In the Beginning...

Ice skating has been popular in Oxford for longer than you think, albeit only on the rivers and flooded meadows (normally when they were frozen but you never know with students). As far back as 1763 there was a race on the Isis (Thames) between Iffley and Sandford. Christchurch Meadow was especially popular despite a few setbacks. In January 1879, according to The Oxford Chronicle, 'the ice suddenly gave way in all directions and numerous immersions followed. Fortunately, the water was not deep, but notwithstanding this considerable difficulty was experienced in extricating several ladies, and one in particular could not be removed from her unpleasant position for some time, and serious consequences it was feared would result from cold and fright. The mishap was witnessed by a goodly company of spectators on the bank, and the ducking received by many created considerable amusement.'

Ice Hockey Players on Chirst Church Meadow. ©Oxfordshire County Council Photographic Archive www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/heritagesearch

In 1853, 1891 and 1895 the Isis froze so completely that a coach could be driven on the ice. In January 1891 James Porter was able to drive a coach and 4 loaded with passengers on the ice between Folly Bridge and the Cherwell, coaxing a crowd of six or seven thousand people onto the ice. Oxford's first outdoor rink (underneath what is now the University Law Library) appears on maps as far back as 1879.

There are also stories of ice hockey matches being played on a frozen Port Meadow, an event that Oxford City Stars tried out in the 1980s but they found the surface then left something to be desired and that you would need an awful lot of pucks to play a full game.

Skaters on Port Meadow ©Oxfordshire County Council Photographic Archive. www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/heritagesearch

The first indoor rink opened in the Botley Road in 1930 but lasted less than four years. However, before this a team known as the Oxford Canadians (mainly Canadians studying at Oxford University strangely enough) had won the English Club Championship in 1907, 1910, 1911 and 1913 and took part in the first European Championships (Switzerland, 1910 - see IIHF website). A former player for Oxford Canadians (whilst he studied at University in London) was Lester B Pearson, Nobel Prize winner, Prime Minister of Canada, and the bloke that the NHL MVP award (as voted for by the NHLPA) is named after. Whilst the Botley Road Rink was open Oxford University won the English Club Championship (1932) - check their website for Michael 'Moose' Talbot's history of the University club.

The current ice rink opened in 1984 after the council took over a project that was started when OXIST (the Oxford Ice Skating Trust) started raising money in 1980.

Main source: Michael 'Moose' Talbot - OUIHC historian.

A brief history of the Oxford City Stars

Jimmy Shand

The Oxford City Stars ice hockey team was formed in 1984. In 1984/85 the Stars competed in and won the British League Division 2 (Midlands section). Stars imports were Jimmy Shand, formerly with Southampton Vikings, Tom Smith, signed from Cleveland Bombers, and Urban Johansson, a charismatic Swede who had represented his country at junior level. These were quickly supplemented by a squad of young British players recruited from London and the South of England. These included Dave Newman and Mark Lewis who finished behind Shand and Johansson at the top of the scoring charts. A teenage netminder, Barry Spours, was recruited from Streatham and the squad was taking shape. Stars' closest rivals were Oxford University whose only two defeats came at the hands of the City team, 8-5 in December and 11-2 in the return before a crowd of 1100. In securing the title Stars dropped only one point, an away draw at Nottingham.

Urban Johansson

The playoffs at the end of that season were one of Stars' finest moments so far . Playing on home ice they defeated Sheffield in the semi-final by 10 goals to 2, and in the final the next day they beat Aviemore 6-1. Johansson scored 8 of their 16 goals.

The 1985/86 season saw Oxford step up a level to the Heineken British League Division 1. Stars retained their trio of imports from the winning season and this proved to be costly. Shand and Johansson were not good enough for the stiffer opposition and with Smith being a blue line defenseman he was unable to influence enough results, Stars managed to win only five matches, which fortunately was more than Blackpool, Southampton and Sheffield.

Changes were made on the import front for 1986/87 with Shand and Johansson dispensed with. In came Jack Thornton, "Flying Finn" Jari Virta, and Mike Urquhart. The revolving door that is associated with ice hockey imports had come to Oxford with Don Yewchin arriving from Bournemouth, John Lawless (briefly) on loan from Cardiff, Cory Gelmon (more briefly) from Richmond and Jim Malner, also from Richmond all icing for the Stars that season. Scottish youngsters John Matassa and Scott Gough joined the team, but all to no avail as Stars again won only 5 matches. This time only Irvine finished below them.

