Durham Wasps

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Ice hockey team in Durham, England

Durham Wasps
The Big Blue Machine

City| Durham, England
League| British National League
Founded| 1947
Operated| 1947-1996
Home arena| Durham Ice Rink
Capacity: 2860
Ice size: 184ft x 85ft, 56m x 26m
Colours| Royal Blue and Gold
Owner(s)| Defunct

The Durham Wasps were an ice hockey team located in Durham and was one of England's most well-known names in ice hockey. The team was bought by Sir John Hall and moved to the neighbouring city of Newcastle Upon Tyne in August 1996. The Newcastle team, after several changes became known as the Newcastle Jesters.

## The History of the Wasps

[edit]

The Durham Wasps began their prosperous start to hockey just after the war, and were started by Michael Davey of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, along with a few other Canadians, who after the war made their homes in Durham.

Ice hockey remained popular in the sixties and seventies, but it exploded with popularity between the eighties and nineties, and the period from around 1982 to 1992 was one to remember for the Wasps. In this period alone they won the Heineken Championship four times, the league championship six times, the Norwich Cup three times, and other trophies like the Autumn and Castle Eden Cups on many other occasions. The Durham Wasps dominated the British League for over 10 years. There was an intense local rivalry with both the Whitley Warriors and the Billingham Bombers. It was a golden period for hockey in the North East with derby matches against the Warriors often resulting in crowds which exceeded the stated capacity of the rink by a considerable margin.

With the rise of teams such as the Cardiff Devils and Sheffield Steelers, the Wasps started to struggle to fund a competitive team. At the same time, the rink was in need of significant investment. Around this time, John Hall, then owner of Newcastle United Football Club, laid plans to form a centre of sporting excellence in Newcastle. As part of this he purchased the team with the intention of moving them to a new ice rink in Newcastle. In the meanwhile, the team temporarily played out of the Crowtree Leisure Centre in Sunderland.

This proved very divisive amongst Wasps fans with many to this day refusing to watch ice hockey in Newcastle. A replacement team was established in Durham called the Durham City Wasps who played in the English League. This featured some players who the new Wasps owners decided not to retain, as well as players from the junior teams. Unfortunately the team only lasted one season before the costs of maintaining the rink came to a head and the rink was sold to be redeveloped.

The plans for a new rink in Newcastle came to nothing so a deal was made which resulted in the Whitley Warriors being evicted from the Telewest Arena to make way for the team. After a season of playing out of Crowtree, Wasps were taken to Newcastle and renamed the Newcastle Cobras. In the next few years they changed owners and names from the Cobras, to the Riverkings, to the Jesters, however, the franchise folded soon after.

A new unrelated team, the Newcastle Vipers were founded in 2002 to keep the city's ice hockey heritage alive, but due to low crowds and problems getting regular ice time at the Arena, in November 2010 the Vipers were forced to move in with the 'old enemy' and play for part of their final season out of the Hillheads rink in Whitley Bay. It proved impossible to keep the team going and the 2010/11 season was the last featuring a Newcastle team.

## Revival Games

[edit]

Originally a one-off game, former Durham Wasps players from the 80s and 90s reformed to play former local rivals Whitley Warriors on 4 May 2008 at Whitley Bay Ice Rink, commemorating the 60th anniversary of the formation of the club, and in support of the ongoing campaign to bring back an ice rink. Over 2,300 fans turned up to witness this encounter which saw Wasps players icing once again including the Johnson brothers, Mario Belanger, Ivor Bennett, Stephen Foster, John Hutley and Karl Walker. The reformed Wasps team won the game 8–4.[1]

A second 'Legends' game was played with Whitley Warriors, Sunday 6 May 2012, again at Whitley Bay, and in memory of former Durham Wasps manager Kenny Swinburne. The Wasps won 5–2 with Mario Belanger scoring within 30 seconds in the first period.

