Rink to host national division fixture
THE Planet Ice rink in Widnes is set to host a rare higher league game when the Leeds Chiefs take on the Swindon Wildcats in a National Division match at the venue on Sunday, November 10 – 5.30pm face off.
The Leeds Chiefs are a new team to the league for this season and construction work at their home Planet Ice rink in Leeds has not yet been completed. The team were given special permission by the league management to start off the season playing all their games away. However, they now need to start playing home games in order to avoid a fixture backlog at the end of the season and, as the Leeds rink is still not quite ready to use, they have been forced to find alternative venues to stage these home games.
The first Leeds “home” game will take place in Blackburn on Sunday, November 3 and they will then take on the Swindon Wildcats at Planet Ice in Widnes the following Sunday.
The National Division is a new, top tier league to the NIHL for this season and has replaced the old English Premier League (EPL), which folded in the summer of 2017. The last time that Widnes hosted a higher league game was in January 2017 when the struggling nomadic Manchester Phoenix club used the rink to play their last ever home match before withdrawing from the EPL competition due to lack of finance. Interestingly enough, the opponents on that occasion were also the Swindon Wildcats.
● FOLLOWING a rare weekend without a game, the YKKsponsored Widnes Wild return to league action this weekend, with a visit to Bradford Bulldogs on Saturday, before entertaining local rivals Altrincham Aces at Planet Ice Widnes on Sunday, November 3.
The Wild have some catching up to do in the league, as they set out to defend the Laidler Division title that they won last season, because they have been mainly playing cup games in the Midland Cup while the other teams have been playing league games. Saturday’s opponents Bradford Bulldogs have made an excellent start to the season and have won seven of their opening nine league fixtures.
The Aces have won just three of their seven league fixtures to date but are one point ahead of the Wild in the league table, although Widnes have four games in hand over Altrincham and six over the Bulldogs. The home game on Sunday against the Altrincham Aces faces off at 5.30pm and doors open at 4.45.