Leeds Chiefs - The night hockey finally arrived home at Elland Road

The latest hockey derby between the two cities takes place at Ice Sheffield later but, five years ago today, they were also on opposite sides of the ice when pro hockey finally got up and running in Leeds.

Back then, of course, the team was known as the Leeds Chiefs and run by the owners of Elland Road Ice Arena, Planet Ice.

The team name and ownership has long changed and the franchise become one of the most successful teams in the short history of NIHL National hockey.

The rink was beset by problems and delays throughout its construction - not least when heavy winds blew over some of the roof beams in the very early stages.

For various reasons, the rink wasn’t ready for the start of the inaugural NIHL National season in 2019-20, forcing Chiefs’ player-coach Sam Zajac and his players to play and train at various locations.

Their most regular venue for training was across the Pennines in Blackburn, while ‘home’ games were staged as far away as Basingstoke, Coventry and Milton Keynes.

It meant a lot of travelling, not only for the team, but also their loyal band of followers who had quickly taken the UK’s newest franchise to their hearts.

When it came to the Chiefs finally moving into their new home, there wasn’t even time for them to have a practice session.

It meant that their first time stepping out on to ‘home ice’ was the night of that first game at home to the Steeldogs. Only one side was open to spectators in terms of seats, but all 600 tickets made available - including standing - were sold.

Fans pitched in as volunteers on the night and, ultimately, for the rest of the season, determined to play their part in making the team a success.

It was close, but the rink was finally ready in time for the game to go ahead. There was, alas, no fairytale start for the Chiefs to life in their new barn, losing out 4-1 to their Yorkshire rivals.

Lewis Houston made history in the 55th minute as the first home player to score in the building.For the record, Steeldogs’ Jack Brammer was the first-ever goalscorer at Leeds when he had earlier put the visitors ahead early in the second period.

“It was a big weight off everyone’s shoulders,” recalled Zajac. “Looking back, though, the one thing that annoyed me more than anything - and it still does - was that Sheffield were the first team to ever skate on that ice because they went out for warm-up before us.

“It’s a little thing, but it rankled us slightly.

“It was just a relief to be able to finally have our own locker room and practice on our own ice. Weirdly, for me, it felt like our season was starting all over again. Not having a rink was the main issue all the way through - it was just a relief not to have to make trips to Blackburn for training and we could finally train twice a week in Leeds.”

For the opponents, it was also a special night, giving them an insight into what a new Yorkshire rivalry would look like.

“It was a bit chaotic when we first got there, things weren’t finished here and there,” said Steeldogs’ player-coach Ben Morgan. “But I just remember there being a buzz about the place and air of excitement around the prospect of having a brand new rink to play in and, for us, another team to build up a Yorkshire rivalry with.”

For the fans, a home game had been a long time coming. But it would only last six more weeks, Covid coming along and stopping everything in its tracks, including that hockey season.

Before that, though, the Chiefs had already managed to attract 1,000-plus crowds with more seats being added as the weeks went by.

Very quickly it was showing the kind of potential that no doubt caught the eye of current Leeds Knights’ owner Steve Nell, who took over the franchise in the Spring of 2021.

Gary Scott, from Bradford, is now the match night commentator for the Knights’ live stream. Back in the days of the Chiefs, he found himself responsible for organising the small army of match night volunteers for home games.

“Some fans were losing faith and wondering whether it ever would happen,” he said. “But it’s probably my favourite hockey season ever - there was so much backs-to-the-wall nonsense, it was brilliant - you never knew what was going to happen next.

“We’d been waiting for that moment a long time. I remember them saying there were going to be 600 tickets for that first game and I was worried we weren’t going to sell them. I genuinely could not believe it when we sold out.

“We quickly realised we’d got a team that could be successful here. We were selling out every game as more and more seats were added and I remember thinking we’d made it when we had our first 1,000 crowd.

“The Chiefs did lay the foundations for hockey in Leeds, there is no doubt about that. That season, crowds grew and grew and proved there was a demand.”