Great Britain

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is an island country in Northern Europe. London is the capital and largest city.

History of hockey in Great Britain
In the 1600's, skates with medal blades were introduced to Britain from the Dutch. Modern games of ice hockey were first played in Great Britain in the late 1800's. In 1976, the country's first indoor ice rink was opened in London. The first official games in Europe took place between the universities of Cambridge and Oxford in 1885 in St. Moritz, Switzerland. The first national league, held during the 1903-04 season, consisted of five teams. The first games of ice hockey took place in Scotland in 1909.

On November 19, 1908, Great Britain joined the Ligue Internationale de Hockey Sur Glace (the present day IIHF) as a founding member. The British Ice Hockey Association was founded in 1913, and was the governing body of British hockey until it was taken over by Ice Hockey UK in 1999.

Prior to the formation of the British National League, England and Scotland each had their own competitions. The English League was founded in 1931 with the Scottish National League being formed a year later. The majority of English League clubs left to form the English National League in 1935, leading the disbandment of the English League at the end of the 1935–36 season. The Scottish National League and English National League both continued until 1954. In that year the decision was taken to amalgamate the two leagues into one. The new competition initially fielded 12 sides in its inaugural season, four from England and eight from Scotland. The Dunfermline Vikings withdrew from the league in early 1955 and at the end of the season six of the seven remaining Scottish sides withdrew, leaving the league with five members. This fell to four following the closure of Harringay Arena in 1958 but increased again to five in 1959 following the admission of Streatham. The league was disbanded following the 1959–60 season.

Following the closure of the British National League, no league competition took place in the United Kingdom for the next six years. Instead clubs, some of which did not have a home rink, participated in rink tournaments. In 1966 the Northern League was formed. This league was made up of teams from Scotland and North East England and was the country's only league for four years. The Southern League was established in 1970 and was divided into the English League North and Inter-City League in 1978. The British Hockey League was formed in 1982 with the Premier Division being launched a season later. There has been a British league continuously since then, although there have been three different organizations and the number of teams taking part has varied from twelve between 1993 and 1995 to five in 2002–03. The current Elite Ice Hockey League was established in 2003.

The British Championship is the most prestigious ice hockey cup competition in the country, and also the longest established ice hockey competition. It has been run under various formats and titles since 1930 and contested annually since 1966. It was originally known as the Patton Cup, then the Icy Smith Cup, the Heineken Championship and latterly as the Sekonda Playoff Championship. Some contests were only recognized as representing the Championship retroactively.

In its current format, the eight highest placed teams in the Elite Ice Hockey League contest quarter finals, the winners going on to semi finals and then the deciding one-leg final.

The men's national team, represented by Prince's Ice Hockey Club, first appeared on the international scene in 1909, winning the first Coupe de Chamonix. In 1910, they played in the first European Championship, winning the gold medal. They also played in the European Championships in 1926 and 1932, finishing in fourth and seventh place respectively. At the combined European Championships, they won the gold medal three times, the silver medal twice, and the bronze medal once. They first appeared at the Olympic Games in 1924, winning the bronze medal. They played in the Olympics four times between then and 1948, their only four appearances to date. Undoubtedly Great Britain's greatest success in international hockey was in 1936, when they won the gold medal at the Olympics. They made played in the first World Championship held in 1930, finishing tied for 10th place. They won silver at the World Championships in 1937 and 1938, and bronze in 1935. The country has not appeared in the top division of the World Championships since 1994, and prior to that they had not appeared in the top division since 1962.

The women's national team participated in the Women's European Championship Qualification tournament in 1989, losing both games to the Netherlands by a score of 4-2. They played in the Women's European Championships five times between 1989 and 1996, finishing as high as ninth in 1991. They played in the Women's World Championship Qualification tournament in 1999 and 2000, and made their debut at the Women's World Championships in 2001, finishing second in Division II. The women's national team has never qualified for the Olympic Games.

The junior national team first appeared at the World Junior Championships in 1984, finishing sixth in Pool C. They have only played in the lower divisions of the world juniors.