British Championship (ice hockey)

2025-09-02T22:19:42Z

2600:6C55:7D00:4194:11EE:99B7:BF03:E3E1: objective vs subjective language in prestige

{{Short description|Ice hockey championship}}
{{Other uses|British Championships (disambiguation){{!}}British Championships}}
:''See [[British Home Championship]] for the [[football (soccer)|football]] competition.'' -
The '''British Championship''' is the most “prestigious” [[ice hockey]] [[cup competition]] in the [[United Kingdom]], and also the longest established ice hockey competition.<ref>{{cite web |title=THE EIHL |url=https://www.eliteleague.co.uk/the-eihl |publisher=EIHL}}</ref>

The competition is effectively the post-season playoffs of the first-tier league in the country to determine the British champions for the season. They are therefore held after the regular season, whereby the positions in the league ladder determine entry and seeding.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.eliteleague.co.uk/view/eliteicehockey/the-eihl/the-eihl-1|title=Elite League Playoffs|publisher=EIHL}}</ref> The first placed team in the league is considered to have won the national league title as a separate title, but the British champion for the season is historically considered to be the winner of the post-season playoffs.

In its current format, the eight highest placed teams in the first-tier [[Elite Ice Hockey League]] contest [[quarter final]]s, the winners going on to [[semi final]]s and then the deciding one-leg final.

==Early years==

There were three instances of an early championship; the first was in the [[1929-30 British Ice Hockey season]] which was the inaugural season of organised league ice hockey in Britain. The championship was won by [[London Lions (ice hockey)|London Lions]] when known as the Patton Cup.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://users.ox.ac.uk/~richardc/icehockey/IceHockey-Patton.pdf|title=Ice Hockey by Major Bethune Minet Patton|publisher=Oxford University}}{{Dead link|date=June 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> The second edition the following season was abandoned after Manchester and Glasgow couldn't agree on dates for their semi-final tie. The winner was to have met the English Club champions [[London Lions (ice hockey)|London Lions]] in the final. The third instance took place during the [[1959–60 British National League season]].

==Modern edition==

From 1966 it became an annual event when known as the ''Icy Smith Cup''<ref>{{cite book|last=Montague|first=Trevor|title=A to Z of Sport, page 457|year=2004|publisher=The Bath Press|isbn=0-316-72645-1}}</ref> and then after 1982 it had several sponsors and names including the ''Heineken Championship Cup'' and latterly as the ''Sekonda Playoff Championship Cup''. Some contests were only recognised as representing the Championship retroactively. At present, the Championship is just known as '''EIHL Playoffs'''.

