The Oxford City Stars are an ice hockey team based in Oxford, Oxfordshire, England.The team was founded in 1984. They currently play in the NIHL South Division 1 at Oxford Ice Rink, Oxford.
History The British Hockey League (1984–1996) The Oxford City Stars made their debut in 1984 and had an instant impact winning the BHL Division 2 (Midlands) as well as the post season playoffs and moved into the BHL Division 1 where they were unable to repeat their success, succumbing to a 9th placed finish in their first season. The following season would see them finish 15th and return to the BHL Division 2. They would however endure more success in the 1990–91 and 1995-96 seasons as they claimed First Place, but nothing in the post season.
The Turbulent Years (1996–2000) After the formation of the National Ice Hockey League in 1996, the Oxford City Stars were placed in the Division One South where the finished 6th and failed to qualify for the Playoffs. The following season due to issues with the Ice Rink, they moved to Swindon under the guise of Swindon Chill. The 1998-99 season saw the Stars return under the name of Oxford Blades, losing all 32 games in a dismal season with only worse to come as they folded midway during the 1999-2000 season.
ENHL Years (2001–2012) The City Stars returned to the ENHL for the 2000-2001 season and would endure mid range results over the coming years, finishing in highs of 2nd and lows of 9th with one quarter final playoff appearance as the highlight of the performances.
NIHL Years (2012–present) The Oxford City Stars found traction in the newly formed National Ice Hockey League where they won the Southern Division 2 Title back to back in 2012-13 and 2013-14 with no Playoffs being played. The Stars struggled the following season in Division 1 garnering just 7 wins from 36 games on their way to a 9th place finish. They picked up the following year finishing 4th and losing in the Quarter Finals of the Playoffs. The Stars would then return to Division 2 for the next 3 seasons, picking up One League Title in the 2017-18 season.
Covid Pandemic in Ice Hockey (2019–2021) In late 2019/early 2020 the World was rocked by the emergence of a respiratory disease across the world eventually dubbed the COVID-19 pandemic, which affected the world in a major way as governments struggled to control the outbreak. The Stars were due to play the Invicta Dynamos but the visiting team cancelled due to a positive test amongst the team. Shortly after this the Government announced that measures would be taken to contain the outbreak including the cancellation of all sporting events as well as other measures. Thus the 2019 Season was incomplete and halted and the post-season was cancelled as well. The outbreak would go on to claim the 2020-21 season too.
Returning to Hockey (2021–present) After the culmination of Covid19, the League announced the 2021 season would go ahead as planned. The Stars had moved back into the NIHL South Division 1 at this point and the season would commence with 9 teams due to the closure of the John Nike Leisure Complex, home of the Bracknell Hornets who since folded. The Stars struggled in their return to action, finishing 8th of 9 with just 18 points and an elimination in the Quarter Finals of the Playoffs
Club roster 2024–25 (*) Denotes a non-British trained player (Import) NetmindersNo.Nat.PlayerCatchesDate of birthPlace of birthAcquired Contract31 Ross Miller L Penarth, Wales 201924/2533 Morgan Parsons ? Wales 2024 from Basingstoke Buffalo24/25
DefencemenNo.Nat.PlayerShootsDate of birthPlace of birthAcquiredContract4 Charlie Roche R Oxford, England 202123/249 Christopher Cooke R Guildford, England 202124/2591 Casey Wilson ? England 2024 from Streatham Blackhawks24/5
ForwardsNo.Nat.PlayerShootsDate of birthPlace of birthAcquiredContract8 Jake Williams R Oxford, 202024/2518 Aidan McGurk R England 202324/2551 Jack Peacock R England 2024 from Solent Devils24/2561 Will Birch R England 2024 from Basingstoke Buffalo24/25
