The Durham Wasps were an

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

team located in

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county * Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...

and was one of

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

's most well-known names in

. The team was bought by Sir John Hall and moved to the neighbouring city of

Newcastle Upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

in August 1996. The Newcastle team, after several changes became known as the

Newcastle Jesters The Newcastle Jesters were an ice hockey sports franchising, franchise based in Newcastle Upon Tyne, England. The team were members of the Ice Hockey Superleague and played their home games at the Telewest Arena (now the Metro Radio Arena). Hi ...

The History of the Wasps

The Durham Wasps began their prosperous start to hockey just after the war, and were started by Michael Davey of

Ottawa, Ontario Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

, Canada, along with a few other Canadians, who after the war made their homes in Durham. Ice hockey remained popular in the sixties and seventies, but it exploded with popularity between the eighties and nineties, and the period from around 1982 to 1992 was one to remember for the Wasps. In this period alone they won the Heineken Championship four times, the league championship six times, the Norwich Cup three times, and other trophies like the Autumn and Castle Eden Cups on many other occasions. The Durham Wasps dominated the British League for over 10 years. There was an intense local rivalry with both the

Whitley Warriors Whitley Warriors are an ice hockey team based in Whitley Bay in the north east of England. Founded in 1957 as the Bees, they changed their name to Whitley Warriors in 1964. Warriors played at the highest level of British ice hockey for much of ...

and the

Billingham Bombers The Billingham Stars are an ice hockey team from the town of Billingham in the borough of Stockton-on-Tees in County Durham. They are currently members of the National Ice Hockey League playing in its Moralee Conference. The Stars play their ho ...

. It was a golden period for hockey in the North East with derby matches against the Warriors often resulting in crowds which exceeded the stated capacity of the rink by a considerable margin. With the rise of teams such as the Cardiff Devils and

Sheffield Steelers The Sheffield Steelers are a professional ice hockey team located in Sheffield, England. They were formed in 1991 (see 1991 in sport) and play their home games at the Utilita Arena. They are currently a member of the Elite Ice Hockey League. ...

, the Wasps started to struggle to fund a competitive team. At the same time, the rink was in need of significant investment. Around this time,

John Hall John Hall may refer to: Academics * John Hall (NYU President) (fl. c. 1890), American academic * John A. Hall (born 1949), sociology professor at McGill University, Montreal * John F. Hall (born 1951), professor of classics at Brigham Young Unive ...

, then owner of

Newcastle United Football Club Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

, laid plans to form a centre of sporting excellence in Newcastle. As part of this he purchased the team with the intention of moving them to a new ice rink in Newcastle. In the meanwhile, the team temporarily played out of the Crowtree Leisure Centre in

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

. This proved very divisive amongst Wasps fans with many to this day refusing to watch ice hockey in Newcastle. A replacement team was established in Durham called the Durham City Wasps who played in the English League. This featured some players who the new Wasps owners decided not to retain, as well as players from the junior teams. Unfortunately the team only lasted one season before the costs of maintaining the rink came to a head and the rink was sold to be redeveloped. The plans for a new rink in Newcastle came to nothing so a deal was made which resulted in the Whitley Warriors being evicted from the

Telewest Arena The Utilita Arena Newcastle (formerly the Newcastle Arena, Telewest Arena and Metro Radio Arena) is a large indoor arena in the city of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Owned and operated by ASM Global and sponsored by Utilita Energy, it hosts m ...

to make way for the team. After a season of playing out of Crowtree, Wasps were taken to Newcastle and renamed the

Newcastle Cobras The Newcastle Jesters were an ice hockey franchise based in Newcastle Upon Tyne, England. The team were members of the Ice Hockey Superleague and played their home games at the Telewest Arena (now the Metro Radio Arena). History Single Season ...

. In the next few years they changed owners and names from the Cobras, to the Riverkings, to the Jesters, however, the franchise folded soon after. A new unrelated team, the

Newcastle Vipers From 2002–2011 the Newcastle Vipers were an ice hockey club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. The club was a member of the Elite Ice Hockey League, and the British National League. History Predecessors Previously, the city was repre ...

were founded in 2002 to keep the city's ice hockey heritage alive, but due to low crowds and problems getting regular ice time at the Arena, in November 2010 the Vipers were forced to move in with the 'old enemy' and play for part of their final season out of the Hillheads rink in Whitley Bay. It proved impossible to keep the team going and the 2010/11 season was the last featuring a Newcastle team.

Revival Games

Originally a one-off game, former Durham Wasps players from the 80s and 90s reformed to play former local rivals

on 4 May 2008 at Whitley Bay Ice Rink, commemorating the 60th anniversary of the formation of the club, and in support of the ongoing campaign to bring back an ice rink. Over 2,300 fans turned up to witness this encounter which saw Wasps players icing once again including the Johnson brothers, Mario Belanger, Ivor Bennett, Stephen Foster, John Hutley and Karl Walker. The reformed Wasps team won the game 8–4. A second 'Legends' game was played with Whitley Warriors, Sunday 6 May 2012, again at Whitley Bay, and in memory of former Durham Wasps manager Kenny Swinburne. The Wasps won 5–2 with Mario Belanger scoring within 30 seconds in the first period.

Honours

Heineken Premier League Champions *1985, 1986, 1989, 1991, 1992 Heineken British Championship Winners *1987, 1988, 1991, 1992 Autumn Cup Winners *1984, 1988, 1989, 1991 Castle Eden Cup Winners *1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995.

External links

Videos of Durham Wasps
YouTube {{British ice hockey Ice hockey teams in England Sport in Durham, England Ice hockey clubs established in 1947 Sports clubs disestablished in 1996