0 slaughtering of the Cardiff team who had beaten them in the Play Off semi final 4 weeks earlier. 

An eye watering 20 shots peppered the Cardiff net over the 15 minute game and the goals came from  Katie Fairclough (2), Lise Gillen (2), Catherine Fell & Rachael Pearce. Widnes netminder Stephanie Drinkwater ended up with the bizarre combination of a shut out and a 0% Save Percentage, as the overwhelmed Cardiff team didn’t manage a single shot on goal.  

The Wild women went on to draw 0-0 with Caledonia Steel Queens, lose 3-1 to Nottingham – with the Widnes goal coming from Ellen Tyrer - beat Streatham 1-0 (goal from Lise Gillen) and then lose 4-0 to hosts Bristol to end the day in 6th place in the table with 5 points from 5 games.

Sunday’s group games saw a 3-0 win over Oxford – with goals from Katie Fairclough, Victoria Connelly and Leen de Decker - a 1-1 draw with the Firebees (goal from Rachael Pearce) and a 3-0 win over Coventry (Fairclough, Connelly & Laura Marcroft).  

This led to an exciting finale in the group stage where Widnes played their last game knowing that they needed to beat Milton Keynes to climb into 4th place in the table and qualify for the semi final. Unfortunately, MK won that game 1-0 leaving the Wild women in 6th place overall out of 10 teams with a record of 4 wins, 3 losses and 2 draws.

The semi finals saw Bristol beat Caledonia 1-0 and Nottingham beat Milton Keynes 3-2.  In a bit of a shock result, Nottingham then beat Bristol 3-2 in the final - the only game that the host team had lost all weekend.

Katie Fairclough was the Wild women’s top points scorer for the weekend with 4 goals and 2 assists in the 9 group games. Leen de Decker was second with 1+3, Lise Gillen weighed in with 3+0 while Rachael Pearce and Victoria Connelly both contributed 2+1.

The Wild women now have a few weeks’ break before they return to training in August in preparation for the new 2023/24 WNIHL season. 

Match Report: Blackburn Buccaneers 1 - Riverside Raiders 3 (Summer Classic Cup)

Netminder Ian Thirkettle was the MVP in the Riverside Raiders’ win away in Blackburn (Photo by Paul Breeze)

Sunday 25th June – Summer Classic Cup: Blackburn Buccaneers 1 – Riverside Raiders 3

The Riverside Raiders moved back to the top of the Summer Classic Cup group table with a 1-3 win away over the Blackburn Buccaneers on Sunday.

The opening phase was very tense and closely fought and it took until the 15th minute for the first breakthrough, with David Geroc firing the Raiders into the lead.  4 minutes later the advantage was doubled by Shawn McBride and the score remained 0-2 at the first period break.

A third goal for the Widnes team from Michael Durbin on 38 minutes edged them further ahead and took the score to 0-3 after two periods.  

 With 10 minutes left in the game, tempers boiled over and a mass scuffle saw 5 players banished to the penalty box – 3 from the Raiders and 2 from the Buccaneers.  In the aftermath of this, Blackburn finally managed to fire in their only goal of the game and that rounded off the scoring for the evening.  

The result means that the Raiders have an impressive 5 wins from their 5 games and all attention now turns to their final group game this Saturday 1st July when they take on rink-mates Halton Huskies at Planet Ice Widnes.

The Huskies are in second place in the group table just 1 point behind the Raiders and Saturday’s game will decide who finishes up in top spot.

Both Widnes-based teams have already qualified for the play off phase of the competition as they can’t be overtaken by the other teams in the group but the team with the higher finishing position, theoretically, gets an easier draw in the semi finals.

The previous meeting between the Raiders and the Huskies produced a highly entertaining 3-3 draw and had to be decided by a dramatic penalty shoot out, so both teams will be keyed up for this Saturday’s deciding game.

Face off on Saturday is at 6pm – straight after the Mayhem v Sheffield sledge match - and admission is free, as is parking.

Match Report: Peterborough Phantoms 1 – Mayhem 0

Photo by @Haganovaphoto

Saturday 24th June – British Para Ice Hockey League: Peterborough Phantoms 1 – Mayhem 0

The Mayhem sledge team narrowly lost out to the Peterborough Phantoms for the second weekend in a row with a 1-0 defeat away on the edge of the Fens on Saturday. 