Team StaffNo.Nat.NameAcquiredRolePlace of birthJoined from Mark Saunders 2024 Head coach Kingston-Upon-Thames, England Streatham Blackhawks Darren Elliott 2012/13 Assistant coach Oxford, England Jo Mundy 2018/19 General Manager England
Honours British Division 2 (South) Champions – 1984/85, 1990/91, 1995/96 British Division 2 Playoff Champions – 1984/85 National Ice Hockey League, Division 2 (South) Champions – 2012/13, 2017–18 English National League Runners-up – 2003/04, 2004/05 English National League Cup Runners-up – 2003/04 National Championship Trophy 2017/18
Retired jersey numbers 11 - Paul Linton 16 - Alan Green
Season-by-season record
Oxford City Stars season-by-season record Season Notes League GP W L OTL PTS GF GA League Pos. Postseason 1984–85 BHL Division 2 (Midlands) 12 11 0 1 23 164 24 1st Champions 1985–86 BHL Division 1 22 5 17 2 10 150 229 9th No playoffs 1986–87 BHL Division 1 30 5 23 2 12 214 346 15th No playoffs 1987–88 BHL Division 2 26 16 10 0 32 241 154 7th No playoffs 1988–89 BHL Division 2 28 20 6 2 42 368 225 3rd No playoffs 1989–90 BHL Division 2 24 11 11 2 24 195 178 4th Group stage 1990–91 BHL Division 2 28 23 5 0 46 242 111 1st Group stage 1991–92 BHL Division 2 32 17 13 2 36 284 221 4th No playoffs 1992–93 BHL Division 2 (Group A) 32 11 20 1 23 234 352 5th DNQ 1993–94 BHL Division 1 (North) 44 1 41 2 4 222 743 8th DNQ 1994–95 BHL Division 2 (South) 22 11 9 2 24 148 119 5th DNQ 1995–96 BHL Division 2 (South) 22 21 1 0 42 215 168 1st SF Loss 1996–97 English League Division One (South) 22 10 12 0 20 174 114 6th DNQ 1997–98# as Oxford Chill English League Division One (South) NA NA 1998–99 as Oxford Blades English League Premier Division 32 0 32 0 0 100 410 9th DNQ 1999–00* as Oxford Blades English League Premier Division NA NA 2000–01 ENHL Southern Conference 14 9 5 0 104 72 18 4th Group stage 2001–02 ENHL Southern Conference 18 12 6 0 110 75 24 4th DNQ 2003–04 ENHL Southern Conference 16 12 3 1 132 62 25 2nd Group stage 2004–05 ENHL Southern Conference 18 13 3 2 123 77 28 2nd Group stage 2005–06 ENL Southern Conference 20 9 1 10 97 94 19 7th DNQ 2006–07 ENIHL Southern Conference 22 13 8 1 118 98 27 4th Group stage 2007–08 ENIHL Southern Conference (Division A) 16 11 4 1 101 57 23 3rd DNQ 2008–09 ENIHL Division One (South) 28 14 9 5 116 101 33 3rd QF 2009–10 ENIHL Division One (South) 36 22 13 1 189 133 45 5th Group stage 2010–11 ENIHL Division One (South) 40 13 22 5 130 176 31 9th DNQ 2011–12* ENIHL Division One (South) NA NA 2012–13 NIHL Division Two (South) 22 18 3 1 37 148 61 1st No playoffs 2013–14 NIHL Division Two (South) 22 16 5 1 33 145 60 1st No playoffs 2014–15 NIHL Division One (South) 36 7 25 4 18 143 230 9th DNQ 2015–16 NIHL Division One (South) 36 18 14 4 36 154 137 4th QF Loss 2016–17 NIHL Division Two (South) 28 12 12 4 28 122 114 4th QF Loss 2017–18 NIHL Division Two (South) 26 23 3 0 46 223 55 1st SF Loss 2018–19 NIHL Division Two (South) 28 24 4 0 48 177 70 3rd SF Loss 2019–20 -Covid Pandemic NIHL Division One (South) 36 12 17 2 26 120 149 7th Postseason cancelled 2020–21 --Covid Pandemic NIHL Division One (South) NA Season cancelled 2021–22 NIHL Division One (South) 32 9 20 3 18 90 139 8th QF Loss 2022–23 NIHL Division One (South) 28 11 15 2 24 103 128 7th QF Loss 2023–24 NIHL Division One (South) 28 5 20 3** 10 67 145 7th QF Loss 2024–25 NIHL Division One (South) - - - - - - - - - Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; PTS = Points; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against
'*Stars folded midway through the campaign and all of their results were expunged.
'# Oxford Chill were forced to relocate to Swindon just prior to the start of the league campaign due to a major ice plant failure at the rink. After this happened, they were renamed the Swindon Chill.
