The Nottingham Panthers are a British professional ice hockey club based in Nottingham, England. They are members of the Elite Ice Hockey League and play at the Motorpoint Arena.
The Nottingham Panthers have won four league titles (two English National League titles, one British National League title and one Elite Ice Hockey League title), seven Championships, six Autumn Cups and nine Challenge Cups during their history. The Panthers were the first British team to win European club honours with one Continental Cup. In 2026 they became the first British club to win the Continental Cup twice. They are the only team to have played in every season where a British league championship has been contested and are the only founding member of the Premier Division in 1983 to have continually participated in the top flight league. The Panthers have 16 members enshrined in the British Ice Hockey Hall of Fame and have had 34 players represent Great Britain at the World Championships and in Olympic qualifying.
The club was founded in 1946 after earlier attempts to establish a team were postponed due to World War II. During their first eight seasons the Panthers played in the English National League. They joined the newly formed British National League in 1954, which they competed in until its disbandment in 1960. With no league to play in the club also ceased operations. In 1980, players and officials from the Sheffield Lancers relocated to Nottingham and reformed the Panthers. Both the original and modern Nottingham Panthers played their home games at the Ice Stadium until 2000 when the team moved into the National Ice Centre.
The Nottingham Panthers have one of the largest fanbases in British ice hockey, averaging over 5,000 spectators per game during the 2014–15 season. Their supporters have shared a number of rivalries with other teams during their history. Most recently, the Panthers have had a fierce rivalry with the Sheffield Steelers. The two sides have played over 200 games, including eleven major finals, since 1992.
Contents
History
1946–60: Original era
An initial attempt to bring a professional ice hockey team to Nottingham was made in 1939 following the completion of the Ice Stadium in Nottingham City Centre. A team was assembled and brought to the United Kingdom from Canada to compete in the 1939–40 English National League season but were promptly sent home having not played a single game due to the outbreak of World War II. Seven years later, after the war had ended, a second effort to bring ice hockey to the city was begun. With a team of Canadians largely from Winnipeg, Manitoba, the Nottingham Panthers played their first competitive game on 22 November 1946 with a 3–2 home victory over the Wembley Monarchs.
The Panthers struggled during their early years and only once during their first four seasons did they finish in the upper half of the league table. The club's first coach, Alex Archer, left Nottingham after two seasons and was replaced by Archie Stinchcombe who would coach the team until 1955. Despite a lack of success in their formative years the team had a number of players who would become local heroes including forwards Les Strongman and Chick Zamick. Zamick became one of the most prolific scorers in the league and won the Nottingham Sportsman of the Year award on two occasions, defeating sportsmen such as the Notts County and England international footballer Tommy Lawton.
The club's first major title came in the 1950–51 season. After finishing fourth in the Autumn Cup the Panthers won 18 of their 30 league games and clinched the league championship. The team also ended the campaign having scored the most goals and conceded the least. The following season Nottingham lost Chick Zamick to injury and fell to the bottom of the rankings. Success returned in 1953–54 when, after a last place finish in the Autumn Cup, the Panthers secured their second English League title by one point over Streatham.
In the close season of 1954 the English League and the Scottish League were merged to form a British League. The Panthers finished second to the Harringay Racers in the eleven team competition. After one season all the Scottish teams, with the exception of the Paisley Pirates, withdrew from the British League and left it with only five members. The close season of 1955 also saw the departure of Stinchcombe who was replaced as coach by Zamick. The 1955–56 season proved to be one of the club's most successful. Nottingham won the Autumn Cup at the beginning of the season before clinching their third league title on goal average ahead of the Wembley Lions. They also travelled to Sweden where they won the Ahearne Cup.
1980–present: Modern era
The Nottingham Panthers were revived largely thanks to the efforts of Gary Keward. In 1980 the Ice Stadium directors, led by Charles Walker, agreed to a request by Keward to give ice hockey another chance. The Sheffield Lancers, a team Keward helped to run, were relocated to Nottingham taking the name of the team that had occupied the same building 20 years earlier. On 20 September 1980 the modern Panthers took to the ice for the first time defeating the Solihull Barons 7–4 at the Ice Stadium.
During their first three seasons the Panthers played in regional leagues, first in the English League South and then in Section B of the British Hockey League. In 1983 the British Hockey League reconstituted itself into the first truly national ice hockey league for 23 years and Nottingham became one of nine founder members of the league's Premier Division. The Panthers were one of the best supported teams in the league with games regularly selling out but success on the ice eluded them as the team struggled against more established opponents such as the Durham Wasps and the Murrayfield Racers. It was not until the appointment of Alex Dampier as coach in 1985 that the team's fortunes began to change. In his first season Dampier led Nottingham to the playoffs for the first time since reforming. The Panthers lost all four of their quarter final group games and failed to advance to the finals at Wembley Arena.
