Mothball

This morning, Manchester Phoenix have announced that we're to withdraw from competition for one season.

Now, many people will see this as a large blow for the fledgling club - only one year in and were looking at putting the team into mothballs for a whole season?! Surely not?!

Ah but this time there's a damn good reason. The last time we saw a break in the hockey timeline in Manchester it was when Gary Cowan took the decision to fold Manchester Storm, a decision that took away several years of hockey history and a lot of fan money at the same time. The future looked bleak, there was nothing on the horizon until we put together the foundations of what became Friends Of Manchester Ice Hockey (formerly Friends Of Manchester Storm) and set off along the road that took us to the formation of Manchester Phoenix, fulfilling the first publicly stated aim of FOMIH.

The second aim is now on the horizon. The second aim is to secure an ice facility for Manchester, and by that we mean an ice facility for the people of Manchester. With the closure of the Altrincham rink last year, Manchester lost one of its great resources.

I learned to skate at Altrincham, inspired to do so by the Storm. I helped form a hockey team at Altrincham, a team aimed at giving adults a chance to have a go at ice hockey - the Aardvarx, a team that now resides at the Blackburn Arena, giving me a round trip of 150 miles every training session...

In one year's time we will have a place of our own. Manchester Phoenix will have a permanent home, a 3000 seater rink that won't be governed by concerts and events. It will be underpinned by public skating, by junior development, and by an Elite League team playing in its own barn at its own chosen times in front of some of the best fans the Elite League has seen. That's not to disrespect other team's fans, but you've got to admit that Phoenix fans have set the bar in terms of staunchness, dedication and sheer single-mindedness of purpose. These are the fans who, when faced with the two options presented at the Town Hall meeting this Tuesday, voted with their heads instead of their hearts, which has to be one of the gutsiest moves in the history of Mancunian ice hockey. The decision to mothball for a year and see no Phoenix team on the ice in order to safeguard the future of the team, as opposed to playing on the road and risking it all, was a decision that had to be made and it had to be the fans that made it.

Personally I'm gutted that I won't be cheering a Phoenix team on this season, I won't be sharing the mic with Mike up in the FanZone, I won't be filling in for Vince when he can't make it, I won't be whupping Mike at Bobsled Challenge, and I won't be spending every match surrounded by the Phoenix fans young and old. But I'm also very excited by the prospect of our new rink. I've even given it a nickname already - Manchester Square Gardens. Even though the official name is yet to be decided, I think I'll refer to it as that for now!

So what do we do now? What do 'Landers and the Rev with Carl The Producer And The Guru Samaru Who Also Works As George Michael's Stunt Double' do now?

It's business as usual.

As one of our astute fans has pointed out on the official forum, we now have fifteen months to get it right, fifteen months to prepare for the opening night of the Phoenix in the 2005-2006 season. So that's what we're doing. But we're also looking at what we can do with and for the fans this season. FOMIH's Travel Coordinator Mag Pullen has already getting her plans into gear to try to get as many Phoenix fans as possible to a variety of hockey matches up and down the country this season - we may be nomads but we're still hockey nomads - and I'm sure that there will still be plenty of social events for us all to proudly keep the Phoenix flag flying.

We've even already had a few ideas for this season's Play-Offs, wherever they may be.....