British Hockey League

British Hockey League
Sport	Ice hockey
Founded	1982
No. of teams	12 (Premier Division)
Country(ies)	Great Britain
Ceased	1996
Last champion(s)	Sheffield Steelers
TV partner(s)	BBC

The British Hockey League was the top-flight ice hockey league in the United Kingdom from 1982 until 1996, when it was replaced by the Ice Hockey Superleague and the British National League. The league replaced three regional leagues: the Inter-City League in southern England, the English League North in northern England and the Northern League in Scotland.

The league was sponsored by Heineken until 1993 and during this period was best known as the Heineken League.

During the league's inaugural 1982-83 season, two lower-level leagues were set up, with Division 2 functioning as the second-level league and Division 3 serving as the third-tier loop. For 1983-84, the second-level competition became known as Division One, while Divisions 2 and 3 were staged as the third and fourth-tier competitions.

Division 2 operated as the third-tier league through the 1987-88 season. After which, the English League became the new third-level competition.

Premier Division

Teams

• Ayr Raiders (formerly Ayr Bruins) (82 - 92)
• Basingstoke Bison (formerly Basingstoke Beavers) (93 - 96)
• Billingham Bombers (formerly Cleveland Bombers) (82 - 87; 90 - 93)
• Bracknell Bees (91 - 95)
• Cardiff Devils (89 - 96)
• Dundee Rockets (later Dundee Tigers, then Tayside Tigers) (82 - 89)
• Durham Wasps (82 - 96)
• Fife Flyers (82 - 91; 92 - 96)
• Humberside Hawks (formerly Humberside Seahawks) (91 - 96)
• Milton Keynes Kings (94 - 96)
• Murrayfield Racers (later Edinburgh Racers) (82 - 95)
• Newcastle Warriors (95 - 96)
• Nottingham Panthers (82 - 96)
• Peterborough Pirates (formerly Norwich and Peterborough Pirates) (85 - 86; 87 - 95)
• Sheffield Steelers (93 - 96)
• Slough Jets (95 - 96)
• Solihull Barons (86 - 91)
• Southampton Vikings (84 - 85)
• Streatham Redskins (82 - 89)
• Teeside Bombers (93 - 94)
• Whitley Warriors (82 - 95)

Champions

• 1982-83 Dundee Rockets
• 1983-84 Dundee Rockets
• 1984-85 Durham Wasps
• 1985-86 Durham Wasps
• 1986-87 Murrayfield Racers
• 1987-88 Murrayfield Racers
• 1988-89 Durham Wasps
• 1989-90 Cardiff Devils
• 1990-91 Durham Wasps
• 1991-92 Durham Wasps
• 1992-93 Cardiff Devils
• 1993-94 Cardiff Devils
• 1994-95 Sheffield Steelers
• 1995-96 Sheffield Steelers

Division One

• 1983-84 Southampton Vikings
• 1984-85 Peterborough Pirates
• 1985-86 Solihull Barons, Division One Trophy: Lee Valley Lions
• 1986-87 Peterborough Pirates
• 1987-88 Telford Tigers
• 1988-89 Cardiff Devils
• 1989-90 Slough Jets
• 1990-91 Humberside Seahawks
• 1991-92 Slough Jets
• 1992-93 Basingstoke Beavers
• 1993-94 North - Milton Keynes Kings South - Slough Jets
• 1994-95 Slough Jets
• 1995-96 Manchester Storm

Division Two

• 1982-83 Solihull Barons
• 1983-84 South - Streatham Bruins North - Sheffield Sabres Scotland - Whitley Braves (won final)
• 1984-85 Oxford City Stars
• 1985-86 Medway Bears
• 1986-87 Aviemore Blackhawks
• 1987-88 Romford Raiders

Division Three

• 1982-83 North - Sunderland Chiefs South - Cambridge University (final not organized)
• 1983-84 Trafford Tigers

English League

Please see the separate article on the English League for details.

