2015–16 Bracknell Bees season

During the 2015-16 season, the Bracknell Bees participated in the semi-professional English Premier Ice Hockey League.

Due to an issue with the ice at the John Nike Leisure Centre the home game against Peterborough Phantoms on Saturday 31 October 2015 was postponed. It was re-scheduled for Thursday 26 November 2015 with a 7:45pm faceoff. The club addressed the issue on the official website stating "While a mid-week game is not an ideal option for either team or the fans, this date is unfortunately the only viable date available for both teams and the rink."

Towards the end of November the club released a statement regarding speculation over the clubs short, medium and long term viability. The club revealed that the season’s finances have been severely affected by a number of factors including the fact that season ticket sales were down 20% on the previous season. The club also listed the fact that the first temporary closure of the ice rink due to plant failure at the beginning of the season also had a negative affect, with the pre-season games being played at an alternative venue, the projected loss of expected match night ticket sales and match night fund raising came to around £8,000.

The incorrectly manufactured shirts supplied for the season took a long time to resolve and hampered sales of replica shirts. The second temporary closure of the ice rink also meant a loss of incoming cash. Between 24 October and 15 November, the club received £441 in match night ticket sales and £800 in match night fund raising. During this period the salary and rink rental costs alone amount to over £28,000. The ice contract in place requires an upfront payment at the start of the season equivalent to four weeks with the remaining payments being spread across the remainder of the season with payments ending at the end of February 2016.

In the statement the club also pointed out that the fixture scheduling sees a third of the season’s home games being played in the last seven weeks of the season. Due to all the aforementioned issues the club had encountered severe difficulty in meeting its weekly and monthly salary obligation in October and admitted that it was likely they'd struggle to meeting the salary obligations in line with agreed payment dates for November and December. The club finished the press release saying "The challenges we are faced with this season are challenging but not insurmountable. We remain with the objective of taking this club into the Elite League where it rightfully belongs"

The club had further financial problems which led to an away game at the Hull Pirates on Friday 4 March 2016 to be postponed. The club blamed it on "complications with travel arrangements". A fans forum was held on Monday 7 March at 7.30pm in Honies Restaurant at The Hive where chairman Andrew Cross and general manager Ben Beeching who operate under the name of Precision Sports Marketing (PSM), spoke about the short and long-term future of the club. They discussed plans to set the club up as a charity model which would allow the ownership of the club to be expanded. They also revealed the club was £74,000 short of their top-end expectations for the season and confirmed that the club owed at least £9,000 in unpaid wages.

The club appealed to fans for assistance in raising funds to facilitate the teams coach travel for the final game of the season against the Manchester Phoenix. The required total of £1,295 was met by donations and the Bees ended up with a 6-2 road win to end the campaign.

Ticketing

Standings

English Premier League

[**] EPIHL League Champions. [*] Secured play-off berth

Schedule And Results

Pre-season

The pre-season schedule would start with a series against the reigning League & Cup champions, the Telford Tigers. The Bees hosted the Tigers at The Hive on Saturday 29 August 2015, before making the trip north for the second game of the series on Sunday 30 August 2015.

The Bracknell Bees pre-season would also see the continuation of the traditional M4 Derby Classic series match-ups against the Swindon Wildcats. The Bees travelled to face the Wildcats at the Link Centre on Saturday 5 September 2015 (face off 5.45pm) before hosting Swindon back at The Hive on Sunday 6 September 2015 (face off 6pm) in the second game of the two match series.