The previous game had been very closely contested throughout with the Phantoms eventually winning 2-4 but this one was even closer and the first two periods played out goal-less.  Both netminders were in especially fine  form and the tension continued to rise around the rink as the clock ticked down on the final period.

The deadlock was finally broken when Peterborough’s Craig Shakespeare fired home the puck on 38 minutes to take the lead.  With such a narrow margin, the result remained undecided until the very last seconds but despite late pressure from the Mayhem, the Phantoms held out for the 1-0 victory.

The Mayhem are next in action this Saturday 1st July when they take on the Sheffield Steelkings at Planet Ice Widnes – 4.25pm face off.  They are away in Sheffield the next day when they face the second Sheffield team, the SteelStings, 4.50pm start.  

Wild Women Head To Bristol Tournament

The Widnes Wild women's team with the  Fair Play Trophy at the 2018 BWIF Tournament  (Photo by Flyfifer)

The DMUK Widnes Wild women’s team head off to Bristol this Saturday and Sunday 24th /25th June to take part in the annual BWIF weekend tournament. 

The “Bristol Women’s International Friendship Tournament” – to give its full title – is now in its 25th year and was played for a number of years at Swindon after the previous Bristol rink closed down and a replacement facility was being built.

It is a fairly unique competition as it involves teams from the different EIHA divisions – Elite League, Division 1 and Divisions 2 North & South - all playing against each other in one big qualifying group, and there have been teams from abroad taking part in previous years as well.  

The tournament is a veritable masterpiece of planning and logistics and this year’s schedule features 10 teams playing a total of 48 games. The group games are just 15 minutes each in duration, with running clock, and the next game follows immediately afterwards with a brief pause for ice cutting at certain points during the day.  

Over the course of the Saturday - and the early part of Sunday - all the teams play each other and the top four in the final group standings go on to play in semi-finals and then a final – played with a slightly longer match time - on the Sunday evening.

Alongside the Wild women, the other teams taking part this year are: hosts Bristol Huskies, Nottingham Vipers, Streatham Storm, Oxford Midnight Stars, Firebees (Slough), Coventry Phoenix, Milton Keynes Falcons, Cardiff Comets and the Caledonia Steel Queens from Edinburgh.

This is the first time that the Wild women have taken part in the BWIF tournament since 2018 and they did fairly well on their previous visits, finishing second in the tournament in 2017 - where they lost out to the host Swindon Elite League team 3-0 in the final – and coming mid-table in 2018 but winning the Fair Play award.

The tournament runs from 2pm to 10pm on Saturday and 2pm to 9pm on Sunday at Planet Ice Bristol.  Spectator tickets are available on the door at £3 per day or £5 for both days.

You can find out more about the BWIF tournament via their Facebook page HERE

and follow live updates of the matches and standings over the weekend via the tournament website HERE 

British Para Ice Hockey League: Mayhem 2 - Peterborough Phantoms 4

Saturday 17th June – British Para Ice Hockey League: Mayhem 2 – Peterborough Phantoms 4

The Mayhem sledge team put in a battling performance but narrowly lost out 2-4 to the Peterborough Phantoms at Planet Ice Widnes on Saturday.

This was a very entertaining game to watch - between two very closely matched teams – and the result remained in doubt right until the very end. 

The Mayhem took an early lead with a goal from Tom Kimm just 39 seconds into the game.  However, the Phantoms equalised 3 minutes later and then edged into the lead on 8 minutes.

A second goal for the home side - from GB international Anthony Booth in the 10th minute - levelled the scores again and it remained 2-2 at the first period break.

Peterborough retook the lead 4 minutes into the second period and, while the Mayhem enjoyed plenty of puck possession and had their chances in front of goal, they were unable to make any of them count.  

It was a similar story in the third period, where the Mayhem outshot the visitors  by some margin but a clinical strike for the Phantoms on 38 minutes doubled their lead and rounded off a 2-4 victory.

The Mayhem are away to Peterborough in the return fixture this Saturday 24th June – 4.10pm face off – and are next at home on Saturday 1st July when they take on the Sheffield Steelkings at Planet Ice Widnes, 4.25pm start.

Widnes Academy Under 14s Win Sheffield Tournament

The victorious Wild Academy Under 14 team with the trophy in Sheffield (Photo by MyTeamPhoto)

The Widnes Wild Academy Under 14 team won their first ever trophy after a victorious weekend at the prestigious Sheffield U14 Tournament. 