==Champions==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
!width=50|Season
!width=200|Winner
!width=200|Runner-up
|-
| 1930 || '''[[London Lions (ice hockey)|London Lions]] (1)'''|| Glasgow Mohawks
|-
| 1960 || '''[[Brighton Tigers]] (1)'''|| [[Nottingham Panthers]]
|-
| 1966 || '''[[Murrayfield Racers]] (1)'''|| Durham Hornets
|-
| 1967 || '''Glasgow Dynamos (1)'''|| [[Murrayfield Racers]]
|-
| 1968 || '''Paisley Mohawks (1)'''|| [[Durham Wasps]]
|-
| 1969 || '''[[Murrayfield Racers]] (2)'''|| Glasgow Dynamos
|-
| 1970 || '''[[Murrayfield Racers]] (3)'''|| Glasgow Dynamos
|-
| 1971 || '''[[Murrayfield Racers]] (4)'''|| [[Durham Wasps]]
|-
| 1972 || '''[[Murrayfield Racers]] (5)'''|| [[Fife Flyers]]
|-
| 1973 || '''[[Whitley Warriors]] (1)'''|| [[Murrayfield Racers]]
|-
| 1974 || '''[[Whitley Bay Warriors|Whitley Warriors]] (2)'''|| [[Streatham Redskins]]
|-
| 1975 || '''[[Murrayfield Racers]] (6)'''|| [[Streatham Redskins]]
|-
| 1976 || '''[[Ayr Bruins]] (1)'''|| [[Streatham Redskins]]
|-
| 1977 || '''[[Fife Flyers]] (1)'''|| [[Southampton Vikings]]
|-
| 1978 || '''[[Fife Flyers]] (2)'''|| [[Southampton Vikings]]
|-
| 1979 || '''[[Murrayfield Racers]] (7)'''|| [[Streatham Redskins]]
|-
| 1980 || '''[[Murrayfield Racers]] (8)'''|| [[Solihull Barons]]
|-
| 1981 || '''[[Murrayfield Racers]] (9)'''|| [[Streatham Redskins]]
|-
| 1982 || '''[[Dundee Rockets]] (1)'''|| [[Streatham Redskins]]
|-
| 1983 || '''[[Dundee Rockets]] (2)'''|| [[Durham Wasps]]
|-
| 1984 || '''[[Dundee Rockets]] (3)'''|| [[Murrayfield Racers]]
|-
| 1985 || '''[[Fife Flyers]] (3)'''|| [[Murrayfield Racers]]
|-
| 1986 || '''[[Murrayfield Racers]] (10)'''|| [[Dundee Rockets]]
|-
| 1987 || '''[[Durham Wasps]] (1)'''|| [[Murrayfield Racers]]
|-
| 1988 || '''[[Durham Wasps]] (2)'''|| [[Fife Flyers]]
|-
| 1989 || '''[[Nottingham Panthers]] (1)'''|| [[Ayr Bruins]]
|-
| 1990 || '''[[Cardiff Devils]] (1)'''|| [[Murrayfield Racers]]
|-
| 1991 || '''[[Durham Wasps]] (3)'''|| [[Peterborough Pirates]]
|-
| 1992 || '''[[Durham Wasps]] (4)'''|| [[Nottingham Panthers]]
|-
| 1993 || '''[[Cardiff Devils]] (2)'''|| [[Humberside Seahawks]]
|-
| 1994 || '''[[Cardiff Devils]] (3)'''|| [[Sheffield Steelers]]
|-
| 1995 || '''[[Sheffield Steelers]] (1)'''|| [[Murrayfield Racers]]
|-
| 1996 || '''[[Sheffield Steelers]] (2)'''|| [[Nottingham Panthers]]
|-
| 1997 || '''[[Sheffield Steelers]] (3)'''|| [[Nottingham Panthers]]
|-
| 1998 || '''[[Ayr Scottish Eagles]] (1)'''|| [[Cardiff Devils]]
|-
| 1999 || '''[[Cardiff Devils]] (4)'''|| [[Nottingham Panthers]]
|-
| 2000 || '''[[London Knights (UK)|London Knights]] (1)'''|| [[Newcastle Jesters|Newcastle Riverkings]]
|-
| 2001 || '''[[Sheffield Steelers]] (4)'''|| [[London Knights (UK)|London Knights]]
|-
| 2002 || '''[[Sheffield Steelers]] (5)'''|| [[Manchester Storm (1995–2002)|Manchester Storm]]
|-
| 2003 || '''[[Belfast Giants]] (1)'''|| [[London Knights (UK)|London Knights]]
|-
| 2004 || '''[[Sheffield Steelers]] (6)'''|| [[Nottingham Panthers]]
|-
| 2005 || '''[[Coventry Blaze]] (1)'''|| [[Nottingham Panthers]]
|-
| 2006 || '''[[Newcastle Vipers]] (1)'''|| [[Sheffield Steelers]]
|-
| 2007 || '''[[Nottingham Panthers]] (2)'''|| [[Cardiff Devils]]
|-
| 2008 || '''[[Sheffield Steelers]] (7)'''|| [[Coventry Blaze]]
|-
| 2009 || '''[[Sheffield Steelers]] (8)'''|| [[Nottingham Panthers]]
|-
| 2010 || '''[[Belfast Giants]] (2)'''|| [[Cardiff Devils]]
|-
| 2011 || '''[[Nottingham Panthers]] (3)'''|| [[Cardiff Devils]]
|-
| 2012 || '''[[Nottingham Panthers]] (4)'''|| [[Cardiff Devils]]
|-
| 2013 || '''[[Nottingham Panthers]] (5)'''|| [[Belfast Giants]]
|-
| 2014 || '''[[Sheffield Steelers]] (9)'''|| [[Belfast Giants]]
|-
| 2015 || '''[[Coventry Blaze]] (2)'''|| [[Sheffield Steelers]]
|-
| 2016 || '''[[Nottingham Panthers]] (6)'''|| [[Coventry Blaze]]
|-
| 2017 || '''[[Sheffield Steelers]] (10)'''|| [[Cardiff Devils]]
|-
| 2018 || '''[[Cardiff Devils]] (5)'''|| [[Sheffield Steelers]]
|-
| 2019 || '''[[Cardiff Devils]] (6)'''|| [[Belfast Giants]]
|-
| 2020–21
! colspan=2 | Did not take place due to COVID-19
|-
| 2022 || '''[[Cardiff Devils]] (7)'''|| [[Belfast Giants]]
|-
| 2023 || '''[[Belfast Giants]] (3)'''|| [[Cardiff Devils]]
|-
| 2024 || '''[[Sheffield Steelers]] (11)'''|| [[Belfast Giants]]
|-
| 2025 || '''[[Nottingham Panthers]] (7)'''|| [[Cardiff Devils]]
|}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{British ice hockey}}
{{English and British National Champions}}
{{British Ice Hockey seasons}}

[[Category:Ice hockey competitions in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Ice hockey tournaments in Europe]]
[[Category:National championships in the United Kingdom]]

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British Championship (ice hockey)