## Honours

[edit]

Heineken Premier League Champions

* 1985, 1986, 1989, 1991, 1992

Heineken British Championship Winners

* 1987, 1988, 1991, 1992

Autumn Cup Winners

* 1984, 1988, 1989, 1991

Castle Eden Cup Winners

* 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995

British Ice Hockey Association Cup

* 1950

Northern Ice Hockey League Champions

* 1950

Preceded by

Dundee Rockets

|  Premier League Champions
1984–85, 1985–86  | Succeeded by

Murrayfield Racers

|
|

Preceded by

Dundee Rockets

|  Autumn Cup Winners
1984–85  | Succeeded by

Murrayfield Racers

Preceded by

Murrayfield Racers

|  Playoff Champions
1986–87, 1987–88  | Succeeded by

Nottingham Panthers

Preceded by

Nottingham Panthers

|  Autumn Cup Winners
1987–88, 1988–89  | Succeeded by

Murrayfield Racers

Preceded by

Murrayfield Racers

|  Premier League Champions
1988–89  | Succeeded by

Cardiff Devils

Preceded by

Cardiff Devils

|  Premier League Champions
1990–91, 1991–92  | Succeeded by

Cardiff Devils

Preceded by

Cardiff Devils

|  Playoff Champions
1990–91, 1991–92  | Succeeded by

Cardiff Devils

Preceded by

Murrayfield Racers

|  Autumn Cup Winners
1990–91  | Succeeded by

Nottingham Panthers

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Wilson, Scott. "The Wasps are back for one night only". thenorthernecho.co.uk/. Retrieved 1 February 2024.

* v
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Ice hockey in the United Kingdom

Governing bodies|

* English Ice Hockey Association
* Ice Hockey UK
* Northern Ireland Ice Hockey Association
* Scottish Ice Hockey

Elite League|

* Belfast Giants
* Cardiff Devils
* Coventry Blaze
* Dundee Stars
* Fife Flyers
* Glasgow Clan
* Guildford Flames
* Manchester Storm
* Nottingham Panthers
* Sheffield Steelers

National Ice Hockey League|

| National League|

* Basingstoke Bison
* Bees IHC
* Bristol Pitbulls
* Hull Seahawks
* Leeds Knights
* Milton Keynes Lightning
* Peterborough Phantoms
* Raiders
* Sheffield Steeldogs
* Solway Sharks
* Swindon Wildcats
* Telford Tigers

|

North Division 1|

* Billingham Stars
* Blackburn Hawks
* Deeside Dragons
* Nottingham Lions
* Sheffield Scimitars
* Solihull Barons
* Widnes Wild

South Division 1|

* Cardiff Fire
* Chelmsford Chieftains
* Invicta Dynamos
* Milton Keynes Thunder
* Oxford City Stars
* Raiders 2
* Slough Jets
* Solent Devils
* Streatham IHC

North Division 2|

* Altrincham Aces
* Blackburn Hawks 2
* Bradford Bulldogs
* Coventry Blaze NIHL
* Hull Jets
* Nottingham Lions 2
* Sheffield Titans
* Sutton Sting
* Telford Tigers 2

South Division 2|

* Basingstoke Buffalo
* Guildford Phoenix
* Haringey Huskies
* Invicta Mustangs
* Lee Valley Lions
* Peterborough Phantoms 2
* Solent Devils 2
* Streatham Hawks
* Swindon Wildcats 2

Scottish National League|

* Aberdeen Lynx
* Dundee Rockets
* Edinburgh Capitals
* Kilmarnock Storm
* Kirkcaldy Kestrels
* North Ayrshire Wild
* Paisley Pirates
* Solway Sharks (SNL)
* Whitley Warriors

Women's National Ice Hockey League|

| WNIHL Elite|

* Bracknell Queen Bees
* Kingston Diamonds
* Nottingham Vipers
* Solihull Vixens
* Streatham Storm

|

WNIHL Premier|

* Bracknell Firebees
* Cardiff Comets
* Chelmsford Cobras
* Kingston Diamonds B
* Milton Keynes Falcons
* Sheffield Shadows
* Swindon TopCats
* Whitley Squaws