The Wild youngsters had enjoyed a successful regular season in the EIHA Under 14 North West Division, finishing second overall in the league table and this competition gave them the opportunity to renew acquaintances with Manchester and also take on teams from Sheffield, Nottingham, Sutton and Solent (Gosport), who play in different regional divisions.

As it turned out, the Widnes U14s won all of their group games – beating home team Sheffield 3-0, Sutton Sting 2-1, Nottingham 3-1, Manchester Storm 3-0 and Solent Devils 2-1 and then met Solent again in the final, which they won 3-2 in overtime.

Following on from the Under 12s’ league title win this season and the Under 10s tournament win last year, this trophy win is the latest in a growing list of successes that demonstrate how much progress is being made with the various Wild Academy teams.

A number of Widnes players were selected for the Showcase representative teams this year and Jared Knowles and Sophia Green were also handed England debuts.

You can find out more about the Widnes Wild Academy on their Facebook page HERE

Wild Women Awards Evening

Laura Marcroft receives her Unsung Hero award from (l to r)  Thomas Horner (coach), Leen de Decker (team captain) and Steve Furber (coach)

The DMUK Widnes Wild women’s team held their end of season awards evening on Saturday at the Village Hotel in Warrington where the following accolades were presented for the 2022/23 season:

Coaches’ Award - Charlotte Cramp

Best Defence - Lucy Kirkham

Best Forward - Phoebe Patient

Most Points - Leen De Decker

Players’ Player - Charlotte Cramp

Unsung Hero - Laura Marcroft

Most Improved - Sophie Hill

Popular cult figure Pauline Hayward was also presented with a light hearted award for being the “Toughest Player” after continuing to play through the home game against Grimsby with a fractured patella!

Summer Classic Cup: Halton Huskies 20 – Hull Knights 1

Huskies' Jake Berry (#92) scored 7 goals in the game against Hull (Photo by @haganovaphoto)

Saturday 10th June – Summer Classic Cup: Halton Huskies 20 – Hull Knights 1

The Halton Huskies team moved back to the top of the Summer Classic Cup table with a comprehensive 20-1 victory over the Hull Knights at Planet Ice Widnes on Saturday.

Having already beaten the Humbersiders 1-13 away in their earlier meeting – and with the Knights struggling winless at the bottom of the table  – this game always looked like being a home banker for the Huskies and that is exactly what happened.

They opened the scoring with a goal from Jack Davies on 3 minutes and then subsequent strikes from Jake Berry, Edward Ridding and Jeff Chapman Watson saw the Huskies leading 4-0 at the first period break.

The second period continued in similar vein with a goal from Conor Cooper two minutes from the restart, two more unanswered markers from Berry and then a second for Cooper for an 8-0 lead.

The third period saw the Knights’ fortress constantly under siege and the Hull goal was peppered with an incredible 50 shots over the final 20 minutes.  This sustained pressure led to 12 more goals for the Huskies coming from, in order:  Berry, Cooper, Berry, Jon Lomax, Ridding, Matt Hohler, Chapman Watson, Kohler, Berry, Callum Fraine, Berry and then Jack Davies with his second of the game with just 1 second left on the clock.

Hull did actually manage a consolation goal of their own in among all of that – on 46 minutes – to deny Halton netminder Rebecca Donnelly what would have been a well deserved shut out, but she did receive the Huskies’ MVP award for the second game in a row.

Credit must also go to the overworked Hull netminder Grew Lawley who managed to save an impressive 88 of the 108 shots that he faced over the course of the game. 

The Huskies have one match left to play in the Cup group when they take on Widnes rink-mates Riverside Raiders on Saturday 1st July at Planet Ice Widnes in a game that will decide the overall group winners.

British Para Ice Hockey League: Cardiff Huskies 13 – Mayhem 1

The Mayhem away at Cardiff (Photo by Peter Bradbury) 

Saturday 10th June – British Para Ice Hockey League: Cardiff Huskies 13 – Mayhem 1

The Mayhem sledge hockey team came back from South Wales on the wrong end of a 13-1 defeat after a tough game against defending league champions Cardiff Huskies on Saturday

As with the previous week’s home game against the same opposition, Cardiff had a much stronger bench and the Mayhem team - who have lost several key players from last year’s squad – struggled to match them in terms of speed and puck possession.