See also

• British ice hockey league champions

European Hockey Overview

Top-Level Leagues

International Alps Hockey League - BeNe League - Erste Liga - International Hockey League - Kontinental Hockey League National Andorra - Armenia - Austria - Belarus - Belgium - Bosnia and Herzegovina - Bulgaria - Croatia - Cyprus - Czech Republic - Denmark - Estonia - Finland - France - Georgia - Germany - Greece - Hungary - Iceland - Italy - Kazakhstan - Latvia - Lithuania - Luxembourg - Netherlands - Norway - Poland - Romania - Serbia - Slovakia - Slovenia - Spain - Sweden - Switzerland - Turkey - Ukraine - United Kingdom

Second-Level Leagues

Belarus - Belgium - Bulgaria - Czech Republic - Denmark - England - Finland - France - Germany - Hungary - Iceland - Italy - Kazakhstan - Latvia - Lithuania - Netherlands - Norway - Poland - Russia - Slovakia - Spain - Sweden - Switzerland - Turkey - Ukraine

Third-Level Leagues

Austria - Belgium - Czech Republic - Denmark - England - Finland - France - Germany - Hungary - Italy - Netherlands - Norway - Poland - Russia - Scotland - Slovakia - Sweden - Switzerland

Fourth-Level and lower Leagues

Austria - Belgium (4, 5) - Czech Republic (4, 5) - Finland (4, 5, 6, 7) - France - Germany (4, 5) - Hungary - Italy - Netherlands (4, 5, 6, 7) - Norway (4, 5, 6, 7) - Poland - Russia (Night League, Amateur Leagues) - Sweden (4, 5, 6, 7, 8), Switzerland (4, 5, 6, 7)

Cup Competitions

Cups Belarus - Belgium - Bosnia and Herzegovina - Bulgaria - Czech Republic - Denmark - East Germany - Estonia - Finland - France - Germany - Hungary - Iceland - Italy - Kazakhstan - Latvia - Lithuania - Luxembourg - Netherlands (Cup, Ron Berteling Schaal) - Norway - Poland - Romania - Scotland - Serbia - Slovakia - Slovenia - Soviet Union - Spain - Switzerland - Ukraine - Yugoslavia Supercups Belgium - Estonia - Hungary - Italy - Poland - Netherlands - Slovenia - Spain

Defunct Leagues

Soviet Union - Russia - Czechoslovakia - Yugoslavia - West Germany - East Germany - Ireland - Luxembourg - Macedonia - Malta - Portugal - Alpenliga - Interliga - Inter-National League - North Sea Cup - Panonian League - Eastern European - Balkan League (1994-1997) - Baltic League (2001) - Baltic Hockey League (2020) - Carpathian League - Slohokej Liga - Balkan Ice Hockey League - English League - English National League - Scottish National League - British Hockey League - Ice Hockey Superleague - German Championship - Swedish Championship - Klass I - Svenska Serien - Elitserien - Swedish Division I - SM-sarja - Swiss National Championship - Swiss International Championship

Women's Leagues

International leagues European Women's Hockey League - EWHL Super Cup National leagues Austria - Belarus - Belgium - Bulgaria - Croatia - Czech Republic - Denmark - Estonia - Finland (1, 2, 3, U20, U18, U16) - France - Germany (1, 2, 3, Cup) - Great Britain (England U16) - Hungary - Iceland - Italy - Kazakhstan - Latvia - Lithuania - Netherlands - Norway - Poland - Romania - Russia (U18) - Slovakia - Slovenia - Spain - Sweden (1, 2, 3, 4, U20) - Switzerland - Turkey - Ukraine Defunct leagues Czechoslovakia - Interliga - Low Countries Cup

Junior Leagues

Austria - Belarus - Belgium - Bosnia and Herzegovina - Bulgaria - Croatia - Czech Republic (Czechoslovakia) - Denmark - Estonia - Finland - France - Germany (East Germany) - Great Britain - Hungary - Iceland - Italy - Kazakhstan - Latvia - Lithuania - Netherlands - Norway - Poland - Romania - Russia (Soviet Union) - Serbia - Slovakia - Slovenia - Spain - Sweden - Switzerland - Turkey - Ukraine - Yugoslavia

University Leagues

European University Hockey League - Czech Republic - Great Britain - Netherlands - Russia (RSHL, MSHL, SHLC, SHLMO, SibSHL, SPSHL) - Sweden

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