Oxford City Stars

Oxford City Stars
City:	Oxford, United Kingdom
League:	English National Ice Hockey League
Founded:	1984
Home Arena:	Oxford Ice Rink; Capacity: 1,025; Ice size: 184 × 85 feet
Colors:	Yellow, Blue & Black ;
Franchise history
1984–1997:	Oxford City Stars
1997–1998:	Oxford Chill
1998–2000:	Oxford Blades
2000–present:	Oxford City Stars

The Oxford City Stars are an ice hockey team based in Oxford, Oxfordshire, England.The team was founded in 1984. They currently play in the NIHL South Division 1 at Oxford Ice Rink, Oxford

History

The British Hockey League (1984–1996)

The Oxford City Stars made their debut in 1984 and had an instant impact winning the BHL Division 2 (Midlands) as well as the post season playoffs and moved into the BHL Division 1 where they were unable to repeat their success, succumbing to a 9th placed finish in their first season. The following season would see them finish 15th and return to the BHL Division 2. They would however endure more success in the 1990–91 and 1995-96 seasons as they claimed First Place, but nothing in the post season.

The Turbulent Years (1996–2000)

After the formation of the National Ice Hockey League in 1996, the Oxford City Stars were placed in the Division One South where the finished 6th and failed to qualify for the Playoffs. The following season due to issues with the Ice Rink, they moved to Swindon under the guise of Swindon Chill. The 1998-99 season saw the Stars return under the name of Oxford Blades, losing all 32 games in a dismal season with only worse to come as they folded midway during the 1999-2000 season.

ENHL Years (2001–2012)

The City Stars returned to the ENHL for the 2000-2001 season and would endure mid range results over the coming years, finishing in highs of 2nd and lows of 9th with one quarter final playoff appearance as the highlight of the performances.

NIHL Years (2012–present)

The Oxford City Stars found traction in the newly formed National Ice Hockey League where they won the Southern Division 2 Title back to back in 2012-13 and 2013-14 with no Playoffs being played. The Stars struggled the following season in Division 1 garnering just 7 wins from 36 games on their way to a 9th place finish. They picked up the following year finishing 4th and losing in the Quarter Finals of the Playoffs. The Stars would then return to Division 2 for the next 3 seasons, picking up One League Title in the 2017-18 season.

Covid Pandemic in Ice Hockey (2019–2021)

In late 2019/early 2020 the World was rocked by the emergence of a respiratory disease across the world eventually dubbed the COVID-19 pandemic, which affected the world in a major way as governments struggled to control the outbreak. The Stars were due to play the Invicta Dynamos but the visiting team cancelled due to a positive test amongst the team. Shortly after this the Government announced that measures would be taken to contain the outbreak including the cancellation of all sporting events as well as other measures. Thus the 2019 Season was incomplete and halted and the post-season was cancelled as well. The outbreak would go on to claim the 2020-21 season too.

Returning to Hockey (2021–present)

After the culmination of Covid19, the League announced the 2021 season would go ahead as planned. The Stars had moved back into the NIHL South Division 1 at this point and the season would commence with 9 teams due to the closure of the John Nike Leisure Complex, home of the Bracknell Hornets who since folded. The Stars struggled in their return to action, finishing 8th of 9 with just 18 points and an elimination in the Quarter Finals of the Playoffs

