The Paisley Pirates were founded in 1946 and are one of the oldest

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

clubs in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

and the UK (the oldest being the

Fife Flyers Fife Flyers is the oldest professional ice hockey club in the UK, established in 1938. The Flyers play their home games at Fife Ice Arena in Kirkcaldy which has a capacity of just over 3000 (seated and standing). They joined the EIHL in 2011 ...

). The Pirates were the epitome of the game in

during the 1950s. In season 1953–54 they won the Autumn Cup, the Scottish Cup and the Canada Cup. Their success brought them to the British National League, but local supporters could ill afford to travel to

Southern England Southern England, or the South of England, also known as the South, is an area of England consisting of its southernmost part, with cultural, economic and political differences from the Midlands and the North. Officially, the area includes ...

and gradually support waned. Both Pirates' junior team, Paisley Wildcats, followed by the Pirates themselves were dissolved. The Paisley Mohawks replaced them, but could not generate the enthusiasm of the Pirates. Paisley Buddies were delighted when the Pirates were relaunched in the 1990s with the opening of the new ice rink and started living up to past glories by winning Scottish Division One in their inaugural season. The following season Pirates joined British League Division One and after more league reconstruction a few seasons later joined British National League which was the start of tougher times for the Pirates, where they regularly finished out of play-off contention and close to the foot of the table. Former Aviemore Blues tough-guy/coach, Stirling Wright, was brought in from Swindon in the 1999–00 season. Local players, Bobby Chalmers, James Clarke, and O'Niell from the Pirates were selected to play for the GB junior team. Wright continued to play the home grown players more than the imports and this resulted in the imports pushing for Wright to resign. Wright met with the owner Allan Maxwell and resigned in February when he refused to reduce the playing time of the British/Scottish players. He was asked to return the next week but headed back to America. The team would not improve and the production dropped even more with many of the players leaving the club. With the costs of travel to the south of

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, the Pirates could not afford to continue play in the British National League so in 2002 the club made the decision to transfer to the Scottish National League where they continue to play. During season 2006–07, the Pirates almost had to fold due to a problem with their home ice at Paisley's Lagoon centre. However, a late move to the nearby Braehead Arena secured their survival. In an eventful season, they secured the Scottish Spring Cup, beating Dundee Tigers in the final. After many ups and downs over the years the club was taken over by a group of supporters in 2010. The club was withdrawn from the (now defunct) SPHL during the 2009–10 season by the clubs then owner. The club joined the SNL Scottish National League. In 2020, a partnership with the Glasgow Clan of the EIHL was announced. This would see both clubs further strengthen their links, giving Pirates commercial and marketing support whilst providing a pathway to elite ice hockey for junior players in the Greater Glasgow area.

Club roster 2020–21

2020/21 Outgoing

References

External links

Official Website
{{British ice hockey Ice hockey teams in Scotland Sport in Renfrewshire 1946 establishments in Scotland Ice hockey clubs established in 1947