Widnes Wild
The Widnes Wild[1] are an English ice hockey team from the town of Widnes who play at Planet Ice Ice Rink in Widnes. They were formed in 2013. They currently compete in the Moralee Conference of the English Ice Hockey Association National Ice Hockey League (North).
| Widnes Wild | |
|---|---|
 | |
| City | Widnes, England |
| League | NIHL |
| Division | Division One North |
| Founded | 2013 |
| Home arena | Planet Ice Widnes Capacity: 500 Ice size: 56m x 28m |
| Colours | Black, Gold & White |
| Owner(s) | North West Winter Sports Club, Chairman Matt Lloyd (Paralympian) |
| General manager | Jon Anderson |
| Head coach | Richard Haggar |
| Affiliates | Widnes Wild Women, WNIHL 2 |
| Farm club(s) | Widnes Junior Wild |
| Website | http://www.widneswild.co.uk/ |
The current club chairman is Paralympian Matt Lloyd.[2]
The club has a youth system which starts at Under-9's, as well as a women's team competing in the Women's Premier League.[3]
With the support of the local community the Widnes Wild run a vibrant schools programme to introduce children to ice hockey.[4]
In the 15/16 season the Wild finished second in the league to Deeside Dragons. In the final league game of the season the Wild forfeited the games against the Deeside Dragons citing safety fears, after Wild player Lee Kemp suffered a head injury following an altercation with Dragons' Alex Roberts.[5]
The Wild finished the 16/17 season second in the league to the Blackburn Eagles, missing out on promotion after a dramatic overtime loss to the Deeside Dragons;[6] however, the Wild went on to win their first piece of silverware by winning the 16/17 D2N Playoffs.[7]
In September 2017 it was announced that Ollie Barron had won the first English National Ice Hockey League D2N Player of the Month award.[8]
In the summer of 2018 it was announced that the Wild would be sponsored by YKK.
The Wild also won the NIHL Laidler Playoffs in the 2017/18 season and 2018/19 season to complete a trio of playoff championship titles[9] as well as being crowned league champions for the first time in the 2018/19 season. At the end of the 2018/19 season it was announced that Ollie Baron would step down as player/coach to focus on his life outside of hockey and Mike Clancy was appointed as the new head coach.[10]
League history
Season Position Wins Draws Losses ± 2013-14 5 11 1 16 -50 2014-15 4 20 2 14 37 2015-16 2 19 3 6 86 2016-17 2 20 4 4 59 2017-18 2 23 9 82 2018-19 1 28 4 140 2019-20 4 15 7 51
Club roster 2022-23
(*) Denotes a Non-British Trained player (Import)
| Netminders | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Nat. | Player | Catches | Date of birth | Place of birth | Acquired | Contract | ||
| 35 |  |
Evan Coles | L | 13 February 2000 | Sheffield, England | 2021 from Bradford Bulldogs | Two-Way | ||
| 39 | |
Miles Finney | L | 16 October 1993 | England | 2022 from Sheffield Steeldogs | 22/23 | ||
|
Jake Lowndes | 2002 (age 20) | England | 2022 | 22/23 | ||||
| Defencemen | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Nat. | Player | Shoots | Date of birth | Place of birth | Acquired | Contract | |||
| 5 | |
Rhys Edwards | L | 4 June 2006 | England | 2022 from Bradford Bulldogs | Two-Way | |||
| 15 | |
Lee Kemp | L | 18 January 1988 | Nottingham, England | 2015 | 22/23 | |||
| 18 | |
Jonathon Williamson | L | 1994 (age 28) | England | 2022 from Altrincham Aces | 22/23 | |||
| 20 |  |
Bez Hughes | R | 2 May 1995 | Wrexham, Wales | 2016 from Telford Tigers NIHL | 22/23 | |||
| 71 | |
Jack Murray | 23 May 2001 | Blackpool, England | 2021 from Blackburn Hawks | 22/23 | ||||
| 84 | |
Thomas Jackson | R | 21 May 1995 | Glossop, England | 2014 from Hull Jets | 22/23 | |||
| 86 | |
Kieron Furlong | 2002 (age 20) | England | 2021 from Hull Jets | 22/23 | ||||
| 91 | |
Calum Ruddick | L | 19 December 1990 | Manchester, England | 2022 from Blackburn Hawks | 22/23 | |||
| Forwards | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Nat. | Player | Shoots | Date of birth | Place of birth | Acquired | Contract | |||
| 9 | |
Ken Armstrong | R | 14 June 1985 | Sale, England | 2013 from Blackburn Eagles | 22/23 | |||
| 10 | |
Nathan Britton | R | 20 March 1993 | Sheffield, England | 2021 from Sheffield Senators | 22/23 | |||
| 14 | |
Joe Wyatt | 1990 (age 32) | England | 2021 from Altrincham Aces | 22/23 | ||||
| 16 | |
Michael Gilbert | 1997 (age 25) | England | 2017 from Altrincham Aces | 22/23 | ||||
| 17 | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} |
Andrew Hopkins | 1997 (age 25) | Northern Ireland | 2022 from Altrincham Aces | 22/23 | ||||
| 19 | |
Richard Haggar | R | 26 January 1991 | Hull, England | 2021 from Hull Jets | 22/23 | |||
| 23 | |
Josh Reynolds | 2002 (age 20) | England | 2022 from Bradford Bulldogs | 22/23 | ||||
| 24 |  |
Adam Jasečko | L | 13 September 2004 | Spisska Nova Ves, Slovakia | 2022 from Hull Jets | Two-Way | |||
| 44 |  |
Daniel Haid | 2 December 1993 | Bietigheim-Bissingen, Germany | 2019 from Chemnitz Crashers | 22/23 | ||||
| 63 |  |
Joe Coulter | R | 12 June 1995 | Dumfries, Scotland | 2022 from Leeds Knights | 22/23 | |||
| 89 | |
Matthew Barlow | L | 1999 (age 23) | Partington, England | 2021 from Bradford Bulldogs | 22/23 | |||
| 94 | |
Joe Greaves | L | 17 July 1992 | Royton, England | 2021 from Blackburn Hawks | 22/23 | |||
| Team Staff | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Nat. | Name | Acquired | Role | Place of birth | Joined From | |||
| 19 | |
Richard Haggar | 2020/21 | Player-Coach | Hull, England | ||||
|
Jason Coles | 2021/22 | Assistant coach | England | |||||
|
Mark Gillingham | 2013/14 | Assistant coach | Blackpool, England | Fylde Flyers, NIHL 2 | ||||
|
Jon Anderson | 2015/16 | General Manager | Widnes, England | |||||
|
Louis Rosslyn | 2021/22 | Equipment Manager | England | |||||
2021/22 Outgoing
| Outgoing | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Nat. | Player | Shoots | Date of birth | Place of birth | Leaving For |
| 4 | |
Tom Brierley | R | 26 October 1989 | Cleethorpes, England | Hull Jets, NIHL 2 |
| 13 |  |
Vladislavs Vulkanovs | R | 28 February 1998 | Ventspils, Latvia | Sheffield Steeldogs, NIHL National |
| 28 | |
Chris Wilcox | R | 25 December 1986 | Solihull, England | Hull Seahawks, NIHL National |
| 32 | |
Harrison Walker | L | 25 June 2002 | Bradford, England | Leeds Knights, NIHL National |
| 56 | |
Tom Stubley | R | 30 November 1998 | York, England | Hull Seahawks, NIHL National |