Cardiff powered into a 3-0 lead in the first period and were 8-0 ahead after the second. The Huskies scored 5 more goals in the third period and the clock was ticking down to zero when a breakthrough eventually came for the struggling Mayhem.

Their duck was finally broken when a rocket shot from out by the halfway line from Dean Lahan beat the netminder with just 61 seconds left to play. That strike rounded off the scoring for the game and made sure that the Widnes-based team, at least, avoided suffering a shut out.

The Mayhem are at home this Saturday 17th June when they take on the Peterborough Phantoms at Planet Ice Widnes – 4.25pm face off. 

Summer Classic Cup: Riverside Raiders 9 - Blackburn Buccaneers 5

Riverside Raiders' Rory Sillery receives the MVP award from Blackburn captain Michael Walsh (Photo by Paul Breeze)

Saturday 10th June – Summer Classic Cup: Riverside Raiders 9 – Blackburn Buccaneers 5

The Widnes based Riverside Raiders extended their winning streak to 4 in 4 games in the Summer Classic Cup with a 9-5 win over the Blackburn Buccaneers  at Planet Ice Widnes on Saturday.

Despite the eventual scoreline, this was a very close game for much of the time and was played in great spirit throughout.

The Buccaneers actually opened the scoring on 3 minutes but the Raiders equalised with a strike from Adam Jenkins 3 minutes later. The home side edged into the lead 18 minutes with Jenkins’ second goal of the game but Blackburn fought back to level again with 60 seconds and the score stood at 2-2 at the first period break.

The second period was similarly closely contested but the Raiders were able to make more out of their chances. Rory Sillery fired them back into the lead on 23 minutes and the advantage was doubled by David Geroc on 27 minutes.  

A hat-trick goal from Adam Jenkins early in the third period put the Raiders 5-2 ahead and they looked to be easing their way to victory.  However, a goal for the Buccaneers on 46 minutes sparked a frenetic spell that saw  goals follow in quick succession – two for each side - with strikes from Luke Pengelly and Jenkins, again, for the Raiders bringing the score to 7-4.

Jenkins scored his 5th goal of the game on 52 minutes and an eventful last 90 seconds saw a 5th goal for the Buccaneers and last gasp Raiders strike for Rory Sillery just as the final buzzer was sounding.

The resulting 9-5 win meant that the Raiders moved briefly to the top of the Summer Classic Cup table, albeit in the knowledge that they would be overtaken again if the Halton Huskies won their game that followed immediately afterwards.

The Raiders are next in action on Sunday 25th June when they travel to meet the Buccaneers away in East Lancashire, 4.45 pm face off.  

Book Review: BRITISH ICE HOCKEY RECORDS 1896-2023: LEAGUE AND CUP TABLES INCLUDING IRISH CHAMPIONSHIPS - by Brian McColl

BRITISH ICE HOCKEY RECORDS 1896-2023: LEAGUE AND CUP TABLES INCLUDING IRISH CHAMPIONSHIPS - by Brian McColl

If, like me, you enjoy spending hours and hours looking back at old ice hockey league tables and playing records, then you will DEFINITELY like this new book.  

Brian McColl has – somewhat bravely – taken on the gargantuan task of trying to make sense of all the various league and cup competitions that have taken place in British ice hockey over the years  and set them out in an easy to follow manner that is fascinating to look through.  

I don’t, as a rule, tend to like A4 size books (mine are always A5…) but I think Brian has got the format just right for this one and the page layouts are very clear and well set out.

Having done a lot of hockey research and writing myself over the years, I know how much work has gone into pulling all of this information together and can fully appreciate the time and effort that have been involved. As it happens, there are quite a few things in here that I have never even heard of before – like the early Irish competitions and some of the home cup tournaments – so it really is quite an eye opener!

As you can probably work out from the title, the book covers all competitions dating right back to the opening of the very first ice rinks during the Victorian age and comes bang up to date with the current 2022/23 season.

As well as season by season listings of all league and cup standings there are other very useful lists of things such as: 

- League, play off and cup winners

- International Club competitions

- A to Z of all teams and their leagues

- and lots more besides.

There is a comprehensive section on the women’s leagues since the early 1980s and also a run down of youth league winners for the same period.  

So, if you are in any way interested in British ice hockey history - especially “who won what when” - this book is definitely for you! 