- Post-season cancelled due to the 2019 Covid Pandemic—2020-21 Season cancelled due to the ongoing Covid Pandemic
1 Tie awarded after no Ice at Milton Keynes
Season-by-season record (reserve teams) Over the seasons the Stars have periodically iced teams in division as a reserve teams and a season by season list is below:
Oxford reserve teams season-by-season record Season Team Name League GP W L T PTS GF GA League Pos. 1985–86 Oxford City Satellites BHL Division 2 (Midlands) 15 0 15 0 0 27 278 9th 1986–87 Oxford City Satellites BHL Division 2 (South) 14 5 9 0 10 68 84 6th 1987–88 Oxford City Satellites English League Division 1 (South) 16 4 11 1 9 76 92 7th 1989–90 Oxford City Satellites English League Division 1 (Midlands) 14 1 12 1 3 40 121 8th 1989–90 Oxford City Planets English League Division 2 (Central) 16 4 12 0 8 56 140 4th 1990–91 Oxford City Planets English League Division 2 (South) 20 18 1 1 37 174 54 1st 1993–94 Oxford City Planets English League Division 2 (South) 20 6 11 3 15 63 126 9th 2010–11 Oxford City Stars ENIHL Division 2 (South) 24 12 10 2 26 116 118 6th 2011–12 Oxford City Stars ENIHL Division 2 (South) 24 6 10 8 20 75 120 9th Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; PTS = Points; GF = Goals For; GA = Goals Against
All-time records
All Time AppearancesNo.Nat.NameGames playedPeriodYears 1 Darren Elliot 414 1996–2024 20 2 Andy Cox 323 2001–2022 17 3 Joe Edwards 318 2007–2023 16 4 Josh Oliver 314 2009–2024 14 5 Paul Donohoe + 293 1987–2007 14 6 Dax Hedges 271 2006–present 17 7 Trevor Joseph 236 1985–2005 12 8 Josh Florey 239 2009–2022 11 9 Darryl Morvan 223 1985–1999 12 10 Scott Gough 217 1985–2006 11
Top GoalscorersNo.Nat.NameGames playedGoalsPeriodYears 1 Dan Prachar 194 403 1989–2006 8 2 Scott Gough 217 310 1985–2006 11 3 Darren Elliot 414 259 1996–2024 20 4 Alan Green 209 216 2004–2017 11 5 Derek Flint 178 190 1991–2005 9 6 Josh Oliver 314 177 2009–2024 14 7 Joe Edwards 318 170 2007–2023 15 8 Rick Smith 25 150 1998–1999 1 9 Paul Donohoe + 293 145 1987–2007 14 10 John Gravelle 61 134 1991–1993 2
Top AssistsNo.Nat.NameGames PlayedAssistsPeriodYears 1 Dan Prachar 194 334 1989–2006 8 2 Darren Elliot 414 304 1996–2024 20 3 Scott Gough 217 261 1985–2006 11 4 Derek Flint 178 219 1991–2005 9 5 Paul Simpson 105 205 1985–1989 4 6 Paul Donohoe + 293 190 1987–2007 14 7 Joe Edwards 318 179 2007–2023 15 8 Alan Green 209 175 2004–2017 11 9 Andy Cox 323 155 2001–2022 17 10 Don Jamieson 52 151 1989–1991 2
Most Penalty MinutesNo.Nat.NameGames PlayedPIMsPeriodYears 1 Darren Elliot 408 824 1996–2024 20 2 Andy Cox 323 823 2001–2022 17 3 Dax Hedges 267 666 2006–present 16 4 Alan Green 209 567 2004–2017 11 5 Trevor Joseph 263 559 1985–2005 12 6 Darryl Morvan 223 521 1985–1999 12 7 Josh Florey 239 461 2009–2022 11 8 Grant Bailey 139 380 1996–2011 6 9 Joe Edwards 318 371 2007–2023 15 10 Dan Prachar 194 353 1989–2006 8
+ Some Data Missing
Other associated teams
The Oxford City ice hockey club also have junior and women's teams as follows:-
Under 9s (English League South) Under 11s (English League South Division 3) Under 13s (English League South Division 3) Under 15s (English League South Division 3) Under 18s (English League South Division 3) Under 20s Oxford Midnight Stars (Women's League Division 1 South) Oxford Rising Stars (NIHL South Division 2)
References
External links
English Ice Hockey Association website