What a difference a year makes! Just 12 months ago, Telford Tigers were sitting comfortably in a play-off slot, having hit the top of the English Premier League a few weeks before.

However, just a month into 2009 the team’s season went awry following the shock departure of import Jason Cassells and, after being let down by potential replacements, Tigers failed to make the end of year competition.

To make matters worse, the season ended with the owners standing down and no new management coming forward – meaning Telford have no team in the Premier league this year.

Tigers might have been forgiven for thinking that actually playing the season was going to be the easy part, after the emotional roller-coaster of a major sponsor pulling out just days before the start of the 2008-9 league campaign.

Fans and local businesses – led by title sponsors GM Heating and Plumbing – had rallied to retain the quality squad signed by coach Claude Dumas, and their faith looked like being rewarded as the strongest Tigers side in years cruised to the top of the league.

But the loss of Cassells to Elite League Edinburgh saw them slide back down the table, despite some stellar performances from the likes of Marek Hornak, James Knight, Tom Carlon and Daniel MacKriel.

Game of the year must have been the astonishing comeback from 3-0 down against Peterborough Phantoms, the Tigers putting eight unanswered goals past the eventual triple champions in two of the best periods of ice hockey seen at Telford since the relaunch of the Tigers in 2005.

As the season ended, with Tigers missing out on a play-off place, the team and supporters gathered for the familiar end-of-year presentations, only to be hit by the devastating news that owners David and Rachel Candlin were stepping down after six years in charge.

Dedicated

Over that time, the Candlins – with Dumas – had

created a financially sound club, with a strong network of small sponsors, faithful

supporters and dedicated volunteers. The team had proved that even a small-

budget operation could be competitive and offer the kind of professional sporting entertainment fans were looking for.

However, having got

married the previous autumn, the couple were ready to concentrate on their own lives and careers, and announced the club was seeking new management.

Although a number of interested parties came forward, a hoped-for deal fell through, leaving Tigers without anyone in charge and no option but to mothball the team.

Fans Mike Dixon and Andy Phillips took matters into their own hands and began to investigate whether a supporters’ trust – like that of AFC Telford United – could run a Tigers team.

A summer of meetings with Supporters Direct, league and rink representatives, culminated in a public meeting at Telford Ice Rink in November, where fans voted overwhelmingly to create a trust – enabling an elected committee to manage the club next season.

The idea has received support from the local business community, including many of last year’s sponsors, from across the political spectrum, and from many of the trusts already in operation. Early indications are also strong that the EPL would welcome a re-application to the league from Tigers.

Latest news is that the registration papers have been lodged and a launch party is expected to be announced in January, when fans will get to sign up as members of the Tigers Trust, to safeguard the future of the team next season and beyond.

Here’s hoping that a year on, ice hockey fans in Shropshire will be back at Telford ice rink, supporting a Tigers team that is owned and managed by the fans themselves.

By Caroline Garbett