When ice hockey stopped in 1955 it took Fife Flyers seven years to return

The last time Fife Flyers stepped back from playing, they were absent for seven long years.

The club’s history runs as far back as 1938, but it is not unbroken.

From 1955 until 1962, the team went into abeyance as the sport went through equally turbulent times.

Professional ice hockey ended in ‘55 as the British League failed, and rinks also opted for less expensive touring ice shows to fill the seats.

Dunfermline Vikings were among the first to go, folding just 11 games into the 1955 season, ending an often fiery Fife derby with Flyers – games which drew full houses and delivered some memorable, and controversial, moments.

Flyers folded, followed by Dundee – clubs which had been at the very heart of the sport.

The post-war boom had waned along with fortunes on the ice.

The rink continued to host skating, curling and … dancing.

Big bands moved in as ice hockey shipped out, and a generation of Langtonians were entertained by some of the biggest names in show business.

When Flyers created a club shop in the 1990s, they knocked down a partition, and discovered a baby grand piano sitting there – a remnant from the halcyon days of live music.

Next to it sat a dresser full of monogrammed cutlery once used in the rink’s dining room.

No fans, no hockey for first time in Fife in over 50 years

In 1958, Kirkcaldy Town Council decided against buying the rink and turning it into a swimming pool – a move which would have killed the sport completely in Fife – or operating both facilities side by side.

It took ice hockey seven years to get back on track in the UK.

October 1962 saw Flyers return to the ice for the very first time in the newly-launched Scottish League.

The late Harold ‘Pep’ Young was instrumental in getting the club back on its skates.

He took on the role of player-coach and pulled together a side which included a number of stalwarts – Bert Smith, Joe McIntosh and John Pullar among them.

Their first game back ended in victory. More importantly, it drew a crowd of 1600 spectators.

Flyers will be hoping that figure is more than matched when they return in 2021…

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