In 1986 Nottingham secured their first trophy since reforming and their first overall in thirty years when they defeated the Fife Flyers 5–4 in overtime to win the Norwich Union Trophy at the NEC in Birmingham in front of a crowd of 5,600. Layton Eratt scored the winning goal after one minute and 53 seconds of the extra session in a game that had seen both the Panthers and the Flyers lead twice. In the league Nottingham again succeeded in qualifying for the playoffs but again failed to register a point. The team repeated this in the Championships the following season bringing the number of consecutive playoff defeats to twelve.
In 1988–89 the Panthers enjoyed one of their most successful seasons. They finished third in the league and were not only able to register their first win in the playoffs but also advance to the finals at Wembley for the first time. Nottingham met Whitley Warriors in the semi-final, winning the match 8–6. In the final the following day the Panthers defeated the Ayr Bruins 6–3, clinching their first Championship title. Another Autumn Cup followed in 1991 but Dampier left the club during the 1992–93 season to join the newly formed Sheffield Steelers. He was replaced by Kevin Murphy who coached the team for the remainder of the campaign. Murphy was in turn replaced by Mike Blaisdell during the close season of 1993.
Name origins, logos and colours
The origin of the name Panthers is uncertain. One of the most widely known theories is that the club were named for a squadron of Canadian airmen based near Nottingham during World War II. However, there is no evidence to suggest that such a squadron existed and records indicate that the name was coined before these events could have taken place. A souvenir brochure produced to mark of the opening of the Ice Stadium in April 1939 stated that the venue's new team would be known as the Nottingham Panthers. It does not, however, explain the rationale behind the name. Three games were played by teams using the name Nottingham Panthers during the winter of 1939–40 before the name was revived in 1946.
During the original era the Panthers did not have a logo, instead using stylised lettering on the front of their shirts. The club's current logo was adopted in 2003 and is the fifth to be used since the Panthers were reformed. The first was used between 1980 and 1994 and was the silhouette of a Panthers' head in a red circle. The second logo, adopted in 1994, was similar to the first but used a more detailed Panthers' head. The third logo, introduced in 1998, featured a keyhole shaped like the head of a cat with a Panther reaching through it. The fourth logo was adopted following the move to the National Ice Centre and was similar to the logo of German side Augsburger Panther. The stylised lettering used during the original era was used again on special shirts made to mark the sixtieth anniversary of the club in 2006.
The colours used by the original Panthers were black and white. Home shirts were black with a black and white striped lining on the shoulders. When the club reformed in 1980, the black and white colours were also revived, with a gold lining also being added to the jerseys. In 1996 red was added to the colour scheme of the shirts. In 2001–02 the club's colour scheme was changed to black and gold. Home jerseys are gold with a black lining with away jerseys being the reverse. In 2007–08, the Panthers brought out a predominantly white third jersey for the Challenge Cup.
The Swedish 2nd tier (Hockeyallsvenskan) club IK Pantern (The Panther Sports Club) from Malmö who have participated on two occasions in the promotion qualifiers to Sweden's top flight, were named after Nottingham Panthers. It was founded in 1959, by young car mechanic workers who were fans of Nottingham Panthers after a tour in Scania, where the English team impressed the Scanian boys.
Stadiums
The original home of the Panthers was the Ice Stadium. Built by Sims, Sons and Cooke Ltd, the Ice Stadium was based on the Harringay Arena design and officially opened on 10 April 1939. The building hosted its first game two days later with the Harringay Greyhounds defeating the Harringay Racers 10–6 in a challenge game in front of a crowd of 5,000 spectators. Though a team playing under the name Nottingham Panthers would play three games during the winter of 1939–40, it would be 1946 before the venue would host a competitive match. During World War II the Ice Stadium served as a makeshift munitions store and morgue. The building reopened on 31 August 1946 and hosted another game between the Greyhounds and Racers before the Panthers made their competitive debut on 22 November, defeating the Wembley Monarchs 3–2. The venue became the home of the team between 1946 and 1960 and again from the club's reformation in 1980 to 2000.
The Ice Stadium held a capacity of 2,950 spectators and had an ice pad measuring 185 feet (56 m) by 85 feet (26 m). After the club's reformation a second ice pad was installed in 1983. In October 1996 plans were announced by Nottingham City Council to replace the ageing building with a twin-rinked National Ice Centre. Work began on the 6,500 capacity arena section of the facility in the summer of 1998 and was completed in the spring of 2000. The Panthers played their final game at the Ice Stadium on 22 March 2000. After the game supporters were allowed to dismantle anything easily removable from the interior of the building to take home as souvenirs. The Ice Stadium was demolished soon afterwards to allow for the completion of the new Ice Centre.
The new National Ice Centre was designed by Nottingham City Council officials and was built by John Laing plc. The building cost £40 million to construct, of which £22.5 million was awarded by the National Lottery. The arena half of the facility was opened on 1 April 2000, with the second public skating pad opening a year later. Both rinks are Olympic sized ice pads measuring 196 feet (60 m) by 97 feet (30 m). The Panthers played their first game at their new home on 2 September 2000 when the team hosted the London Knights in the Benson & Hedges Cup. Barry Nieckar scored the club's first goal in a 2–1 Panthers victory played to a crowd of 4,800.
