Whitley Warriors

Whitley Warriors
Whitley Warriors
City	Whitley Bay, United Kingdom
League	NIHL
Conference	Moralee
Founded	1957
Home arena	Whitley Bay Ice Rink
Colours	Maroon, gold, white;
General manager	Paul Matthews
Head coach	David Longstaff
Captain	Dean Holland
Website	whitleywarriors.net

Whitley Warriors are an ice hockey team based in Whitley Bay in the north east of England. Founded in 1957 as the Bees, they changed their name to Whitley Warriors in 1964. Warriors played at the highest level of British ice hockey for much of their history but currently play in the third tier, National Ice Hockey League North Division 1.

Their home arena is Whitley Bay Ice Rink.

Club roster 2020–21[]

Netminders
No.	Nat.	Player	Catches	Date of birth	Place of birth	Acquired	Contract

Defencemen
No.	Nat.	Player	Shoots	Date of birth	Place of birth	Acquired	Contract

Forwards
No.	Nat.	Player	Shoots	Date of birth	Place of birth	Acquired	Contract

Team Staff
No.	Nat.	Name	Position	Acquired	Place of birth	Joined From
N/A		Paul Matthews	General Manager	2014	England	Unattached
N/A		David Longstaff	Head Coach	2015	North Shields, England	Guildford Flames, EPIHL
N/A		Jo Newton	Team Manager
N/A		Rebecca Duff	Corporate Sponsorship
N/A		Terry Matthews	Corporate Sponsorship
N/A		Peter Scorer	Team Medic
N/A		Gail Smith	Physio
N/A		Phil Gosling	Equipment Manager
N/A		Emma Hill	Programme Editor
N/A		Andy McGregor	Media
N/A		Matthew Donnachie	Videography & Photography
N/A		Adam Mackman	Radio Commentary
N/A		Colin Lawson	Photography
N/A		Rob Greener	Graphics

Honours[]

British Championship: Winners – 1972/73, 1973/74

English National League Championship: Winners – 1999/2000, 2000/01, 2001/02, 2007/08

English National League: Runners-up – 1997/98

Northern League: Winners – 1973/74, 1974/75 Runners-up – 1976/77, 1977/78, 2006/07, 2010/11

Northern League Play-offs: Winners: 2006/07 Runners-up – 1967/68, 1976/77

English National League North: Winners – 2001/02, 2009/10, 2010/11 Runners-up – 1997/98, 1999/00, 2000/01, 2006/07, 2007/08

English Cup: Winners – 2001/02 Runners-up – 2000/01

Anglo Scottish Cup: Winners – 2000/01

Scottish Cup: Winners – 1991/92, Runners-up – 1992/93

Heineken British Premier League: Runners-up – 1987/88

Benson & Hedges Cup: Runners-up – 1992/93

Autumn Cup: Winners – 1971/72 Runners-up – 1972/73, 1974/75, 1976/77

BIHA Cup: Winners – 1957/58, 1958/59 (as Whitley Bees)

NIHL North Cup: Runners-up – 2019/20

NIHL North Division 1 Moralee: Winners - 2019/20

Ice Hockey Journalists UK Hall of Fame: Terry Matthews (1987), Alfie Miller (1988), J.J. 'Icy' Smith (1988), Hilton Ruggles (2009)

Junior teams[]

The Warriors have numerous junior teams, with most bearing names that are considered derogatory and racist, especially when used contemporarily by non-indigenous people. They also have a ladies ice hockey team, whose name is both an ethnic and racial slur.^[1] The teams are:

Under 9 - Mischiefs
Under 11 - Arrows
Under 13 - Mohawks
Under 15 - Tomahawks
Under 18 - Braves
Under 20 - Renegades
Ladies - Squaws

1969-70 Dave Marsden[]

