No fans, no hockey - why Fife Flyers won't be icing for the first time in over 50 years

Rush to return rinkside ‘extremely irresponsible’ say Fife Flyers’ directors
Pucks on ice at EIHL play-off finals (Pic: David Williams)Pucks on ice at EIHL play-off finals (Pic: David Williams)
Pucks on ice at EIHL play-off finals (Pic: David Williams)

For the first time in over 50 years, there will be no top flight ice hockey in Kirkcaldy this autumn and winter.

The noise which seeps from Fife Ice Arena on match nights has been silenced after the inevitable suspension of the 2020-21 Elite League season.

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The traditional September face-off had been rolled down the tracks until December, but it was clear that the UK’s hesitant progress out of lockdown was not going to allow a full campaign to take place.

Faced with possible restrictions on numbers rinkside, the threat of localised lockdowns at any time, and the sheer logistics of preparing for a full season, the EIHL reached the inevitable conclusion.

It took one conference call involving all 10 teams on Tuesday to confirm that no skates would hit the ice this autumn.

“No fans, no hockey” was the straightforward stance of Fife Flyers.

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And so, for the first time since 1962, Kirkcaldy will not have top flight ice hockey.

The rink IS continuing with its plans to re-open, but minus the match nights which have drawn huge crowds to the Gallatown every weekend.

For club directors, Tom Muir and Jack Wishart,it was a tough call – but the right one to make.

A joint statement said: “It would be extremely irresponsible of us to rush the return of play to get fans back in the arena to the detriment of their, our staff and our players’ safety – and that is what must be at the forefront of all our minds when making this decision.

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“Although we all want to see skates hitting the ice once again, we cannot do that in a way which risks the safety of everyone involved and leads to a further shutdown.”

The club has already seen a host of imports depart the UK for teams across Europe and beyond – a movement mirrored across the EIHL, with only a limited number of signings announced by the 10 teams.

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Flyers had only confirmed the signing of three British players – returnees Bari McKenzie and Jordan Buesa, plus newcomer, defenceman Adam Jones, brother of Sam, who had signed for Sheffield Steelers.

It was clear that so much of the summer work was on hold while the league bought some breathing space.

This month is usually the busiest of all for head Todd Dutiaume as he welcomes a new team to town for the first time.

The off-ice business of getting players settled soaks up the bulk of every single day. This year, there is nothing but silence.

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Dutiaume accepted that the decision to suspend the 2020-21 season was inevitable.

“Everyone had hoped we would get some normality back but there is too much at stake for players, fans, for the sport and the business,” he said.

Dutiaume has seen a core of last season’s players all move on to clubs across a number of countries – and more may follow, with the UK now off the radar.

He said the feeling among them was split.

He said: “Some guys depend on hockey for a living. They have bills to pay.

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“Other guys have more of a safety net behind them – but everyone has their reasons for moving on and deciding whether or not to play.

“A big thing for me was not to hold on so desperately to someone at their expense, so we have been helping them where we can. When we spoke with them, we gave them as much information as we could about the pandemic and what is happening here in the UK – which may be different to what they are hearing over in Canada or America – so they could make an informed decision. We had to be honest with them.”

The challenge facing players now is where to go next – when any decision to play in Europe will take them thousands of miles from their North American homes.

Dutiaume said: “If you take a team out of a league, that’s a lot of jobs. If you take out an entire league, the market becomes very competitive.

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“I know some guys have moved on to countries where the leagues can start but, if this disease starts spreading again, they will very quickly be shut down as non-essential work. There are so many unknowns.”

That uncertainty made trying to forge ahead into a full season next to impossible.

Flyers’ position as a gate-based club made it particularly vulnerable – a fact that was noted by the directors.

They said: “We have seen other outdoor sports continue with empty stadiums. It would certainly be a strange experience to not have Fife Ice Arena filled with our passionate fans, who have stuck by us for decades.

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“We are in a different situation to other sports too in that we compete indoors, which we have heard throughout this pandemic presents a greater risk to fans than being outdoors in a football stadium, for instance.

“It is also well known that we are a gate-based club and running at a reduced capacity or with no fans at all is not sustainable for us, and most other clubs around the league. That is why we have taken the decision to suspend play.”

Mr Muir and Mr Wishart have been at the helm of the club since 1996 – the coming season would have made it 25 years since they first stepped in to take over the running of the club after the rink’s board decided it had taken it as far as it could.

Since then, they have seen the club Grand Slam in the British National League and stepped back to grassroots in the Scottish league when the sport opted for an imported orientated EIHL.

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Flyers spent seven years out of the top flight before deciding to step up once more.

Those decisions all shaped the club’s direction of travel, but nothing came close to the events of 2020, and the impact they could have on the sport for years to come.

The directors said: “For the many years we have been at the club, we have never had to take such a difficult decision.

“But, as we have heard on countless occasions, we are living in unprecedented times and, as such, decisions like this are absolutely necessary.

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“Although we all want to see skates hitting the ice once again, we cannot do that in a way which risks the safety of everyone involved and leads to a further shutdown.”

Flyers’ stance also took them out of the equation should the league try to run a season from January – or even February – into June.

The hockey rumour mill has been rife with talk of up to six teams playing competitively, if they are allowed to.

The idea clearly appeals to some club owners but details on any format have yet to be divulged.

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For Flyers’ fans, the puck won’t drop until September 2021. It’s going to be the longest off-season in living memory…

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