Manchester Ice Palace
| Manchester Ice Palace | |
|---|---|
| |
| Location | Manchester, England |
| Opened | October 25, 1910 |
| Closed | April 11, 1967 |
| Owner | |
| Surface | Ice |
| Tenants | Manchester (1910-1940) Manchester Rapids (1936-1937) |
| Capacity | 2,000 (1,100 seated) |
The Manchester Ice Palace was an ice rink in Manchester, England. It was opened by Lord Lytton on October 25, 1910.
A team known simply as Manchester (also called Lancashire from 1910-1912) was soon formed at the rink. Dr. Alfred Barclay served as the club secretary as well as being a player. In their first match on December 11, 1910, Manchester defeated Princes Ice Hockey Club 5-3 at the Ice Palace. Princes returned to the Ice Palace the following year and blanked the home side 4-0.
A "Roses" matchup between the Yorkshire Skating Club and Lancashire was held on March 8, 1911. The Yorkshire club was very inexperienced, having never played hockey with a puck before the match, and Lancashire won easily, 13-0 (7-0, 6-0) according to the Yorkshire Post[1], or 14-0 as reported in the Manchester Courier.[2] The Courier noted the goalscorers as Southern (4), Shimwell (4), and Barnes (6).
Manchester faced Leeds University and the Oxford Canadians during the 1913-14 season. They defeated Leeds 7-3 (3-0, 4-3) on November 7.[3] The Manchester Ice Palace was closed in 1915 and used for to manufacture observation balloons for the war efforts. It reopened on November 21, 1919.
The Ice Palace was the only rink in Britain during the early 1920s. On January 27, 1922, Oxford University defeated a British Army team 8-3. A combined Manchester-London Canadians side lost 5-0 to Oxford in March 1923. A game between The Army and The Rest was played at the Ice Palace in November 1923. The purpose of the game was to select the British team for the 1924 Winter Olympics.
Cambridge University defeated Manchester 2-1 in November 1926. There were numerous matches involving Manchester played at the Ice Palace in 1928. In 1929 the London Lions defeated the home side 4-2. On April 6, the rink played host to the 1929 English Club Championship. The hosts were defeated 6-5 in overtime by United Services.
There was a five-team house league competition played at the rink from 1930-1933. The teams competed for the Spalding Trophy. Manchester fielded a team in the English League from 1931 to 1936.
The Manchester Rapids played in the English National League during the 1936-37 season. They began the season as the Rapides de Paris but relocated to Manchester in November 1936 and played out the rest of the season in the city.
The last recorded ice hockey match at the Ice Palace was played on February 3, 1940. Manchester defeated Liverpool 3-2. It was requisitioned by the Ministry of Aircraft production in 1941 and later reopened as an ice rink on March 21, 1947.
Although it remained open until 1967, no hockey was played at the rink after World War II.
Sources
- Homes of British Ice Hockey