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Tuesday, 12 November, 2002, 09:47 GMT
Storm sink as cash bid fails
Emergency measures failed to save Manchester Storm
Fans of Manchester Storm ice hockey club have failed in their attempt to keep the team in the Ice Hockey Superleague for the remainder of the season. Following the collapse of the club last week, an emergency appeal was launched to try to raise £100,000 to keep the team afloat. A committee - the Friends of Manchester Ice Hockey - was set up to try to save the club from extinction. Although supporters pledged more than £50,000, it was not enough to keep the club alive in the short term. "It was felt that while the response was overwhelming, it did not give a clear mandate to pursue ISL hockey for the remainder of the 2002/03 season," the committee said. Instead, the Friends have set a new target of bringing top level ice hockey back to Manchester in time for the 2003 season.
The Ice Hockey Superleague greeted news of the failure of the Storm rescue bid with a mixture "of disappointment and relief". "All ISL clubs would have preferred to have another club to continue their fixtures," said ISL chief administration officer, Brian Storey. "But it also recognised that the risk of that club collapsing again before the end of this season would do nothing to attract fans and sponsors, and would almost certainly have consigned the rest of the ISL clubs to a premature end this season." Storey also confirmed that a radical re-structuring of British ice hockey was in the offing. "ISL has recognised for some time that with only seven clubs it was on borrowed time," he said. "The ISL clubs are now looking to the future in order to preserve what they perceive to be the essential elements to attract fans coupled with a structure with strong links to grass roots hockey. "Without these key elements the sport will continue to struggle from crisis to crisis."
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