The Solihull Barons are an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

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 h ...

team from the town of

Solihull Solihull (, or ) is a market town and the administrative centre of the wider Metropolitan Borough of Solihull in West Midlands County, England. The town had a population of 126,577 at the 2021 Census. Solihull is situated on the River Blyth ...

who play at Solihull Ice Rink on Hobs Moat Road. The current team, which is the third incarnation of the Barons, was formed in 2005; they are named after the original team of the same name who were formed in 1965, and played at the same ice rink between 1972 until 2000; when they moved to

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a city in the West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed b ...

and became

Coventry Blaze Coventry Blaze are an ice hockey team based in Coventry, England. They currently compete in the British Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL) and play their home games at SkyDome Arena. The club was founded in 1965 as the ''Solihull Barons'' and ren ...

History

Previous incarnations

Solihull Barons won the Southern League in 1977-78 and the English league in 1992-93. Canadian Rick Fera played for the original Solihull Barons in the 1987-88 season. In 1996 the team rebranded themselves as "Solihull Blaze"; and in 2000 they moved from Solihull's Blue Ice Plaza to Coventry's

SkyDome Arena Coventry Skydome is a 3,000-seat multi-purpose arena in Coventry, England. History Ice Hockey The arena is the current home of Elite League ice hockey franchise the Coventry Blaze. Ice Skating The arena hosts classes from the Inter ...

; rebranding themselves again as "Coventry Blaze". As this left Solihull without an ice hockey team for the first time since 1965, the Barons were reformed and returned to their original arena; which had benefited from a much needed overhaul. Unfortunately, the £1.8m refurbishment delayed by vandals; leaving the venue operators' with a £75,000 damage repair bill, and the grand re-opening was put back until mid-October 2000. Despite the newly-improved playing facility the club struggled to survive in the English Premier Ice Hockey League and ultimately dissolved again just two years later in 2002. They were initially replaced by the Milton Keynes Kings; who moved to Solihull from their home town due to a dispute with the owners' of their own arena, and who re-branded themselves the "Solihull MK Kings" to demonstrate the fact that they were now representing both Solihull and Milton Keynes in ice hockey. Once again however, the team dissolved; having played for just a single season of hockey in the British National League before folding. Following the closure of the Solihull MK Kings, a new "Solihull Kings" team was created and placed back in the EPIHL; but once again this team folded; collapsing after two seasons in 2007.

Current team

The current Solihull Barons team was formed in 2005, and played their first two seasons in the EPIHL. At the end of the 2006-07 season they dropped down to the English National Ice Hockey League (ENIHL). The Barons currently compete in Northern Division One; known as the "Moralee Conference". The team hold charity games for

Birmingham Children's Hospital Birmingham Children's Hospital is a specialist children's hospital located in Birmingham, England. The hospital provides a range of specialist services and operates the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) for the city. The servi ...

Club roster 2022-23

(*) Denotes a Non-British Trained player (Import)

2021/22 Outgoing

Honours

* English National Ice Hockey League North Division 2 champions: 2010-2011 * English National Ice Hockey League Laidler Division champions: 2013-2014 * English National Ice Hockey League Laidler Division champions: 2014-2015 * English National Ice Hockey League Laidler Play-Off champions: 2014-2015 * English National Ice Hockey League Midland Cup: 2019-2020TC Cars Solihull Barons – Blackburn Hawks
solihull-barons.net, 16 February 2020

References

{{British ice hockey Ice hockey teams in England Sport in the West Midlands (county)