Barry Smith

There were again changes for 1987/88 following relegation to British League Division 2 where teams were restricted to only two imports. In came Scott Mills, a prolific goal scorer with Sunderland. Out went Scott Mills when there were found to be problems with his work permit. Stars settled on Barry Smith, a firebrand forward, and Todd Morgan, a heavily built defenseman, as their two imports. Smith also coached the team and scored an average of nearly five goals a game as Stars finished mid-table winning 16 out of 26 matches.

Mike Fafard

With league restructuring Stars competed in English League Division 1 in 1988/89. Arriving as imports were the former Bristol sharpshooter Rick Smith and Mike Fafard. Rick took over from his namesake Barry as the main scorer, averaging 6 goals per game. "Faf" averaged nearly 4 goals per game. That season the Stars finished third behind Humberside Seahawks (now Hull Thunder) and Bracknell Bees. 1988 also saw the Stars debut of defenseman Dave Wilson who joined from the Streatham club. The end of the season saw Paul Simpson move on to Humberside.

The 1989/90 action was again in English Division 1. Don Jamieson arrived on the import front to partner first Fafard (who was cut early in the season) and then Dan Prachar. Prachar arrived from the University of New Hampshire as a temporary replacement for the injured Fafard but impressed enough with his pace and stickhandling for the management to keep him on. It was a seven team division with each team playing the others twice at home and away. The Stars finished 4th winning 11 of their 24 games and progressed to a five team play-off division where they finished 5th.

1990/91 was the season when Oxford City Stars were crowned champions of English League Division 1, winning out over Milton Keynes on tiebreak by virtue of the results in the matches between them. Both teams won 23 of their 28 games, but Stars all round strength triumphed as they only conceded 111 goals in the campaign. Jamieson and Prachar again formed a dynamic partnership. Stars went into playoffs against the bottom 2 from British League Division 1, Glasgow Saints and Lee Valley Lions. Stars won the two games against their Scottish opposition but lost the two games against Lee Valley.

Derek Flint

1991/92 saw Oxford still in ELD1. They started with two Dans, Prachar and Sweeney, as imports for the Cup campaign at the start of the season, then Sweeney was replaced at the start of the league season by John Gravelle. Derek Flint arrived to supplement a nucleus of experienced British players. Stars finished equal third with Streatham Redskins, some distance behind the runaway leaders Medway Bears (now Invicta Dynamos) and Sheffield Steelers.

Another league restructuring saw Stars competing in the ELD1 Northern(?!) Conference in 1992/93. Each team played the others in their conference home and away twice whilst playing the teams in the other conference once home and away. Oxford ended up 5th in their conference, winning 11 of their 32 matches. Gravelle and Prachar were again the imports, whilst the British players were nearly all Oxford based. One player recruited was Darren Derkson, whilst a notable addition to the ranks was coach Brian Kanewischer.

The next season, 1993/94, was beyond doubt a season when Stars were out of their depth. They played in Division 1 North and only managed to win 1 game and draw 2 out of 44. On the import front Prachar was joined at the start of the season by Robert Koutny who lasted only 4 games. His place was taken by Liam Wheddon who was subsequently replaced by Ari-Pekka Mikkola from the Trafford Metros. The other import was Finnish defenseman Pekka Hilden. Hilden and his defensive colleagues were continually overrun in games with the Stars conceding 743 goals in those 44 games at an average of 16 goals per game. Kanewischer's position as coach was taken over by James Cameron.

Darryl Morvan

1994-95 saw the Stars join a number of reserve teams in the English National League Southern Conference following the previous seasons poor showing. It was a maximum of one import per team but many of the teams operated without an import. The Stars squad was made up almost entirely of local Oxford based players, many of whom had played the previous season. The team relied on experienced players like Scott Gough, Daryl Morvan and Paul Donohoe.

The following season, 1995/96, saw the Stars continue in the same division but the introduction of Swede Freddie Andreasson and former Slough Jet Richard Boprey saw the Stars top the table winning 21 of their 22 games but came second in the playoffs (which were run as a mini league). Boprey also coached the team. Their closest challengers were the Raiders of Wightlink (playoff winners) and Romford. A number of the experienced players remained and were supplemented by some useful signings from Swindon.

