The Basingstoke Bison are an English Ice Hockey club from Basingstoke. They currently compete in the NIHL National League and have previously been members of the Ice Hockey Superleague and its successor the Elite Ice Hockey League.
History Formed in 1988 as the Basingstoke Beavers, the club became the "Bison" in 1995. Their team logo is very similar to the "Goathead" used by the Buffalo Sabres from 1996 to 2006. Joining the Superleague in 1996, the Bison dropped out in 1998 and joined the British National League. In 2003 they joined the newly formed Elite Ice Hockey League.
Despite being one of the lower-budget teams in the EIHL, the Bison maintained their fan base and greatly enhanced local sponsorships and doubled their season ticket sales. This success is mainly testament to the hard work of Mark Bernard, who occupied the general manager and head coach role with the club during the 2004/05 and 2005/06 seasons. Bernard also stepped into the netminder's role part way through the latter season after Jayme Platt had left the team.
In May 2006, Bernard left the club to take up the assistant general manager's post with American Hockey League club, the Norfolk Admirals. Prior to his departure, Bernard secured the services of a number of the players that made up the 05/06 roster.
In June 2006, Planet Ice announced that the new player/coach of the club would be former club captain Doug Sheppard, with former Bison and London Racers defenceman Duncan Dalmao returning as player/assistant coach. Sheppard set about building his roster around the core that he had inherited from Bernard. The Bison embarked upon a successful year under Sheppard, securing their highest ever Elite League finish, and taking many points off the top sides in the League.
In April 2007, David Taylor, owner of the Bracknell Bees, purchased the Bison. He appointed Ryan Aldridge as the head coach of the team, signalling the end of Doug Shepherd's reign. Shepherd went on to join rivals Sheffield Steelers.
Following financial problems, which had resulted in the departure of a number of players (including starting netminder Stevie Lyle), Taylor relinquished ownership of the Bison and the team's new owner was announced as Tomas Enerston by Planet Ice on 8 November 2007. Less than a year later, following further financial difficulty, Planet Ice put together a rescue package to keep Bison on the ice until the end of the 2008/09 season.
On 25 March 2009, the Bison released a statement confirming that they would be joining the EPL for the 2009/10 season. Entry to the EPIHL was confirmed on 15 April 2009,http://www.bstokebison.co.uk/news.php?ymid=0904&item=1&option=n and Steve Moria took over as head coach the following day.
After Moria's departure at the end of the 2011–2012 season, it was announced that Doug Sheppard would return as the Bison head coach for the 2012–2013 season. In March 2013, Sheppard signed another deal with the Basingstoke Bison to continue as head coach for the 2013–2014 season.
The Basingstoke Bison won the 15/16 English Premier League title, under Doug Sheppard as coach. This ended their silverware drought of 23 years.
The 2017/18 season was arguably the Bison's greatest ever season. Remaining under Doug Sheppard, they secured a historic treble by winning the NIHL 1 South league, NIHL 1 South playoffs and finally the NIHL Final Four playoffs.
In 2018/19, the Bison had a major squad rebuild, with just 7 players remaining at the club from the previous season. With Doug Sheppard joining rivals Bracknell Bees, the Bison brought in British ice hockey veteran Ashley Tait as a player-coach. With Coventry Blaze legend Russell Cowley and imports Richard Bordowski and Michal Klejna, the Bison achieved an unlikely 3rd place finish in the league, and made their way to the cup final, which they lost to the Peterborough Phantoms.
Basingstoke announced they would sit out the 2023/24 NIHL season due to rink upgrade works.
After a two-year hiatus, Basingstoke announced their return to play for the 2025/26 NIHL season under new ownership Steve Nell & Rob Firmin.
Club roster 2025-26 Source: NetmindersNo.Nat.PlayerCatchesDate of birth33 Oscar Minton R 25/04/200942 Max Wright L 13/02/199945Dean SkinnsL03/10/1984
DefencemenNo.Nat.PlayerShootsDate of birthHometown13 Zach Shankar L 28/01/1997Ontario, Canada15 Tyton Cathcart Both 29/11/200317 Marcus Bradley R 17/10/2007Dayton, USA51 Reece Cochrane L Kirkcaldy, Scotland75 Brendan Baird R 21/01/1996Southampton, England89 Thomas Relf R 24/02/1998Frimley, England94Stuart MoggR01/08/1994Basingstoke, England
ForwardsNo.Nat.PlayerShootsDate of birthHometown4 Adam Harding R 03/01/1993Cardiff, Wales8 William Stead R 10/09/1998Reading, England9 Roman Cathcart R 30/07/2006Basingstoke, England11 Hallam WillsonL 24/04/1998Winchester, England16 George Norcliffe R 21/03/1994Guildford, England19 Adam Erskine R 05/02/201021 Evan NauthL 28/08/200422 Brendan SellanL 23/01/200124 Zack Milton L 10/05/2001Ashford, England29 Alex Sampford R 29/10/1996Basingstoke, England74 Liam Morris L 07/04/1995Glenrothes, Scotland91 Oliver Hemmings-Maher R 08/02/200293 Luke Spadafora R 20/11/2000Alberta, Canada
