- Chelmsford Chieftains
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Chelmsford Chieftains 
2011–12 Chelmsford Chieftains seasonDivision English National Ice Hockey League South (1) Founded 1987 Home arena Riverside Ice and Leisure Centre City Chelmsford, Essex, United Kingdom Colors Black, gold and white Owner(s) 
Derek BartlettHead coach Gary ClarkeCaptain 
Dwayne NewmanMinor league affiliates Chelmsford Warriors English National Ice Hockey League South (2) The Chelmsford Chieftains are an Ice Hockey team based in Chelmsford, Essex that are currently playing in the English National Ice Hockey League. Since the team was founded in 1987, the Chieftains have played their home games at the Riverside Ice and Leisure Centre.
Chelmsford played their first game against the Peterborough Titans in September 1987. They had been placed in the then "Heineken League Division Two", and successfully beat the Titans 11-4, with the first ever goal being scored by a young player called Stuart Steeves. It was his only goal that season.
After competing in the English Premier Ice Hockey League for nine seasons between 1998 and 2008, the Chelmsford Chieftains took a decision based largely upon finances to withdraw from the league at the end of the 2007/2008 season, and instead to enter the ENIHL. The hockey governing body in the UK, the EIHA , informed the club that they would be playing in Division 1 for the 2008/2009 season. However, at the league A.G.M., many of the clubs supported a motion to overturn the league's decision and the Chieftains were placed in Division 2. The Chieftains had already assembled a squad capable of playing in Division 1 and at such a late stage, the squad could not be rebuilt. The outcome was that the Chieftains started the season in a very strong position.
The Chieftains continued their domination of the ENL2 for the remainder of the 2008/09 season going the entire league season dropping just 1 point to Invicta Mustangs at the start of the season. From then until the end of the season the Chieftains won every single game with an average score of 8-2.
In 2009/10 they faced a much tougher test, but still managed to finish a respectable fourth with just champions Invicta Dynamos, Cardiff ENL Devils and Bracknell Hornets finishing above them. Although 4th place was disappointing to many, when you think that the Essex side was in fact 1 point from being in 2nd place and 7 points from being equal with the Dynamos, it was actually a very successful season. Onto the end of season playoffs and the Chieftains managed to come within 4 minutes of securing a place in the final against Bracknell Hornets, but went down in Essex to Whightlink Raiders but won the respect of every team in the league for their hard work and 'never say die' attitude.
2010-11 was a successful season for the Chieftains despite a tough start to the season with the refurbishment of the rink running over and delaying the start. Once things got underway the club made quick progress up the league and were soon in contention for top spot. It was neck and neck for much of the season and only in the final few weeks did the Wightlink Raiders cement their place at the top of the table and be declared champions. The Raiders had been the only side the Chieftains had failed to beat during the regular season and Birrell was keen to make sure that that didn't continue in the playoffs. A quarter final match up saw the Chieftains despatch the MK Thunder in a much tougher encounter than expected and then the Romford Raiders were the opponents in the semi-finals. Romford had had the pressure on the Chieftains throughout the season and almost caught them into second place, so it was always going to be a close match up. In a lively encounter, on and off the ice, the Chieftains came away with the spoils to set up the showdown everyone wanted to see - League Champions Wightlink Raiders V Runners-up Chelmsford Chieftains. In a massive shock, the Chieftains won the first leg on the Isle of Wight 4-2 and were in control of the tie, but knew they couldn't rest on their laurels as the second leg could still go either way.
No-one could have predicted the dominance of the Chieftains in the second leg and they ran out 5-1 winners in front of a crowd of over 1000 fans at the Riverside and sent the locals into a frenzy! The delight on the players faces was that of unbridled joy and happiness as silverware, in a tougher competition than the ENL2 season, had finally come back to the Essex capital.
2011-12 looks set to be a much much tougher campaign with all teams in the league improving and no game is a given, but on paper the Chieftains should be one of the favourites and there is definitely an air of expectation around Chelmsford to be up there challenging for the double.
The Chieftains after their ENL1 South play-off win over Wightlink Raiders.
At the conclusion of the season Dean Birrell announced he would be moving upstairs to a new role of Director of Coaching in Chelmsford which would oversee the coaching of the Chieftains and Warriors. Taking his place would be MK Lightning forward Gary Clarke who takes over from the Scot in a player-coach role for the 2011-12 campaign.