1975–1976 Don McAdams
1977–1978 Jan Pettersson & Harri Semi.
1978–1979 Brian Labatte
1979–1980 Lars Opsahl
1980–1981 Lars Opsahl
1981–1982 Buzz Brown
1982–1983 Tim Whitehead
1983–1984 Ron Butler, Al Kent & Kel Land
1984–1985 Pete Fitzpatrick, Hugh Alcorn & Roy Wallace
1985–1986 Peter Dunkley, Brian Mason, Steve Attwell & Bill Audycki
1986–1987 Jim Earle, Tom Earle & Bruce Stanley
1987–1988 Scott Morrison, Luc Chabot & Mike Babcock
1988–1989 Scott Morrison, Hilton Ruggles & Mike Rowe
1989–1990 Hilton Ruggles, Marc Damphousse, Claude Lefebvre, Wayne Crawford, Chris Duperron, Marco Ronkko, Mike Vellucci & James Gasseau
1990–1991 Hilton Ruggles, Claude Dumas, Brad Hyatt, Daryl Evans, Steve Chartrand & Blaine Peerless
1991–1992 Hilton Ruggles, Claude Dumas, Mike Rowe, Rob Abel & Bobby Brown
1992–1993 Claude Dumas, Scott Morrison, Mike Rowe, Mike Mowbray & Steve Brown
1993–1994 Scott Morrison, Steve Brown, Tyler Larter, Mike Rowe, Eric LeGros
1994–1995 Steve Brown, Dean Richards, Brian Verbeek, Mike Rowe, Martin St. Amour
1995–1996 (as Newcastle Warriors) Steve Brown, Chris Norton, Richard Laplante, Jason Smart, Dean Richards, Scott Morrison, Rick Fera, Scott Campbell, Lars Thunnell, Niklas Gullikson, Risto Halenius, Tim Salmon
1996–1997 Matthew Beveridge, Stefan Simoes, Mark Stokes, Matt McGuffin, Grant Morrow
1997–1998 Timo Loucasvuori, Kimmo Saarinen, Seppo Rajpar, Sami Rajpar
1998–1999 Trond Gundersen
1999–2000 Trond Gundersen
2000–2001 Fredrik Jonsson, Lauri Oksanen
2005–2006 Hakan Andersson
2008–2009 Peter Tomek
2015–2016 Andre Payette
2016–2017 Andre Payette
2017–2018 Philip Edgar
2018–2019 Rolands Gritāns, Philip Edgar
2019–2020 Rolands Gritāns, Philip Edgar

Retired jerseys[]

Alfie Miller (#10) is the only jersey that has been retired for the Warriors.

Logo[]

Despite the Warriors' logo depicting a Native American (the logo and colours being "inspired" by the Washington Redskins) and the associated controversy which resulted in the Redskins removing their logo on the grounds that it was considered racist,^[2] there has been no similar discussion around the Warriors'. Teams like Frölunda Indians HC and Chicago Blackhawks which have similar logos have come under significant pressure to change their logos on similar grounds. Frolunda announced that they would no longer be called the Indians and would be changing their logo.^[3]

References[]

^ Vowel, Chelsea (2016). "Just Don't Call Us Late for Supper - Names for Indigenous Peoples". Indigenous Writes: A Guide to First Nations, Métis & Inuit Issues in Canada. Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada: Highwater Press. p. 7. ISBN 978-1553796800. Let's just agree the following words are never okay to call Indigenous peoples: savage, red Indian, redskin, primitive, half-breed, squaw/brave/papoose.
^ "The Washington Redskins Are Changing Team Name and Logo—Who's Next?". Vogue (in American English). 13 July 2020. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
^ "Swedish ice hockey club to drop Native American logo". Reuters. 17 September 2020. Retrieved 2 December 2021.

External links[]

Official Website

[Vowel-1-1] Vowel, Chelsea (2016). "Just Don't Call Us Late for Supper - Names for Indigenous Peoples". Indigenous Writes: A Guide to First Nations, Métis & Inuit Issues in Canada. Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada: Highwater Press. p. 7. ISBN 978-1553796800. Let's just agree the following words are never okay to call Indigenous peoples: savage, red Indian, redskin, primitive, half-breed, squaw/brave/papoose.

[2] "The Washington Redskins Are Changing Team Name and Logo—Who's Next?". Vogue (in American English). 13 July 2020. Retrieved 2 December 2021.

[3] "Swedish ice hockey club to drop Native American logo". Reuters. 17 September 2020. Retrieved 2 December 2021.

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