Regular Season

External links

• Official Bracknell Bees website

References

Ice hockey in the United Kingdom
Elite League	Belfast Giants Braehead Clan Cardiff Devils Coventry Blaze Dundee Stars Edinburgh Capitals Fife Flyers Manchester Storm Nottingham Panthers Sheffield Steelers
English Premier League	Basingstoke Bison Bracknell Bees Guildford Flames Hull Pirates Manchester Phoenix Milton Keynes Lightning Peterborough Phantoms Sheffield Steeldogs Swindon Wildcats Telford Tigers
National League	Altrincham Aces Basingstoke Buffalo Billingham Stars Blackburn Hawks Bracknell Hornets Bradford Bulldogs Bristol Pitbulls Cardiff Devils 1 Cardiff Devils 2 Chelmsford Chieftains Chelmsford Warriors Coventry Blaze Deeside Dragons Fylde Flyers Grimsby Red Wings Haringey Greyhounds Invicta Dynamos Invicta Mustangs Kingston Jets Lancashire Raptors Lee Valley Lions London Raiders Milton Keynes Thunder Nottingham Lions Oxford City Stars Peterborough Islanders Romford Fury Sheffield Spartans Slough Harrier Hawks Solent Devils Solihull Barons Solway Sharks Streatham Redskins Streatham Bruins Swindon Wildcats Sutton Sting Whitley Warriors Wightlink Buccaneers
Scottish National League	Aberdeen Lynx Dundee Comets Dundee Tigers Edinburgh Capitals (SNL) Kilmarnock Storm Kirkcaldy Kestrels North Ayr Wild Paisley Pirates Solway Sharks
British University Teams	Anglia Ruskin Rangers Birmingham Eagles Bradford Sabres Bristol Lions Cambridge Blues Cardiff Redhawks Durham Knights Edinburgh Eagles Huddersfield Ice Hawks Hull Ice Hogs Imperial College Devils Kent Knights Universities Of London Dragons Manchester Metros Newcastle Wildcats Northumbria Flames Nottingham Mavericks Oxford University Ice Hockey Club Sheffield Bears Southampton Spitfires St Andrews Typhoons Surrey Sharks UCL Yetis UEA Avalanche Warwick Panthers
Womens Premier League	Bracknell Queen Bees Guildford Lightning Kingston Diamonds A Milton Keynes Falcons Sheffield Shadows A Slough Phantoms Solihull Vixens Streatham Storm A Swindon TopCats A
Womens Ice Hockey League Division One	Basingstoke Bison Ladies Billingham Wildcats Blackburn Thunder Bracknell Fire Bees Cardiff Comets Chelmsford Cobras Coventry Phoenix Ivicta Dynamics Kingston Diamonds B Nottingham Vipers Oxford Stars Peterborough Penguins Sheffield Shadows B Solent and Gosport Amazons Streatham Storm B Telford Wrekin Raiders Whitley Squaws
Governing bodies	English Ice Hockey Association Ice Hockey UK Northern Ireland Ice Hockey Association Scottish Ice Hockey
Competitions	League Championship Playoff Championship Challenge Cup Knockout Cup Northern League Varsity Match
Player awards	Alan Weeks Trophy Best British Forward British Netminder of the Year Coach of the Year Trophy Ice Hockey Annual Trophy Player of the Year Trophy Vic Batchelder Memorial Award
Defunct leagues and competitions	British Ice Hockey Association Ahearne Cup Autumn Cup British Hockey League British National League (1954–1960) British National League (1996–2005) English League English League North English National League Ice Hockey Superleague Inter-City League Northern League Scottish National League Scottish Premier Hockey League Southern League
Defunct teams	Ayr Bruins Ayr Scottish Eagles Brighton Tigers Castlereagh Knights Dundee Rockets Durham Wasps Earls Court Rangers Harringay Greyhounds Harringay Racers Hull Stingrays Hull Thunder Humberside Seahawks London Canadians London Lions London Knights London Racers Medway Bears Milton Keynes Kings Murrayfield Racers Newcastle Jesters Newcastle Vipers Niagara Ice Hockey Club Oxford Blades Peterborough Pirates Princes Ice Hockey Club Richmond Flyers Sheffield Lancers Sheffield Scimitars Southampton Vikings Sunderland Chiefs Swindon TopCats B TDC Northern Stars Telford Tigers ENL Telford Titans Wembley Lions Wembley Monarchs Wightlink Raiders Wightlink Tigers
Miscellaneous	Great Britain men's national ice hockey team Great Britain women's national ice hockey team British Ice Hockey Hall of Fame Ice Hockey Journalists UK IHSAUK
Related IIHF IIHF Continental Cup IIHF European Champions Cup