Season 1996/97 saw a mid table finish for the Stars. They won 10 of their 22 games. The team made some further signings from Swindon, including Alan Armour, Grant Bailey and Ian Richards, but lost Andreasson in the second month. 1997/98 was a fateful season. Former netminder, forward and defenseman Mike Kellond formed the Oxford Chill. Due to a fault at Oxford Ice Rink the Chill played their opening games at Swindon and never returned!

Grant Bailey

Following this 1998/99 saw the formation of the Oxford Blades. They played in the English Premier League and achieved a 100% season - losing all 32 games. A mixture of locally based players and some players brought in from other clubs did not provide the right mix. The use of 7 different netminders in one season maybe sums up the season. There was also a lack of firepower up front, the top scorer being Sami Saarinen who scored 18 goals in 16 games. Even the introduction of former Telford and Romford player Mark Budz did not pay off.

1999/2000 saw lots of new signings. Imports Chad Brandimore, Sean Kelso and Dave Stevens together with a number of Swindon based players joined the team and results were starting to pick up, but a large legacy remained from the previous season and attendances did not increase. In October 1999 due to the high costs of running the team the Blades were withdrawn from the league and their record expunged.

2000/2001 saw the return of the Stars. Import defenseman Peter Nyman patrolled the blue line early in the season. Canadians Bill Morra and Jeff Sinnott also iced later on in the season. These, together with a mixture of locals and players from various parts of the South of England, saw the Stars reach 3rd position in the league, going on from this to eventually lose to Billingham Eagles in the semi finals of the English National League play-offs. Coached by James Cameron (Senior) it was a young team that played exciting fast hockey.

Dan Prachar

The 2001/2002 season started poorly after the high hopes of the close season. Important points were dropped in the early matches whilst player recruitment overran into the season itself, a factor that was ultimately to prove decisive. Results improved and this saw the Stars reach the top position and stay there for a couple of months with a lengthy unbeaten run. Two defeats, late in the season, to the eventual champions Basingstoke, saw the Stars slip to 4th overall. Some good performances in the cup competition saw the Stars reach the cup play-offs. A long trip to Whitley resulted in defeat and the season petered out.

The season of 2002/2003 was approaching and once again pre-season optimism abounded as Stars boosted their ranks with the signing of former Stars player Dan Prachar. Unfortunately it was not to be. Not enough reliable British players could be signed to make up a squad that the club could be confident would fulfil commitments so the Stars pulled out of the league on the eve of the new season.

2003/2004 saw the rebirth of the Stars, with a mixture of Oxford and Swindon based players playing under the tutorship of Coach Dan Prachar. Prachar was top points scorer in the league as Stars finished 2nd behind Invicta, winning 75% of their games. Stars managed 3 wins in the playoffs, which was only sufficient for 3rd place in the group. Stars won all 6 of their qualifying games in the Cup before losing in a two legged final to Sheffield.

The 2004/2005 Season again saw Stars finish second to Invicta. Stars were inspired by Derek Flint, for whom this was to be his final season before returning to Canada. Flint averaging over 3 points per game. The main players in the season included Dan Prachar and Alan Green the evergreen Scott Gough, who all averaged over 2 points per game. However having reached the Playoffs many senior players seemed to loose interest and this was the main reason that the Stars failed to win a point in the 6 games. This shortage of players was exemplified at Cardiff when Stars were forced into icing a line of the clubs junior players who had just finished their own Under 14 game.

2005/2006 saw changes at the helm with veteran Paul Donohoe taking over as coach from Dan Prachar part way through the season. Prachars demise was his inability to relinquish playing for his coaching role, the same problem that Donohoe was to encounter. Backstopped by the quality netminding of Jamie Thompson, Stars managed to finish 7th. The season had started with the Stars entering the Premier Cup, and being on the receiving end of some heavy defeats. This seemed to destroy confidence and was a major contribution to poor early season form. The most significant match of the season was a home game against Cardiff which saw the true emergence of a line of players from the Under 19 team. This line inspired the remainder of the squad and performances improved.

2006/2007 again started with change. Former Stars player Darryl Morvan taking over the reigns as Coach. Many of the previous seasons squad departed to the newly formed Swindon team, including Stars legend Scott Gough. Relying on a young, Oxford based squad, Morvan was able to inspire the team to finish 4th in the league, securing this final playoff spot with a win on the final league game at home to Swindon. The team had played without any "Non EIHA trained players" until the signing of Lukas Szabo. Undoubtedly skilful, Szabo was unable to make a significant contribution to the performances, so the credit for the league outcome rests with those young players and the Coach.

by Ian Dibley