Head Coach:
Home Form: Poor. They did manage last year to improve on their first ISL season's form, by finishing 7th not 8th. however, they were still generally bad, and it was no surprise when the council decided they weren't worth funding anymore, forcing the Bison to drop down to the BNL. This year, they will stick once more to the old team selection tactic of big, unintelligent, indeed unskilled players, and simply hope to bash their weay to a title.
Players to watch:
Kit: White with yellow and black trim at home and reversed for away games (where did they get that idea from?). Changed their names from Beavers to Bison because their North American imports found the sexual conotations of the word Beaver too amusing to continue (snigger!).
Play at: The Playground
Capacity: 1,800 (1,300 seats)
Where?: The Ice Rink & Lido, Basingstoke Leisure Park, Basingstoke, Hants, RG22 6PG.
Call: 01256 55266
Here we go, here we go! (but not by coach because the supporters club continue to refuse).
By train: Basingstoke is on the main Waterloo line. It is also possible to catch a train from Reading Station. The rink is about 2 miles from the station but there are plenty of buses and taxis.
By car: From the M3, take J6. Follow the signs around the ring-road for the Leisure Park.
Parking: There is a large car park but the rink shares it with the cinema and the bowling alley.
Nice gaff?: OK, except you have to watch the Bison play when you go there (a distinct drawback!). Like the ‘Hive, the Playground is starting to show its age a bit. There are good sightlines from everywhere except the away fans area. The old standing areas have been removed and replaced with more seats, and the best views by far are behind the far end goal. the bar is OK too, so long as you don't mind waiting an hour for your order, because the barpeople refuse to fetch moire than one drink at a time (they even went for each drink seperately when I asked for two pepsis!).
How much?:
Programme: Not too bad. Worth the £1.30 charge at any rate. Normally has 2-3 pages devoted to the visitors (more than ours).
They all hate: Us, of course. Recent results have seen us come out on top, and Bison's drop to BNL confirms us as the best team in the South.
Record Attendance: 2,500 vs Bracknell Bees. This is an interesting figure since they quote their capacity as 1,800! Surely a breach of Health and Saftey reglations?
Record win: 27-2 vs Lee Valley, 1993. An impressive score untill you come to study Lee Valley’s defensive record.
Record Defeat: 3-19 vs Humberside, 1995. Ha, Ha, Ha! Nice one the Hawks!
Brief History: They were formed in 1988 as the Basingstoke Beavers. In their second season they managed to finish in 5th position and went on to win the promotion play-offs. They won HD1 in season 92-93 and shut out Durham in the play-offs on their way to promotion to the Premier Division. This is where they stayed until they joined the fledgling ISL. They then changed their name to the Bison, and managed to finish bottom in the first season, and 7th in their second season. Over the summer, the Council (who are the actual owners of the team) decided that they could no longer justify 500,000 of the taxpayers money going to the Bison, and so Basingstoke were forced to drop to the BNL, where they should be favourites for some silverware. A shame, really, because this leaves Bracknell without any local derby, and so nothing to spice up the season.
This article was written with the use of some information from the "Ice Hockey News Review" publication. Cheers.
Choose the Bison. Choose the team. Choose the club. Choose a fucking nasty rink. Choose crap players, dump and chase hockey, a talentless coach and Merv the Perv.... choose the Bison Supporters Club and wondering what the fuck you're doing on a Sunday evening. Choose sitting on that nasty, uncomfortable, gaudy acrylic chair watching mind-numbing, spirit crushing games, stuffing half-cooked rink food into your mouth. Choose rotting away in the 'Hive as the Bees demolish your team, nothing more than an embarrassment to the selfish, fucked up players your coach imported into the country. Choose the Bison.... But why would I want to do a thing like that?
Renton (well, almost), Trainspotting