Clan boss looks back on decade of highs and lows
It’s been ten years this month since Braehead Clan first skated out as a team.
The ice hockey club began their life with a closely fought win over Newcastle Vipers.
From there a new band of faithful fans in the form of the Purple Army were born.
And Clan owner Neil Black has looked back on the last 10 years of the club’s existence and insists he is delighted with the evolution of the club in that time.
He said: “I used to be involved with Masters football tournament for former footballers at Braehead Arena so over the years, I got familiar with the arena and the management.
“I’d also seen the terrific success the Ayr Scottish Eagles had in the late 90’s, at a time when I’d got involved with Panthers.
“The whole project took about a year and it involved working closely with the arena and making sure they were very happy to get on board.
“Secondly, we had to get the right people in place from that area. There were some great people who took the club forward in those early days.
“We knew there was an established fanbase in Ayr, but I’d thought all along there wouldn’t be a reason why there wouldn’t be a good support coming from Glasgow and the surrounding areas and looking at the last ten years.
“That’s exactly what’s happened. “The last decade has flown by from my point of view. Time moves on and evolution is part of that and that’s what’s happened with the Clan.”
It’s been a busy decade for the club who now boast two general managers with varying titles, eight coaches, many staff and players and an ever growing number of fans who would normally come though the doors.
Now Black wants to see the Clan take the club to the next stage – continuing the growth of the Purple Army and the growth of local sourced players.
He’s also taking aim at putting something shiny in the trophy cabinet in the not-too-distant future.
He said: “Although I’m not all that often there in person, I am in constant communication and know what’s going on with the club and I’m always exceedingly impressed.
“You only need to see the play- off weekend to see how passionate the Purple Army are, even we don’t manage to qualify for it all the time.
“In the ten years, we’ve had a few lows, but I would say the highs far exceed those every single year in terms of its reach, what it’s doing in the community and I would say it’s been a great success.
“All that’s missing is that little bit of silverware and I know everyone’s desperate to achieve that.
“I don’t think winning a trophy will be long in coming. We’ve been close, certainly the season in 2015 when we almost won the league springs to mind, but we could always do better in the cup competitions and the play-offs.”
Right now, with the Elite League in stasis for a year because of the coronavirus, the club are using the time to review the things have worked and perhaps haven’t worked so well with a view to coming back even bigger and better.
It’s a tactic that Black fully backs as he highlighted the importance of having the team he has in place as they negotiate the Clan through difficult waters, with the 2021/22 shore some way off at this moment in time.
He added: “It’s important to use the time we have to review what we’ve done right and where we can do better as we negotiate through his season without any hockey.
“There’s also the issue with our landlords at the arena and what needs to be done there so this is a good opportunity to take stock and look at the next decade in terms of the team and the structure.
“Hopefully there might be some positive improvements to the arena and we have to look at junior development.
“I think that’s an important part of what we want to do in the next decade, bringing through local players and getting more local talent involved.”