Sheffield Steelers and Elite League rivals planning for potential January return to action

Last week, the full-time professional EIHL was the only level of the sport in England to be offered financial support as part of a £300m so-called bailout for a wide range of spectator sports, including rugby union, rugby league, netball and basketball, from the Department for Digital, Media, Culture and Sport (DCMS).

Back in September, the EIHL postponed their 2020-21 regular season with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic making it impossible for teams to survive financially if they went ahead and played behind closed doors.

At the time, league chairman Tony Smith, who is also owner of the Steelers, said there remained potential for some kind of top-flight hockey being staged at some point in the New Year, although it wasn’t clear whether all clubs would be involved.

It now looks as though some kind of season is several steps closer, most likely taking place behind closed doors, but made possible by the bailout.

The league revealed on Thursday that the £4m in potential government funding would only be for use by the the league’s five English-based clubs, including the Steelers, meaning that Belfast Giants, Cardiff Devils, Dundee Stars, Glasgow Clan and Fife Flyers would have to try and access separate funding from their respective devolved authorities.

Another condition which presented a potentially major stumbling block for the EIHL was that any funding - which the EIHL would have to apply for through Sport England – would only be made available if clubs were able to put some kind of season together.

It now looks like the EIHL is pursuing that possiblity with renewed vigour, with Smith saying developments needed to continue moving at a quick pace in order for clubs to have “as long to play as possible.”

He said: “We are looking at dates for a January start as this part of the requirement of the funding,” said Smith on Friday afternoon. “Obviously, we still have to be cautious and can’t promise anything concrete, as a lot of our planning depends entirely on dealing with different agencies across the UK.

“But we are drawing up plans now about how we could get back on the ice playing competitive games at the beginning of 2021.”

Smith said the fact Great Britain were still scheduled to compete in Pool a of the World Championships in May next year – with their host city potentially being moved from Minsk in Belarus, to Moscow, was a key factor in trying to nail down an early as possible start date for any domestic top-flight season.

“With Great Britain in the elite group of the World Championships, we are time-limited regarding how long we can play until before we need to release national team players for the tournament. Realistically, knowing we need to finish in April means starting as soon as we can to schedule in enough games.

“Things have moved fast since the UK government’s initial announcement, and we need them to keep doing so over the next fortnight to make sure that we have as long to play as possible.”

The previous day, Smith reiterated that the league had made its submission for government help on behalf of all 10 teams, unaware that teams basaed in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland would have to source financial help from their own devolved administrations.

“While the funding that covers England is extremely welcome, our next steps are to try to secure similar possibilities for the remaining five teams,” said Smith.

“There is no guarantee that these nations will allocate funding for ice hockey. We are calling on the devolved administrations in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales to assess the options available to all teams in their regions as soon as possible.

“The EIHL will do everything it can to assist these teams in requesting funding from their devolved administrations, and take the lead in the process where required.”

If the green light is given to some kind of a domestic top-flight season, the Steelers would have to move quickly to bring in the players they spent the summer retaining and recruiting. Several players signed up for the 2020-21 season, including British internationals Robert Dowd, Davey Phillips and Jonathan Phillips, along with imports Anthony DeLuca and Marc-Olivier Vallerand, have found jobs elsewhere in Europe. Others, such as Brendan Connolly have found roster spots back home in North America.

Support The Yorkshire Post and become a subscriber today. Your subscription will help us to continue to bring quality news to the people of Yorkshire. In return, you’ll see fewer ads on site, get free access to our app and receive exclusive members-only offers. Click HERE to subscribe.