Dundonald International Ice Bowl

The Dundonald International Ice Bowl is an ice rink in Dundonald, County Down, Northern Ireland. It was opened in 1986 by Peter Robinson.

It is the training base and a secondary venue of the Belfast Giants ice hockey team. During the 2008–09 Elite Ice Hockey League season, the venue hosted the second leg of the Challenge Cup final, which was won 3–1 by the Giants, giving them a 6–5 aggregate victory.

History

Hockey practices were first held at the Ice Bowl in the winter of 1987, and the best players from them played as the Northern Ireland All-Stars against the Billingham Comets rec team in June. The All-Stars were victorious, 7-3 and 18-7. A four team house league, composed of the Lions, Racers, Redwings, and Wolves began in September.

The Dundonald Redwings joined the Scottish League Division 1 for the 1988-89 season. They went 11-5 in the regular season, good for third place, but had to forfeit their playoff semifinal game as they were unable to ice a team for it. The Castlereagh Flames replaced the Redwings in the Scottish League D1, and played in it from 1989-1993. Their finishes were as follows: 4th in 1989-90 (13-5-2), 2nd in 1990-91 (11-3-0), 3rd in 1991-92 (12-8-0), and 4th in 1992-93 (12-10-2). They won the Scottish League Spring Cup in 1990-91.

The Castlereagh Knights competed in the league in 1995-96, winning the Scottish Cup for the championship in a penalty shootout in Aviemore, before joining the Northern Premier League, also composed of Scottish and Northern English teams, for 1996-97. They went 6-29-1, good for 7th and last place in the regular season, and 1-5 in the playoff group (also last). After playing in the Scottish U21 League from 1996-1998, the Castlereagh Goldwings participated in the Scottish League from 1998-2000, finishing 10th in 1998-99 and 9th in 1999-00. A Northern Ireland team played in the Scottish National League in 2002-03, but were kicked out for using unregistered players.

For the 1990-91 season, the rink hosted the Ulster Ice Hokey League. It was composed of four teams, the Belfast Panthers, Dundonald Flyers, Fuel Services Oilers, and Lagan Valley Lions.

Known game results:

• 10/1: Lagan Valley Lions - Belfast Panthers 10:8
• 10/20: Fuel Services Oilers - Belfast Panthers 8:5
• 1/19: Lagan Valley Lions - Fuel Services Oilers 13:6
• 1/26: Belfast Panthers - Dundonald Flyers 7:4
• 2/23: Lagan Valley Lions - Dundonald Flyers 10:9
• 3/3: Fuel Services Oilers - Belfast Panthers 9:7
• 3/16: Dundonald Flyers - Fuel Services Oilers 6:3
• 3/23: Lagan Valley Lions - Dundonald Flyers 10:8

The competition became the Carlsberg Irish Ice Hockey League for 1991-92, and added the Dublin Flyers and Coleraine Jets to its ranks. It is unclear whether Dundonald and Lagan Valley remained in the league or not. The Dublin Flyers are known to have defeated the Belfast Panthers 15-2 and tied the Fuel Services Oilers 3-3 in the league, and were set to play their third game against the Coleraine Jets.

In 1991 the Phibsboro Flyers came to the Dundonald Ice Bowl, where they lost to the Belfast Panthers in January and the Fuel Services Oilers on February 2, by a score of 11-1. The Fuel Services Oilers and Lagan Valley Lions played a challenge match at the Coleraine Jet Centre, the second rink to open in Northern Ireland, on February 11, 1991.

On January 6, 1996, the Castlereagh Knights defeated the Dublin Flyers 20-2 at Dundonald.

The "History of Ice Hockey in Northern Ireland" Facebook group organized a Challenge Cup involving the Belfast Giants U20 team and the NI Tridents for May 25, 2014. The junior Giants, who played in the Scottish U20 League, won the game.

The Cross Border Cup has been played at the Ice Bowl since 2015-16.

References

• Homes of British Ice Hockey, Martin C. Harris (2005).