295 pages  / ISBN: 9798390332801

Mail order link:  https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0C6VWR9DG

Summer Classic Cup: Wins for both Riverside Raiders and Halton Huskies

The Riverside Raiders and Halton Huskies are locked together at the top of the Summer Classic Cup table (Photo by Haganovaphoto) 

The fascinating Widnes-based tussle at the top of the Summer Classic Cup table continued at the weekend as both the Riverside Raiders and Halton Huskies teams won away games over Hull and Blackburn respectively.

The Raiders travelled to Hull and back on Saturday and came home along the M62 with a 2-9 victory courtesy of goals from Andrew Birch (2), David Geroc (1+1), Eemeli Vuorihovi (2+2), Rory Sillery (1+0, and hat trick from former Sutton Sting junior and current Manchester university player Frederick Talbot-Berube (3+2) on his debut. Alain Barthelemy (1), Shaun Sillery (2) and Luke Pengelly (1) all added assists.

The game was actually a lot closer than the final scoreline suggests and Raiders netminder Ian Thirkettle was on fine form to keep out all but 2 of the 31 shots that he faced.

The Huskies came back from East Lancashire with a 2-6 victory over the Blackburn Buccaneers on Sunday that keeps them narrowly ahead in the overall table.

They took the lead after just 83 seconds and were leading 0-4 by the time Blackburn managed to finally get off the mark early in the second period. 

The Buccaneers gave as good as they got in this game and actually outshot the Huskies by 54 to 47 overall but Adam Darbyshire in the Halton net put in an excellent performance to keep them at bay. A late exchange of goals before the second break and a 6th strike for the Huskies early in the third period rounded off the scoring for the game. 

The Halton Huskies scorers were Matt Kohler (2+1), Jake Berry (2+1), Edward Ridding & John Buckell (both 1+0) and Nathan Hewitt (0+4). 

The weekend wins for both teams see them move further ahead at the top of the Summer Classic Cup table.  The two Widnes based sides have 3 wins each but the Huskies have an extra point from an overtime loss against the Raiders, after the match finished as a draw in regulation time. The Raiders have a game in hand and the two teams will clash again on 1st July in what might well be the cup group decider.

Before that, they still have other games to play and both the Raiders and Huskies are at home this Saturday 10th June in a tantalising double header at Planet Ice Widnes.

The Raiders take on the Blackburn Buccaneers, face off 4.15pm, and the Huskies play Hull Knights straight afterwards, 6.30pm start.  Admission to both games is free for spectators – as is parking. 

British Para Ice Hockey League: Manchester Mayhem 2 - Cardiff Huskies 11

Alex Lynch, CFO of new Mayhem sponsors Fletchers Group solicitors, and her son Raffy took part in a ceremonial puck drop before the Mayhem v Cardiff game (Photo by @haganovaphoto) 

Sunday 4th June – British Para Ice Hockey League: Mayhem 2 – Cardiff Huskies 11

The Mayhem sledge team put in a plucky performance against the Cardiff Huskies in their opening game of the 2023 season but ultimately lost out 2-11 at Planet Ice Widnes on Sunday.

With the Widnes side having lost the services of several key players from last season and drafting in some relatively less experienced players to their roster, this game against the reigning champions from the past two years was always going to be a bit of a struggle - and that is exactly how it turned out.

It was the first game for both teams so the opening phase was quite tense with both sides testing the other out. Cardiff eventually took the lead on 6 minutes and doubled the advantage just 55 seconds later to take a narrow 0-2 lead into the first break.

The Huskies extended their lead with 4 unanswered goals in the second period and built up a commanding 0-6 lead after 30 minutes of play.

The Mayhem finally managed to find the back of the net themselves early in the third period with a goal from  Dean Lahan on 33 minutes and then another from team captain Mark Colquitt just 45 seconds after that.  These two strikes sparked brief hopes of a late push for the home side but the Huskies upped their game and  5 more goals in the latter stages rounded off a comprehensive 2-11 victory for them.

Representatives from new Mayhem sponsors Fletchers Group solicitors in Manchester were VIP guests at the game and CFO Alex Lynch and her son Raffy took part in a “ceremonial puck drop” beforehand to get things under way.

The Mayhem travel to South Wales this Saturday 10th June for the return match against Cardiff – 4.15pm face off – and are next at home on Sunday 17th June when they take on the Peterborough Phantoms at Planet Ice Widnes, 4.25pm start.    

