English Premier Ice Hockey League

The league was founded in 1997, under the banner of "national division", as part of the English National Ice Hockey League in order to serve former members of the British National League who couldn't afford to remain in the latter as a result of increased operating costs; but who were capable of a level of play above the import-free English leagues that made up the rest of the ENIHL. During the 1997-98 season the teams that constituted this division played dual schedules; a series of games solely amongst their own division, and another amongst all the teams that were playing under the ENIHL at that time.

Each year, the league crowned a regular season champion, a post-season playoffs champion, and a knockout Cup champion. Solihull Blaze won the league and play-off trophies of both formats during this inaugural season. At the start of the 1998-99 season the divisions, whilst still both under the ENIHL umbrella, performed in their own separate competitions; and the national division adopted the name "premier division", and later on became known as the "premier league". By the end of the season the league had established itself outside of the ENIHL as the "English Premier Ice Hockey League". In 2005 the BNL disbanded; leaving the EPIHL to take its place as the second tier of the national game.[3]

In 2017, the league was dissolved. The Milton Keynes Lightning and Guildford Flames joined the Elite League, Manchester Phoenix folded, and the remaining seven teams became part of the National Ice Hockey League.

The league was ruled and governed by the English Ice Hockey Association.[4] The last chairman of the EPIHL was Ken Taggart.

Team	City	Arena	Capacity	Founded	Joined	Tenure	Head Coach	Captain
Basingstoke Bison	Basingstoke, Hampshire	Planet Ice Silverdome Arena	2,000	1988	2009	2009–present	Doug Sheppard (P/C)	Joe Greener
Bracknell Bees	Bracknell, Berkshire	John Nike Leisuresport Complex	2,400	1987	2005	2005–present	Lukas Smital (P/C)	Matt Foord
Hull Pirates	Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire	Hull Arena	3,750	2015	2015	2015–present	Dominc Osman (P/C)	Nathan Salem
Peterborough Phantoms	Peterborough, Cambridgeshire	Planet Ice Peterborough	1,250	2002	2002	2002–present	Slava Koulikov (P/C)	James Ferrara
Sheffield Steeldogs	Sheffield, South Yorkshire	IceSheffield	1,500	2001	2005	2005–present	Greg Wood (P/C)	Ben Morgan
Swindon Wildcats	Swindon, Wiltshire	Link Centre	2,800	1986	1997	1997–present	Aaron Nell (P/C)	Jan Košťál
Telford Tigers	Telford, Shropshire	Telford Ice Rink	600	2001	2010	2002-2009, 2010–present	Tom Watkins	Jason Silverthorn

Notes

• EPIHL Official Website