Honours
Nottingham's first trophy was the English National League regular season title, which it won in 1950–51. The first trophy of the modern era (beginning with the club's reformation in 1980) was the Autumn Cup, won in 1986–87. The original club won four major honours (3 regular season titles and 1 Autumn Cup) in 14 seasons, whereas the modern Panthers have secured 22 trophies in 39 seasons (2 Continental Cups, 1 regular season title, 6 playoff championships, 8 Challenge Cups and 5 Autumn Cups).
Records and statistics
Randall Weber holds the record for Nottingham Panthers appearances, having played for the club 845 times between 1985 and 2002. Centre Chick Zamick comes second, having appeared 624 times between 1947 and 1958.
Canadian forward Paul Adey is the club's all-time leader in goals, assists and points. He scored 828 goals and 781 assists for a total of 1,609 points in 609 appearances between 1988 and 1999. Zamick is in second place having scored 774 goals and 638 assists for 1412 points. He is the only other player to have amassed more than 1,000 points for the Panthers. Adey also holds the record for the most goals scored by a Panthers player in a single season with 120 during the 1994–95 season. During the same season Rick Brebant set club records for the most assists and most points in a single season with 156 and 241 respectively.
British forward Simon Hunt holds the club record for the most penalty minutes, serving 1,226 minutes in 524 appearances between 1988 and 1999. During 2000–01 Barry Nieckar earned 352 penalty minutes, the highest number for a player in a single season.
The club's record win came on 31 October 1981 when the Panthers defeated the Southampton Vikings 31–2 at the Ice Stadium. A few weeks earlier, on 4 October, the Panthers had recorded their record away victory with a 23–1 win over the same opposition. The team's heaviest defeat came on 20 March 1988 with a 23–1 away defeat at the Whitley Warriors. Nottingham's largest home defeat was a 14–2 loss to the Dundee Rockets on 25 February 1984.
The Nottingham Panthers have held continuous membership of British ice hockey's highest division since the foundation of the Premier League in 1983 and are the only team to have this distinction. The club are one of the oldest in the Elite Ice Hockey League having been founded eight years after the Fife Flyers, but forty years before the Cardiff Devils.
On 29 December 2011, forward David Clarke became the leading goalscorer in Elite Ice Hockey League history. Clarke scored his 230th goal in all competitions to pass Adam Calder.
Current squad
Squad for 2026–27 Elite League season
* Denotes two-way deal with Peterborough Phantoms of the NIHL
Honoured members
The Panthers have retired the numbers of seven players since reforming. The number 3 of defenceman Gary Rippingale was retired following his death at the age of eighteen in 1992. Randall Weber, who spent his entire seventeen-year career at the Panthers, had his number 10 retired following his final game for the club in 2002. The number 11 of forward Greg Hadden and the number 22 of the club's all-time leading goal, assist and point scorer Paul Adey were retired in 2003. The number 77 of defenceman and head coach Corey Neilson was retired in 2013 on the same night the club were presented with their first league championship trophy since 1956. Upon the announcement of his retirement at the end of the 2017–2018 season, the club announced David Clarke’s number 5 would be retired during the 2018–19 season. On 18 November 2023, it was announced that the Panthers will retire the number 47, following the death of Adam Johnson. On 15 December 2024, a ceremony took place before the game against Fife Flyers, where Johnson’s number was formally retired.
On Wednesday 9 November 2022, Nottingham Panthers CEO Omar Pacha confirmed the club would be hanging up the six retired jerseys above the stage end of the ice at the National Ice Centre. The banner depicting the jerseys was unveiled at the game on 12 November 2022 against Belfast Giants.
Sixteen people who have been associated with the Panthers are members of British ice hockey's Hall of Fame. As a member of the Great Britain team that won gold at the 1936 Winter Olympics, Panthers coach Archie Stinchcombe was inducted in 1951. The club's first coach, Alex Archer was posthumously elected to the Hall of Fame as a member of the Olympic winning team in 1993. Forward Chick Zamick, who played for the Panthers between 1947 and 1958 and holds the original club's records for most goals and most appearances, was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1951 while fellow forward and teammate Les Strongman who went on to serve as the modern club's coach, secretary and as a club director was inducted in 1987. Coaches Alex Dampier and Mike Blaisdell were inducted in 1995 and 2004 respectively while Paul Adey was inducted in 2006. Former players George Beach, Rick Brebant, Johnny Carlyle, Stephen Cooper, Jack Dryburgh,
Art Hodgins, Chris Kelland, Jimmy Spence and Mike Urquhart are also members of the Hall of Fame. Zamick is the only person associated with the Nottingham Panthers to have membership of another Hall of Fame, having been inducted into the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame in 1995.
Leaders
Head coaches
†Dampier was Director of Hockey between 2000 and 2002. Coaching during this period was overseen by Peter Woods (2000–01) and Paul Adey (2001–02), however overall responsibility for the team remained with Dampier.