Wembley Lions

English ice hockey team

For the motorcycle speedway team, see Wembley Lions (speedway).

The Wembley Lions were an English ice hockey team.

## History

[edit]

The team were founded in 1934 but showed a continuity with the London Lions team which had played at various venues since 1924. The Wembley team were based at the newly built Empire Pool in Wembley Park, which they shared with the Wembley Monarchs until 1950.

The team entered the English National League, winning it in 1935-36 and 1936–37. After a break during World War II, they returned and again topped the league in 1951–52. In 1954, Lions joined the new British National League, which they won this championship in 1956/7. The League collapsed in 1960, and faced with the prospect of no regular league matches, the team folded.

Inspired by the success of Brighton Tigers, who had continued to play without a league, Lions reformed in 1963 to play friendly matches and continued until 1968.

### 1937 international playoffs

[edit]

The Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) arranged an international tournament aimed to determine a world's amateur club team champion, hosted at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, and invited the champions of the Allan Cup and the Memorial Cup, the Eastern Amateur Hockey League and the English National League.[1] The world's amateur title was contested by the Wembley Lions, the Hershey Bears, the Sudbury Tigers, and the Winnipeg Monarchs. The schedule was a six-game double round-robin tournament from April 17 to 24, followed by a best-of-three game final series among the top two teams.[2]

CAHA representative W. A. Hewitt announced the shortening of the series due to poor attendance. The game between Hershey and Winnipeg was cancelled as both teams went home early, and a final best-of-three series between Sudbury and Wembley.[3] Sudbury and Wembley completed the best-of-three series each with a win, loss and tie. Since Wembley had travel plans to return to Europe, the series was decided by sudden death overtime period played immediately after the third game finished. Sudbury then won the series on a goal by George Hastie in the 15th minute of play.[4]

## Notable players

[edit]

Notable players include:

* Derek Holmes, Canadian and IIHF Hall of Fame inductee[5]
* Ken Johannson, Canadian-born American ice hockey player, coach and general manager of the United States national men's ice hockey team[6]
* James Robertson Justice (British actor)

## Sources

[edit]

* A to Z Encyclopaedia of Ice Hockey
* Martin C. Harris, Homes of British Ice Hockey

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "World Title Hockey Teams Play at Toronto in April". The Winnipeg Tribune. Winnipeg, Manitoba. 23 February 1937. p. 12.
2. ^ "Schedule Of Round Robin For World's Amateur Title". Medicine Hat News. Medicine Hat, Alberta. The Canadian Press. 19 April 1937. p. 3.
3. ^ "Wembley, Sudbury Will Play Series For World's Title". Winnipeg Free Press. Winnipeg, Manitoba. 22 April 1937. p. 18.
4. ^ "Overtime Goal Wins For Tigers". The Winnipeg Tribune. Winnipeg, Manitoba. 27 April 1937. p. 16.
5. ^ "IIHF Honour Roll: Derek Holmes". Legends of Hockey. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
6. ^ "Ken Johannson Hockey Stats and Profile". Hockey Database. Retrieved 1 December 2021.

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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
* Stevenage Sharks
* Stevenage Strikers
* 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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