Team StaffNo.Nat.NameAcquiredRolePlace of birth Jeff Flanagan 2025-26 Head coach/Director of Hockey Operations Stratford, Canada Tony Redmond Coach Scotland Dan Weller-Evans Coach Wales Gary Mitchell Equipment manager England
Club roster 2022-23 (*) Denotes a Non-British Trained player (Import) NetmindersNo.Nat.PlayerCatchesDate of birthPlace of birthAcquiredContract28 Alex Mettam L Sheffield, England 2018 from Bracknell Bees22/2333 Jordan Lawday L Basingstoke, England 2021 from Telford Tigers22/23
DefencemenNo.Nat.PlayerShootsDate of birthPlace of birthAcquiredContract2 Adam Jones L Birmingham, England 2021 from Sheffield Steelers22/2313 Marcus Mitchell R 1998 (age 24)Guildford, England 2022 from Guildford Phoenix22/2344 Tom Banner R Basingstoke, England 2021 from Basingstoke Buffalo22/2371 Josh Kelly L Basingstoke, England 2022 from Bees IHC22/2375 Brendan Baird R Southampton, England 2020 from Bracknell Bees22/2377 Jay King R Edinburgh, Scotland 2018 from Edinburgh Capitals22/23
ForwardsNo.Nat.PlayerShootsDate of birthPlace of birthAcquiredContract9 Gaël-Mukeba Lubwele* R Montreal, QC, Canada 2022 from Nipissing University22/2311 Hallam Wilson L Winchester, England 2017 from Oxford City Stars22/2316 George Norcliffe 'C' R Guildford, England 2018 from Bracknell Bees22/2317 Edgars Landsbergs Daugavpils, Latvia 2022 from MK Lightning22/2319 Paul Petts R Gosport, England 2016 from Solent Devils22/2321 Marcel Balaz* L Trebišov, Slovakia 2022 from Clermont22/2322 Roman Cathcart 2006 (age 16)England 2022 from Basingstoke U1822/2323 Oliver Hemmings-Maher 2006 (age 16)England 2022 from Basingstoke U1822/2324 Zack Milton 'A' L England 2021 from Bracknell Bees22/2361 Ryan Sutton L Basingstoke, England 2019 from Bracknell Bees22/2374 Liam Morris 'A' L Glenrothes, Scotland 2018 from Northern Federals22/2388 Adrian Dusznik L 2022 from Guildford Phoenix22/2391 Aidan Doughty L Isle of Wight, England 2020 from Bracknell Bees22/23
Team StaffNo.Nat.NameAcquiredRolePlace of birthJoined from Jeff Flanagan 2025-26 Head coach/Director of Hockey Operations Stratford, Canada Guelph Gryphons, U Sports Gary Mitchell 2017-18 Equipment Manager England Tony Skinns 2002-03 Equipment Manager England Nikki Duffin 2022-23 Physical Therapist England
2021/22 Outgoing +OutgoingNo.Nat.PlayerShootsDate of birthPlace of birthLeaving For4 Adam Harding R Cardiff, Wales Bristol Pitbulls, NIHL6 Ollie Stone L Swindon, England Swindon Wildcats, NIHL13 Elliott Dewey R Basingstoke, England Raiders IHC, NIHL21 Ash Tait R Toronto, ON, Canada Retired93 Dan Weller-Evans L Bridgend, Wales Bees IHC, NIHL94 Alex Roberts R Burnaby, BC, Canada Bristol Pitbulls, NIHL
Honoured members Basingstoke have only retired the number of two players, the first being Kevin Conway's number 10 in 2005 following his initial retirement from ice hockey. In the 2005–06 season, Tony Redmond was honoured with a testimonial season. In September 2009, it was announced that Don Yewchin, the original ice hockey coordinator for the Beavers in 1988 would have his number 12 jersey retired before Basingstoke's league game with local rivals Bracknell Bees on Saturday 10 October 2009. In a fantastic twist of fate, Basingstoke won the game 12–0. In 2016, Tony Redmond's number 20 shirt was retired when the club beat Telford Tigers 7-0. In 2018, the club held a testimonial match to celebrate Kurt Reynolds, as he took a time-out from hockey.
Team honours 1989/90 Champions – English Div 1 Promotion Play-offs 1991/92 Winners – Southern Cup 1992/93 Champions – Heineken Division One Champions – Heineken Div 1 Promotion Play-offs Runners-up – Southern Cup 1993/94 Runners-up – Southern Cup 1994/95 Runners-up – Southern Cup 1998/99 Runners-up – British National Ice Hockey League Runners-up – Christmas Cup 1999/00 Winners – B & H Plate Runners-up – ntl: Christmas Cup Runners-up – BNL Play-off Championships 2000/01 Winners – B & H Plate Runners-up – Findus British National Ice Hockey League Runners-up – FBNL Play-off Championships 2003/04 EIHL First Team All Star – Curtis Cruickshank 2012/13 Runners-up – English Premier Ice Hockey League 2013/14 Winners – English Premier Ice Hockey League Cup Runners-up – English Premier Ice Hockey League Winners – English Premier Ice Hockey League Play-off Championship 2015/16 Champions – English Premier Ice Hockey League 2017/18 Champions – NIHL Britton League Division 1 Champions - NIHL Britton League Play-Offs Champions - NIHL National Final Four Play-Offs
Past head coaches Ashley Tait – 2018 – 2022 – Player / head coach Doug Sheppard – 2012 – 2018 – Player / head coach Steve Moria – 2009–2012 – Player / head coach Ryan Aldridge – 2007–2009 – Player / head coach Doug Sheppard – 2006–2007 – Player / head coach Mark Bernard – 2004–2006 – Player / head coach / general manager Steve Moria – 2002–2004 – Player / head coach Charlie Colon – 2000–2002 – Head coach Rick Strachan – 1999–2000 – Player / head coach Don Depoe – 1998–1999 – Head coach
Notable players Darcy Anderson Derek Campbell Brad Cruikshank Mark DeSantis Jason Goulet Jason Hewitt Wes Jarvis David Kozier Dean Melanson Dwight Parrish Jayme Platt Brent Pope Steve Thornton David Vychodil Ben Davies
Footnotes
External links Basingstoke Bison web site