Flashback 2009.....

So, what interesting things went down this year? And what did I think of them? And more importantly, how much beer did I drink at the Play-Offs?

Well, the early aprt of the year brought a few rumblings of discontent to my ears, mostly about the Phoenixs future. Some folks said we were in deep financial shit, some folks said we were going to quit the EIHL, some even said we were going to be kicked out. Most agreed on one point though. The EIHL as it stood (and still stands) was putting the club into an untenable position.

These rumors came to a head shortly before the playoff weekend, when news filtered through that the EIHL board had convened a meeting, but decided to exclude ourselves, Edinburgh, Basingstoke, and Newcastle from the discussions. This set alarm bells ringing at all 3 clubs, more so when rumors of the league preparing to run with just 6 teams in the 2009-2010 season emerged from the meeting.

This all came to a head at the playoffs themselves. Upon arrival in Nottigham, before we even set foot in a pub, myslef and my cohorts (Russ, Caz, Ang, and Nathan) were pounced upon by some Newcastle fans bearing rolls of gaffa tape, to cover up the EIHL logos on our shirts. Being the supportive types, we all aquiesed, and continued on. Certainly, this got under the skin of a few Notts and SHuff fans, but that wasn't the point. The feeling of, well, betrayal by the league manifested itself further during the games themselves, when the Phoenix fans en masse joined inwith the Viprs fans chant of '6 team league, your having a laugh' on a frequent basis.

This chant did seem to rile a few folks (I was personally asked more than once why we were doing it), and allegedly one D. Simms and R. Wilson took particular offence at this, and tried to get the stewardss to stop the Vipers fans (who were situated beneath the box set aside for Sky TV). Score an epic fail on that point.

Following this, a few weeks of uncertainty followed, until it was finally announced that both ourselves ad Basingstoke were actually joining the EPL as of September. There was an attempt to head this off by the EIHL, but seemingly the promises made were not kept, and here we are.

And that was probably the biggest news directly affecting us. SOme other teams (most notably Telford and the Isle of Wight) had there own problems, and the seemingly annual 'will they, wont they' confusuon reigned in Bracknell.

The nest major event for myself wasn't actually our starting the EPL campaign (that went exactly as well as expected), but the increasingly shoddy treatment the club seemed to recieve from our rink. Poor standards of ice (stretching back our 12 months), poor cleanliness, and poor service (allegedly, i myself haven't experienced this) were bad enough, but the way the rink bar was taken from the club rankled.

Check the rink bar out now. It isn't half as busy as it was when the club ran it. And thanks to this, we (the fans) lost a wonderful aprt of our relationship with the club, namely the opportunity to talk to the players after the match over a cold beer or two. Damn, I miss that.

And thats it for this flashback. I'm sure there is other stuff, I just can't think of anything at the moment.