Gerry Brooke talks to ice hockey coach Richie Hargreaves about the return of this exciting sport.

Fans of professional ice hockey will be no doubt be delighted to hear that the thrilling sport is returning to Bristol for the first time in 16 years.

Ice hockey was first played in the city in the 1930s at the old Park Row Coliseum which also doubled as a roller skating rink.

“But it took some time to get started,” explained enthusiastic local player Richie Hargreaves, now putting together a professional Bristol team.

“The management said the rink was too small and there was insufficient seating to risk

the financial outlay of putting on matches.

“But then, halfway into the 1936/37 season, the Coliseum’s manager approached speed skater Ronald May about putting on a Friday night exhibition game.

“Local lads were coached by experienced Canadians living in the city – Les Keel, Norm Plummer, Jack Tweedie and Roy Button.

“Inter-club matches between two local teams, the Bears and Cubs (they later merged), were well received by the public.

“Team members wore a badge depicting the animal on their blue and white uniforms.

“The Bears, however, were defeated by their very first visitors, Earls Court’s Marlboroughs.

“The following winter – with an increase in the number of seats – the rink decided to take over the management of the Bears.

“The sport was then very popular, with some matches being broadcast on the West region of the BBC’s then Home Service.

“During these pre-war years, Canadian ice hockey players serving in the RAF turned the Bears into the Bombers.”

In 1940, the Coliseum, so near to the prominent Wills building, was destroyed by the Luftwaffe and Bristol didn’t get another ice rink until 1966.

The new rink was part of the New Bristol Centre in Frogmore Street which was built for general public use and unsuitable for ice hockey.

“But a few years later, in 1971,” says Richie, “the Southampton Redwings, an amateur team, asked if they could come up and use the rink.

“Barrie Wilson, the manager, braved the possible wrath of his head office and decided to stage some public matches.

“It was the right decision, with the first match attracting a crowd of about 600.”

Over the next few years the Southampton team achieved a respectable position in the Southern League, including a runners-up slot in the second winter.

“Local skaters were also encouraged to take up the sport,” explained Richie, “and a new

team, the Avon Arrows, was formed in 1974.”

The team took their name from the newly-formed Avon County, which was based in Bristol.

Over the next eight years, this local team hovered mid-table, slipping a little by the early 1980s.

“But Canadian students living in the city were always ready to help out,” says Richie.

Following the success of ice hockey at a refurbished rink in Streatham, owners Mecca

decided to install plexiglass at its Frogmore Street rink in 1981.

“Plexiglass at a height around the rink,” explained Richie, “stops the puck from flying off the ice and protects the spectators.

“It’s a lot better than netting.”

But due to limited seating, restricted views and basic off-ice facilities, attempts at launching professional ice hockey there came to nothing.

“Then, in 1982/83, Nick Harris, a Canadian-born member of the now defunct Avon Arrows, entered a new team, Blackhawks, into Division One of the British League.

“But despite being backed by sponsorship to the tune of £6,000,” says Richie, “the enterprise failed after only three months.”

In the summer of 1991, the rather tired and worn-out 1960s rink closed, only to reopen the following spring after a revamp under a new owner John Nike Leisure.

“By early autumn, a new team called the Bristol Bulldogs had been formed and were ready to take to the ice.

“Winning 19 of their 32 games, they finished runners-up to long- established Solihull, in Conference ‘A’ of the English League.

“It was no mean accomplishment for a new team,” says Richie.

“But with home games only pulling in between 200 to 400 people, and lacking major sponsorship, expenditure soon outstripped income and, in 1993, the Bulldogs reluctantly decided to call it a day.”

The Bulldogs might have been finished as a professional team but the four youth teams – Puppies, Beagles, Terriers and Boxers – with about 100 enthusiastic members, played on.

“But the Bulldogs produced some top-class players,” says Richie.

“There was my family (Richie Hargreaves, brother Mike and younger sister Becci), brothers Mike and Adi Smith, and others such as Greg Rockman, Matt Van Der Velden and Geoff O’Hara, who all went on to have great success with other teams.”

And now the excitement of professional ice hockey is back in Frogmore Street, with a new team, Bristol Pitbulls, winning 13-9 over League One Vectis Tigers (from the Isle of Wight) in front of more than 350 people just before Christmas.

The Pitbulls are now vying for a spot in the English National League Division Two – the fourth tier of ice hockey in this country.

“It was brilliant. We had a great game,” said Richie, who now coaches the players.

“Despite The X Factor being on television, the credit crunch and it being Christmas, we had a good attendance.

“Some of the old guard from the Avon Arrows and the Bristol Bulldogs, who folded just over 16 years ago, came to drop the puck at the face-off.

“Although this was a scratch team, we hope to get people together and play a few more matches before Easter.

“We should be in full swing by the summer.”

Anyone interested in playing – or in sponsorship – should contact Richie Hargreaves at Bristolpitbulls@ hotmail.co.uk or visit the club’s website, www.bristolpitbulls.com