1931 English Club Championship
The 1931 English Club Championship was awarded to the London Lions. It was their first English Club Championship, but their second British title. The Lions had won the British Championship the previous year.
The Lions defeated Queen's at the Queens Ice Rink in Bayswater (London) in the final game of the season on May 14, 1931. They finished undefeated on the season, and thus won the Club Championship.[1]
There was originally going to be a playoff for the British Championship, as there was the previous year, but a semifinal between Glasgow and Manchester was not played as the teams were unable to agree on home and away dates.[2]
London Lions' captain, Vic Gardner, expressed regret that a league competition had still not begun and criticized the high number of international matches that were played in a March 1931 letter published in The Skating Times.
This was the last year a club champion was crowned in England. For 1931-32, the winner of the English League was regarded as the country's champion.[3]
A planned league in England was suspended due to the European and World Championships that took place during the season.
These were the intended participants:
- Cambridge University
- Grosvenor House Canadians
- London Lions
- Manchester
- Oxford University
- Prince's, Hammersmith
- Queen's Ice Club, Bayswater
- Sussex
- United Services
Some other games played this year included: London - Manchester 4:1 at the Manchester Ice Palace on November 15[4], Manchester - Scotland 1:0 OT on November 29[5], Oxford/Cambridge Combo - London Lions on December 11[6], Hammersmith - Sussex 3:2 on December 13[7], Hammersmith Ice Club - Manchester 1:1 at the Hammersmith Icedrome on December 20, London Lions - Manchester 3:1 at Manchester on January 17[8] Hammersmith Ice Club - Sussex 1:0 on January 24, Cambridge - Manchester 4:0 on February 7[9], Glasgow - Manchester 4:0[10] at Crossmyloof Ice Rink on February 14, Manchester - Scotland 2:2 on March 21[11], Hammersmith Ice Club - Westover Ice Club 10:4[12] at Bournemouth on March 28, Iroquois Ice Club - Westover Ice Club 14:7[13] at Bournemouth, and London Lions - Manchester 6:4 on April 25.[14]
References
- ↑ Other Icehockey Lions in London
- ↑ The Times, 10/30/1931
- ↑ Chambers, Michael A. (ed.) (November 2000). Nottingham Panthers Statistical Guidebook 1946–2000. ISBN 0-9539398-0-4.
- ↑ The Guardian, 11/17/1930
- ↑ The Guardian, 12/1/1930
- ↑ The Bystander, 12/3/1930
- ↑ Sevenoaks Chronicle and Kentish Advertiser, 12/19/1930
- ↑ The Guardian, 1/19/1931
- ↑ The Guardian, 2/9/1931
- ↑ The Scotsman, 2/16/1931
- ↑ The Guardian, 3/23/1931
- ↑ Western Gazette, 4/3/1931
- ↑ Western Gazette, 2/20/1931
- ↑ The Guardian, 4/27/1931