Season-by-season record

Oxford City Stars season-by-season record

Season	Notes	League	GP	W	L	T	PTS	GF	GA	League Pos.	Postseason
1984–85		BHL Division 2 (Midlands)	12	11	0	1	23	164	24	1st	Champions
1985–86		BHL Division 1	22	5	17	2	10	150	229	9th	No Playoffs
1986–87		BHL Division 1	30	5	23	2	12	214	346	15th	No Playoffs
1987–88		BHL Division 2	26	16	10	0	32	241	154	7th	No Playoffs
1988–89		BHL Division 2	28	20	6	2	42	368	225	3rd	No Playoffs
1989–90		BHL Division 2	24	11	11	2	24	195	178	4th	Group Stage
1990–91		BHL Division 2	28	23	5	0	46	242	111	1st	Group Stage
1991–92		BHL Division 2	32	17	13	2	36	284	221	4th	No playoffs
1992–93		BHL Division 2 (Group A)	32	11	20	1	23	234	352	5th	DNQ
1993–94		BHL Division 1 (North)	44	1	41	2	4	222	743	8th	DNQ
1994–95		BHL Division 2 (South)	22	11	9	2	24	148	119	5th	DNQ
1995–96		BHL Division 2 (South)	22	21	1	0	42	215	168	1st	SF Loss
1996–97		English League Division One (South)	22	10	12	0	20	174	114	6th	DNQ
1997–98#	as Oxford Chill	English League Division One (South)								NA	NA
1998–99	as Oxford Blades	English League Premier Division	32	0	32	0	0	100	410	9th	DNQ
1999–00*	as Oxford Blades	English League Premier Division								NA	NA
2000–01		ENHL Southern Conference	14	9	5	0	104	72	18	4th	Group Stage
2001–02		ENHL Southern Conference	18	12	6	0	110	75	24	4th	DNQ
2003–04		ENHL Southern Conference	16	12	3	1	132	62	25	2nd	Group Stage
2004–05		ENHL Southern Conference	18	13	3	2	123	77	28	2nd	Group Stage
2005–06		ENL Southern Conference	20	9	1	10	97	94	19	7th	DNQ
2006–07		ENIHL Southern Conference	22	13	8	1	118	98	27	4th	Group Stage
2007–08		ENIHL Southern Conference (Division A)	16	11	4	1	101	57	23	3rd	DNQ
2008–09		ENIHL Division One (South)	28	14	9	5	116	101	33	3rd	QF
2009–10		ENIHL Division One (South)	36	22	13	1	189	133	45	5th	Group stage
2010–11		ENIHL Division One (South)	40	13	22	5	130	176	31	9th	DNQ
2011–12*		ENIHL Division One (South)								NA	NA
2012–13		NIHL Division Two (South)	22	18	3	1	37	148	61	1st	No playoffs
2013–14		NIHL Division Two (South)	22	16	5	1	33	145	60	1st	No playoffs
2014–15		NIHL Division One (South)	36	7	25	4	18	143	230	9th	DNQ
2015–16		NIHL Division One (South)	36	18	14	4	36	154	137	4th	QF Loss
2016–17		NIHL Division Two (South)	28	12	12	4	28	122	114	4th	QF Loss
2017–18		NIHL Division Two (South)	26	23	3	0	46	223	55	1st	SF Loss
2018–19		NIHL Division Two (South)	28	24	4	0	48	177	70	3rd	SF Loss
2019–20	-Covid Pandemic	NIHL Division One (South)	36	12	17	2	26	120	149	7th	Post Season Cancelled
2020–21	--Covid Pandemic	NIHL Division One (South)								NA	Season Cancelled
2021–22		NIHL Division One (South)	32	9	20	3	18	90	139	8th	QF Loss
2022–23		NIHL Division One (South)	28	11	15	2	24	103	128	7th	QF Loss
2023–24		NIHL Division One (South)	28	5	20	3**	10	67	145	7th	QF Loss

Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; PTS = Points; GF = Goals For; GA = Goals Against

'*Stars folded midway through the campaign and all of their results were expunged.

'# Oxford Chill were forced to relocate to Swindon just prior to the start of the league campaign due to a major ice plant failure at the rink. After this happened, they were renamed the Swindon Chill.

Season-by-season record (reserve teams)

Over the seasons the Stars have periodically iced teams in division as a reserve teams and a season by season list is below:

Oxford reserve teams season-by-season record

Season	Team Name	League	GP	W	L	T	PTS	GF	GA	League Pos.
1985–86	Oxford City Satellites	BHL Division 2 (Midlands)	15	0	15	0	0	27	278	9th
1986–87	Oxford City Satellites	BHL Division 2 (South)	14	5	9	0	10	68	84	6th
1987–88	Oxford City Satellites	English League Division 1 (South)	16	4	11	1	9	76	92	7th
1989–90	Oxford City Satellites	English League Division 1 (Midlands)	14	1	12	1	3	40	121	8th
1989–90	Oxford City Planets	English League Division 2 (Central)	16	4	12	0	8	56	140	4th
1990–91	Oxford City Planets	English League Division 2 (South)	20	18	1	1	37	174	54	1st
1993–94	Oxford City Planets	English League Division 2 (South)	20	6	11	3	15	63	126	9th
2010–11	Oxford City Stars	ENIHL Division 2 (South)	24	12	10	2	26	116	118	6th
2011–12	Oxford City Stars	ENIHL Division 2 (South)	24	6	10	8	20	75	120	9th