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
CityWidnes, England
LeagueNIHL
DivisionDivision One North
Founded2013
Home arenaPlanet Ice Widnes
Capacity: 500
Ice size: 56m x 28m
ColoursBlack, Gold & White
     
Owner(s)North West Winter Sports Club, Chairman
Matt Lloyd (Paralympian)
General managerJon Anderson
Head coachRichard Haggar
AffiliatesWidnes Wild Women, WNIHL 2
Farm club(s)Widnes Junior Wild
Websitehttp://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

[11]

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 (2000-02-13) 13 February 2000 Sheffield, England 2021 from Bradford Bulldogs Two-Way
39 Miles Finney L (1993-10-16) 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 (2006-06-04) 4 June 2006 England 2022 from Bradford Bulldogs Two-Way
15 Lee Kemp L (1988-01-18) 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 (1995-05-02) 2 May 1995 Wrexham, Wales 2016 from Telford Tigers NIHL 22/23
71 Jack Murray (2001-05-23) 23 May 2001 Blackpool, England 2021 from Blackburn Hawks 22/23
84 Thomas Jackson R (1995-05-21) 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 (1990-12-19) 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 (1985-06-14) 14 June 1985 Sale, England 2013 from Blackburn Eagles 22/23
10 Nathan Britton R (1993-03-20) 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 Andrew Hopkins 1997 (age 25) Northern Ireland 2022 from Altrincham Aces 22/23
19 Richard Haggar R (1991-01-26) 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 (2004-09-13) 13 September 2004 Spisska Nova Ves, Slovakia 2022 from Hull Jets Two-Way
44 Daniel Haid (1993-12-02) 2 December 1993 Bietigheim-Bissingen, Germany 2019 from Chemnitz Crashers 22/23
63 Joe Coulter R (1995-06-12) 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 (1992-07-17) 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 (1989-10-26) 26 October 1989 Cleethorpes, England Hull Jets, NIHL 2
13 Vladislavs Vulkanovs R (1998-02-28) 28 February 1998 Ventspils, Latvia Sheffield Steeldogs, NIHL National
28 Chris Wilcox R (1986-12-25) 25 December 1986 Solihull, England Hull Seahawks, NIHL National
32 Harrison Walker L (2002-06-25) 25 June 2002 Bradford, England Leeds Knights, NIHL National
56 Tom Stubley R (1998-11-30) 30 November 1998 York, England Hull Seahawks, NIHL National

References
  1. Widnes Wild
  2. Runcorn and Widnes Weekly News
  3. Runcorn and Widnes Weekly News
  4. Runcorn and Widnes Weekly News
  5. Liverpool Echo
  6. Runcorn and Widnes World Runcorn and Widnes World
  7. Widnes Wild
  8. English Ice Hockey Association
  9. "Wild win title again".
  10. "Clancy Appointed Head Coach". 6 May 2019.
  11. Elite Prospects
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