So, you want to know just what is the ISL? Well, ISL itself stands for Ice Hockey SuperLeague. The ISL was created in January 1996 to found and run the senior level of British ice hockey. Rather than the old system of meritocracy, the members of the ISL would be chosen on their financial means, in a franchise system, to ensure league stability. The British league has often suffered from financial collapse of its clubs during the middle of the season, and it was thought that only through ensuring league stability could Ice Hockey be furthered in Britain. The ISL will feel vindicated in this, when they look at the other two British leagues and see the collapse of several teams, from both the top and bottom of the league.
The ISL was therefore founded, and teams were encouraged to tender for a franchise. The nation was divided into 29 franchise areas, and it was decided for the time being to only allow one team in each franchise area. For this reason, the Newcastle Warriors were denied entry into the ISL when the franchise was given to the then Durham Wasps, now Newcastle Cobras. However, at the time Durham were playing in an 800 seat capacity rink in Sunderland, whilst Newcastle were playing in the 5,000+ seat Newcastle Arena. The fact that Newcastle’s owner also just happened to be the ISL Honorary President, John Hall, was seen to be the main reason for Durham’s selection. Newcastle were then thrown out of the Arena through a loop-hole, despite only being into the first year of a very long lease, and Durham were invited in. This obviously caused much acrimony.
The fact that there is now no system of promotion/relegation in British ice hockey has also caused a lot of resentment. New teams must apply for a franchise, and if accepted, will be permitted entry for the start of the next season in a league expansion. Many clubs in Britain do not have the financial means, yet, to enter the ISL, and it was this issue which caused the teams outside the ISL to set up two separate leagues, the Premier Ice Hockey League and the Northern Premier Ice Hockey League. The PIHL does not have any import restrictions and so runs to higher costs than the NPIHL. And, in effect, the PIHL is a mini ISL, and most of the expected expansion teams are seen to be coming from this league. The NPIHL was worried about the prospects for British trained players in the new era, and so they have made a gentlemen’s agreement to have no more than three non-British trained players on each squad. The problems have arisen through both the ease with which many North American players can obtain British or European passports, and the effects of the Bosman ruling, which means that any EC passport holder can play in any EC country with no restrictions. Hence the gentlemen’s agreement, as any rule would be totally illegal.
So British hockey is now split into three totally separate leagues, the ISL (with 8 teams), the PIHL (with 8 teams) and the NPIHL (with 7 teams). There is an introduction to the 8 ISL teams on the Articles Page.
