# Whitley Warriors

The Whitley Warriors are an ice hockey team based in Whitley Bay in the north east of England. Founded in 1957 as the Bees, they changed their name to the Whitley Warriors in 1964. The Warriors played at the highest level of British ice hockey for much of their history but currently play in the third tier, National Ice Hockey League North Division 1.
Their home arena is The Whitley Bay Ice Rink.

## Club roster 2022-23

(*) Denotes a Non-British Trained player (Import)

## Honours

British Championship: Winners – 1972/73, 1973/74
English National League Championship: Winners – 1999/2000, 2000/01, 2001/02, 2007/08
English National League: Runners-up – 1997/98
Northern League: Winners – 1973/74, 1974/75 Runners-up – 1976/77, 1977/78, 2006/07, 2010/11
Northern League Play-offs: Winners: 2006/07 Runners-up – 1967/68, 1976/77
English National League North: Winners – 2001/02, 2009/10, 2010/11 Runners-up – 1997/98, 1999/00, 2000/01, 2006/07, 2007/08
English Cup: Winners – 2001/02 Runners-up – 2000/01
Anglo Scottish Cup: Winners – 2000/01
Scottish Cup: Winners – 1991/92, Runners-up – 1992/93
Heineken British Premier League: Runners-up – 1987/88
Benson & Hedges Cup: Runners-up – 1992/93
Autumn Cup: Winners – 1971/72 Runners-up – 1972/73, 1974/75, 1976/77
BIHA Cup: Winners – 1957/58, 1958/59 (as Whitley Bees)
NIHL North Cup: Runners-up – 2019/20 Runners-up – 2021/22
NIHL North Division 1 Moralee: Winners - 2019/20 Runners-up – 2021/22
Ice Hockey Journalists UK Hall of Fame: Terry Matthews (1987), Alfie Miller (1988), J.J. 'Icy' Smith (1988), Hilton Ruggles (2009), David Longstaff (2022)

## Junior teams

The Warriors have numerous junior teams, with most bearing names that are considered derogatory and racist, especially when used contemporarily by non-indigenous people. The teams are:
* Under 9 - Mischiefs
* Under 11 - Arrows
* Under 13 - Mohawks
* Under 15 - Tomahawks
* Under 18 - Braves
* Under 20 - Renegades
* Ladies - Beacons

## Imports

* 1969-70 Dave Marsden
* 1975–1976 Don McAdams
* 1977–1978 Jan Pettersson & Harri Semi.
* 1978–1979 Brian Labatte
* 1979–1980 Lars Opsahl
* 1980–1981 Lars Opsahl
* 1981–1982 Buzz Brown
* 1982–1983 Tim Whitehead
* 1983–1984 Ron Butler, Al Kent & Kel Land
* 1984–1985 Pete Fitzpatrick, Hugh Alcorn & Roy Wallace
* 1985–1986 Peter Dunkley, Brian Mason, Steve Attwell & Bill Audycki
* 1986–1987 Jim Earle, Tom Earle & Bruce Stanley
* 1987–1988 Scott Morrison, Luc Chabot & Mike Babcock
* 1988–1989 Scott Morrison, Hilton Ruggles & Mike Rowe
* 1989–1990 Hilton Ruggles, Marc Damphousse, Claude Lefebvre, Wayne Crawford, Chris Duperron, Marco Ronkko, Mike Vellucci & James Gasseau
* 1990–1991 Hilton Ruggles, Claude Dumas, Brad Hyatt, Daryl Evans, Steve Chartrand & Blaine Peerless
* 1991–1992 Hilton Ruggles, Claude Dumas, Mike Rowe, Rob Abel & Bobby Brown
* 1992–1993 Claude Dumas, Scott Morrison, Mike Rowe, Mike Mowbray & Steve Brown
* 1993–1994 Scott Morrison, Steve Brown, Tyler Larter, Mike Rowe, Eric LeGros
* 1994–1995 Steve Brown, Dean Richards, Brian Verbeek, Mike Rowe, Martin St. Amour
* 1995–1996 (as Newcastle Warriors) Steve Brown, Chris Norton, Richard Laplante, Jason Smart, Dean Richards, Scott Morrison, Rick Fera, Scott Campbell, Lars Thunnell, Niklas Gullikson, Risto Halenius, Tim Salmon
* 1996–1997 Matthew Beveridge, Stefan Simoes, Mark Stokes, Matt McGuffin, Grant Morrow
* 1997–1998 Timo Loucasvuori, Kimmo Saarinen, Seppo Rajpar, Sami Rajpar
* 1998–1999 Trond Gundersen
* 1999–2000 Trond Gundersen
* 2000–2001 Fredrik Jonsson, Lauri Oksanen
* 2005–2006 Hakan Andersson
* 2008–2009 Peter Tomek
* 2015–2016 Andre Payette
* 2016–2017 Andre Payette
* 2017–2018 Philip Edgar
* 2018–2019 Rolands Gritāns, Philip Edgar
* 2019–2020 Rolands Gritāns, Philip Edgar
* 2021-2022 Rolands Gritāns, Rihards Grigors, Matěj Valíček
* 2022-2023 Rihards Grigors, Philip Edgar, Matěj Valíček

## Retired jerseys

Alfie Miller (#10) is the only jersey that has been retired for the Warriors.

## Logo

Despite the Warriors' logo depicting a Native American (the logo and colours being "inspired" by the Washington Redskins) and the associated controversy which resulted in the Redskins removing their logo on the grounds that it was considered racist, there has been no similar discussion around the Warriors'. Teams like Frölunda Indians HC and Chicago Blackhawks which have similar logos have come under significant pressure to change their logos on similar grounds. Frolunda announced that they would no longer be called the Indians and would be changing their logo.