You can find out more about the new Mayhem sponsors - Manchester based Fletchers Group solicitors - on their website at: https://www.fletcherssolicitors.co.uk/

And on social media at

Linkedin:  Fletchers-group

Twitter: @fletchers_group

Facebook: FletchersGroup

Wild Women's Sophia Green In England Appearances

Sophia Green with the Hardest Worker hard hat after the England U15 game against the Czech Select side in Bratislava (Photo by Anthony Green)

Widnes Wild women’s team player Sophia Green became the latest local ice hockey player to gain international honours after taking part in a trip to Slovakia with the England Under 15 team at the weekend. 

The 14 year old – who also plays for the Wild Academy Under 16 (mixed) team and Manchester Storm U16s girls team – was selected for the England side after attending a number of training camps. She was also given the additional honour of being named as one of two “alternate captains” for the trip. 

The England team were supposed to be playing in a 3-way tournament with games against a Czech select side and a Slovakian select side but the Slovaks dropped out at the last minute and the schedule had to be hastily re-arranged at the Hamuliakovo rink in Bratislava. 

The England girls played 4 games against the Czechs over the two days, losing 2-1, 3-0 and 4-1 in the early encounters, but still putting in good performances.  

However, on the Sunday, once they had better acclimatised to their surroundings and the opposition, the England U15s played out a barnstorming 5-5 draw against the Czechs after initially going 4-0 down - and went on to win the resulting penalty shoot out!  Sophie played a key role in this game and afterwards was presented with the honorary “hard hat” for Hardest Worker of the game.

To use up the spare ice time that was available due to the Slovakia team games not being played, the EIHA put on an extra 3-on-3 tournament against the Czechs and the Czech coaches kindly ran some training sessions for the England girls, which were of great benefit to them. 

Sophia’s father, Anthony Green, who was watching from the stands said: “The England girls played really well. The girls battled hard and really did look like a team to be reckoned with. Overall Sophia finished with 2 goals and copious amounts of knowledge and experience, which is priceless.”

Book Review: Ice Hockey In Guildford by Stuart Latham (ISBN 978-1915697042)

While the Peterborough Pirates may well have played the Guildford Flames on numerous occasions during the period when I used to regularly watch matches in the grand city of my origin, I can’t say that I have any great recollections of any of them. 

Plus - the only time that I have knowingly ever been anywhere near Guildford was in November 1991 when I took a wrong turning in the dark while looking for the M3, heading away from Portsmouth after a ferry crossing and long drive up through France, and ended up stuck on the slower, less direct “A3M” by mistake…  

So nobody could be more surprised than me to discover that I actually have a small piece of writing in Stuart Latham’s new book about Ice Hockey In Guildford.

Now, ice hockey fans of a similar vintage to me will probably remember Todd Bidner as a highly successful ex-NHL import forward with Fife Flyers and Peterborough and then playing as a reclassified import (do they still have those…?) for a large number of other teams during a 15+ year playing career here in Britain.

He even played for Team GB a few times and I clearly remember him scoring a well taken wrap around goal in the first minute of an Olympic qualifying game against Latvia at Sheffield Arena. Now, although I remember that – and I’m pretty sure that I also saw him play for GB in a friendly match against Denmark at Blackburn which doesn’t seem to be recorded anywhere - I’m afraid that even my trivia-rich brain with a penchant for British league history doesn’t stretch to recalling all the other teams that Todd Bidner has played for.    

But Guildford was obviously one of them - and that is how my, admittedly rather Peterborough-centric,  profile of him qualifies for the new book.

And the benefit about not knowing anything at all about Guildford  – apart from the fact that it is not on the M3 – is that EVERYTHING in Stuart’s 296 page book is new to me and, therefore, completely fascinating.

So, I have been enjoying reading the interview features about Fred Perlini and Dave Graham (who I did, in fact, also know about…) and numerous other players who I haven’t actually heard of.

As is “de rigueur” with a Stuart Latham publication, there are pages and pages of stats from all of the Guildford Flames seasons of existence stretching back to the English League Conference in 1992/93 and coming right up to date with the 2022/23 Elite League – as well as lots of photos as well.

There are comprehensive sections about the Guildford Lightning women’s team – which I am very pleased about - and also the Phoenix NIHL team. 

And if ice hockey is your thing - whether or not you have ever been to Guildford – you are bound to find lots to interest you in this new book.

For orders, drop Stuart a line at stuartlatham65@sky.com (and get him to tell you about all his other fascinating books at the same time…!)