The mantra of the club is very much "Local players" and this is reflected in the current make-up of the team. Each season more and more young players are making the step from the junior system to the seniors either directly with the Chieftains or with their ENL2 side the Warriors. This season Rory Garrett has stepped up full time and other youngsters will be getting ice time with the Warriors and possibly Chieftains.
Trophies won:
1989 Essex Cup
1990/91 Autumn Trophy
1992/93 British League Entry Playoffs
1996/97 Essex/Kent Cup
1997 Essex Cup
1999/00 English League Premier Division Playoffs
1999/00 Data Vision Millenium Cup
1999/00 English League Premier Division 2008/09 English National League South Division 2
2010/11 English National League South Division 1 Playoffs
Runners up in major competitions excluding league:
1996/97 Playoff finalists
1997/98 Playoff finalists
1995/96 Autumn Trophy Finalists
2010/11 English National League South Division 1
LEAGUE HISTORY:Season Name of League Final Position # of teams Played Won Lost Drawn OT Win OT Loss Goals For Goals Against Goal Difference Points 1987/88 British League Div 2 2nd 14 26 19 6 1 0 0 201 107 94 39 1988/89 English First Div 5th 8 28 10 15 3 0 0 148 153 -5 23 1989/90 English First Div 3rd 7 24 15 6 3 0 0 222 140 82 33 1990/91 English First Div 3rd 8 28 17 9 2 0 0 269 213 56 36 1991/92 English First Div 8th 9 32 15 14 3 0 0 277 276 1 33 1992/93 English League Conference B 2nd 6 32 22 7 3 0 0 357 168 189 47 1993/94 British League Div 1 South 8th 8 44 10 32 2 0 0 260 374 -114 22 1994/95 British League Div 1 10th 12 44 10 30 4 0 0 274 404 -130 24 1995/96 British League Div 1 10th 14 52 16 31 5 0 0 267 377 -110 37 1996/97 English League Div 1 South 2nd 12 22 18 3 1 0 0 175 51 124 37 1997/98 English League Div 1 South 2nd 11 20 16 3 1 0 0 187 69 118 33 1998/99 English League Prem Div 4th 9 32 14 14 4 0 0 195 181 14 32 1999/00 English League Prem Div 1st 5 24 19 4 1 0 0 138 85 53 39 2000/01 English National Prem League 2nd 9 32 23 7 2 0 0 203 106 97 48 2001/02 English National League South 5th 10 18 10 5 3 0 0 100 72 28 23 2002/03 English National Prem League 5th 12 42 24 12 6 0 0 245 170 75 54 2003/04 English Premier Ice Hockey League 4th 9 32 18 11 3 0 0 211 149 62 39 2004/05 English Premier Ice Hockey League 7th 9 32 10 14 8 0 0 128 130 -2 28 2005/06 English Premier Ice Hockey League 11th 13 48 10 33 5 0 0 149 284 -135 25 2006/07 English Premier Ice Hockey League 8th 12 44 20 21 3 0 0 194 184 10 43 2007/08 English Premier Ice Hockey League 9th 11 40 12 24 0 1 3 151 189 -38 29 2008/09 English National League Two South 1st 9 32 31 0 1 0 0 282 67 215 63 2009/10 English National League One South 4th 10 36 23 6 7 0 0 213 89 124 52 2010/11 English National League One South 2nd 11 40 28 4 8 0 0 253 101 152 64 2011/12 Squad[1]
Goaltenders Number Player 35 Ben Clements 30 David Wride Defencemen Number Player 10 Alex Green 17 Alex Staples 21 Sean Easton 28 Danny Wright (A) 05 Ruraidgh Garrett 22 Dwayne Newman (C) 04 Danny Cox 03 Tom Avery Forwards Number Player 11 Darren Brown 15 Ross Brears 19 Danny Hammond 71 Tom Long (A) 77 Nathanael Williams 91 James Ayling 41 Connor Stokes 16 Alan Green 14 Gary Clarke 26 
Jakub Klima 25 Michael Ranby References
Categories:- Ice hockey teams in England
- Sport in Essex
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