Division 1 North|

* Grimsby Wolves
* Nottingham Vipers B
* Sheffield Shadows B
* Solway Sharks Ladies
* Telford Wrekin Raiders
* Widnes Wild Women

Division 1 South|

* Coventry Phoenix
* Oxford Midnight Stars
* Peterborough Penguins
* Slough Sirens
* Solent Amazons
* Streatham Storm B
* Swindon TopCats B

British University Teams|

* Birmingham Lions
* Bradford Sabres
* Bristol Lions
* Caledonia Steel Queens
* Cambridge University Blues
* Cardiff Redhawks
* Coventry and Warwick Panthers
* Edinburgh Eagles
* Huddersfield Ice Hawks
* Hull Ice Hogs
* Imperial Devils
* Kent Knights
* Leeds Gryphons
* London Dragons
* Manchester Metros
* Newcastle Wildcats
* Northumbria Kings
* Nottingham Mavericks
* Oxford University Ice Hockey Club
* Sheffield Bears
* Southampton Spitfires
* St Andrews Typhoons
* UCL Yetis
* UEA Avalanche

Competitions|

* League Championship
* British Championship
* Challenge Cup
* Ken Taggart Memorial Trophy and Memorial Bowl
* Knockout Cup
* Varsity Match

Player awards|

* Alan Weeks Trophy
* Best British Forward
* British Netminder of the Year
* Coach of the Year Trophy
* Ice Hockey Annual Trophy
* Player of the Year Trophy
* Vic Batchelder Memorial Award

Defunct leagues
and competitions|

* British Ice Hockey Association
* Ahearne Cup
* Autumn Cup
* British Hockey League
* British National League (1954–60)
* British National League (1996–2005)
* English League
* English League North
* English National League
* English National League (1981–82)
* English Premier League
* Ice Hockey Superleague
* Inter-City League
* Northern League
* Northern League
* Scottish National League
* Scottish Premier Hockey League
* Southern League

Defunct teams|

* Aldershot Bullets
* Ayr Bruins
* Ayr Scottish Eagles
* Blackburn Eagles
* Blackpool Seagulls
* Brighton Tigers
* Cardiff Rage
* Castlereagh Knights
* Dumfries Vikings
* Dunfermline Vikings
* Dundee Comets
* Dundee Tigers
* Durham City Wasps
* Durham Wasps
* Earls Court Rangers
* Edinburgh Capitals (SNL)
* Flintshire Freeze
* Fylde Flyers
* Harringay Greyhounds
* Harringay Racers
* Hull Pirates
* Hull Stingrays
* Hull Thunder
* Humberside Seahawks
* Isle of Wight Wildcats
* Kilmarnock Storm
* Lancashire Raptors
* Liverpool Leopards
* London Canadians
* London Lions
* London Knights
* London Racers
* Manchester Minotaurs
* Manchester Phoenix
* Manchester Storm (1995–2002)
* Medway Bears
* Milton Keynes Kings
* Moray Tornadoes
* Murrayfield Racers
* Murrayfield Racers (2018–2022)
* Newcastle Jesters
* Newcastle Vipers
* Niagara Ice Hockey Club
* Oxford Blades
* Peterborough Pirates
* Princes Ice Hockey Club
* Richmond Flyers
* Sheffield Lancers
* Sheffield Scimitars
* Sheffield Spartans
* Slough Jets ENL
* Southampton Vikings
* Stevenage Oilers
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* Sunderland Chiefs
* Swindon TopCats B
* TDC Northern Stars
* Telford Tigers ENL
* Telford Titans
* Wembley Lions
* Wembley Monarchs
* Wightlink Buccaneers
* Wightlink Raiders
* Wightlink Tigers

Miscellaneous|

* Great Britain men's national ice hockey team
* Great Britain women's national ice hockey team
* British Ice Hockey Hall of Fame
* Ice Hockey Journalists UK

Related
IIHF
IIHF Continental Cup
IIHF European Champions Cup
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