The Aberdeen Oilers are a floorball club based in Aberdeen, Scotland. They were founded in 2007 and currently play in the Scottish Floorball League. They won the Northern League Championship in 2008/09, Scottish Floorball League in 2012/13 and 2014/15.
History Aberdeen Oilers were officially founded in January 2007 and became the most northern floorball club in Britain. Two brothers and former Dundee floorball players (Neil and Michael Shaw) and two students from Switzerland (Sascha Fässler and Lorna Teal) started off with organising training sessions in Aberdeen, the first of which was held on 9 December 2006 at Torry Sports Centre. Soon the group of players prospered as members were attracted from all walks of life including students from the local education institutions and people living and working in the Aberdeen area. Quite a number of individuals of the initial group were employed in companies of the local oil industry – a fact which largely influenced the choice of the later adopted team name. On 3 March 2007 the first ever match was played in Torry Sports Centre against Balwearie Floorball Club from Fife, which ended in a narrow 2–3 defeat for the Oilers. After further friendly matches played in Glenrothes and a friendly tournament in Dundee the Oilers were soon ready to play their first competitive matches.
Early competitive games Seatronics became the first sponsor of the club, helping to acquire the first full team kit that allowed the team to participate in the Scottish Cup qualifiers that took place in April 2007. After a clear 9-0 defeat in their first match against Scottish league record champions Chapel Floorball Club the Oilers managed a deserved 5-5 draw in a hard fought match against Balwearie Lightning. The next tournament on the agenda was the British National Championships organised by the Great Britain Floorball Federation and played in Perth on the first weekend in May 2007. A group of 15 Oilers made their way down to central Scotland to attend the flagship competition in British floorball and meet teams from all over the country. Drawn in a group together with teams from Bath, Glenrothes and Linlithgow the Oilers managed to secure a clear 5-0 victory in their first match against Linlithgow. The second match against Chapel Floorball Club from Glenrothes ended in an undeserved 4-1 defeat after a good game with plenty of goal opportunities on both sides. A further defeat against Bath meant that Aberdeen Oilers ended up 3rd in their group. The relatively good goal difference however allowed the team to progress to the quarter-finals of the tournament where they played later finalists Brighton Rock. The match ended 4-1 in favour of Brighton. To determine the final placing of teams, a further round saw the first clash between Dundee Northern Lights and the Oilers, a game which proved to be one of the closest fought in the whole tournament. Regular time could not split the two sides after the Oilers scored an equaliser in the dying seconds of the game. The penalty shoot-out ended in sudden death after 7th rounds with the more experienced Dundee side finally winning the game. Aberdeen ended up 8th overall.
2007/08 Northern League season In their first ever season (2007/2008) in the British Floorball Northern League, the team qualified for the British National Championships in the last round of the league after wins against Dundee and Balwearie Lightning. Another sponsorship deal was secured with Kongsberg Maritime. At the Nationals held in Stratford-Upon-Avon in May 2008 the team played against London Vikings, Bournemouth Bullets and Brighton Rock, and missed out narrowly on a place in the semi-finals.
2008/09 Northern League season Already in their second season (2008/2009) in the British Floorball Northern League, Aberdeen Oilers were crowned Scottish floorball champions. The team showed a flawless performance with only one game lost in the whole season. In the British National Championship held in Edinburgh in May 2009, Aberdeen played Oxford Floorball club, Balwearie Lightning, London Sharks, Brighton Rock and Edinburgh. Final position was 7th place. After the British Nationals 2009, Aberdeen Oilers Floorball Club announced a new equipment sponsorship deal with Swedish floorball equipment manufacturers Salming. The new Salming jerseys feature the logo of World Vision charity.
Squad Season 2016/2017 GoalkeeperNumberNationalityNamePlace of Birth 36Vit StrachonCzech Republic30Alec YoungAberdeen, Scotland
DefendersNumberNationalityNamePlace of Birth 11Šárka ZacpálkováCzech Republic43Vít KarlíčekCzech Republic12Benjamin BřezinaCzech Republic16Arvis HeidemanisTukums, Latvia
ForwardsNumberNationalityNamePlace of Birth33Szymon BurzynskiWarsaw, Poland69Sigvards StalidzansLatvia88Adam Paulenda Czech Republic?Jan FelcmanCzech Republic?Tomáš Dubec Czech Republic
League record Northern League Championship YearTeamsPositionGPWDLGSGA 2007/08 83149058173 2008/09 711211017624 2010/11 63106044225Total 1 title 3626010199122
Scottish Floorball League YearTeamsPositionGPWDLGSGA 2011/12 9314110311246 2012/13 81141400-- 2013/14 9216140210135 2014/15 811412026833 2015/1683149147058 2016/17 6120152311865Total 3 titles 9275314469237
British Nationals record
YearTeamsPositionGPWDLGSGA Perth 2007 12851041123 Stratford-Upon-Avon 2008 85-831021220 Edinburgh 2009 1276204-- Birmingham 2012 12125005-- Birmingham 2013 12842022017 Birmingham 2014 12452032230 Birmingham 2015 121141031221Total 27901877111
References Aberdeen Oilers Floorball Club Official web site Aberdeen Oilers Floorball Club Official Facebook Page Scottish Floorball League - Aberdeen Oilers Floorball Club