Whitley Warriors

Whitley Warriors
Whitley Warriors
City	Whitley Bay, United Kingdom
League	Scottish National League (SNL)
Division	Division One North
Founded	1957
Home arena	Whitley Bay Ice Rink
Colours	Maroon, gold, white;
General manager	Willie Dunn
Head coach	Tony Hand
Website	whitleywarriors.net

Last updated June 24, 2025

The Whitley Warriors are an ice hockey team based in Whitley Bay in the north east of England. Founded in 1957 as the Bees, they changed their name to the Whitley Warriors in 1964. The Warriors played at the highest level of British ice hockey for much of their history but currently play in the Scottish National League (SNL).

Club roster 2022-23

(*) Denotes a Non-British Trained player (Import)

Netminders
No.	Nat.	Player	Catches	Date of birth	Place of birth	Acquired	Contract
30		Mark Turnbull	L	(1995-05-15) 15 May 1995 (age 30)	Northumberland, England	2021 from Billingham Stars	22/23
32		Joshua Crane	L	(1998-10-29) 29 October 1998 (age 26)	Coventry, England	2021 from Nottingham Lions	22/23
		Jack Wakefield	L	(2002-12-29) 29 December 2002 (age 22)	Durham, England	2022 from Åmåls SK J20	22/23

Defencemen
No.	Nat.	Player	Shoots	Date of birth	Place of birth	Acquired	Contract
5		Matthew McDonald		2000 (age 22)	England	2021 from Whitley U20	22/23
13		Kyle Ross	R	(1997-07-28) 28 July 1997 (age 27)	Whitley Bay, England	2017 from Essa Stallions	22/23
22		Adam Wood	R	(1990-07-04) 4 July 1990 (age 34)	Somerset, England	2021 from Streatham IHC	22/23
24		Harry Harley 'A'	L	(1995-05-15) 15 May 1995 (age 30)	Whitley Bay, England	2018 from Hull Pirates	22/23
78		Rihards Grigors*	L	(1992-01-20) 20 January 1992 (age 33)	Dobele, Latvia	2021 from Fife Flyers	22/23

Forwards
No.	Nat.	Player	Shoots	Date of birth	Place of birth	Acquired	Contract
7		Thomas Fraser	R	2003 (age 19)	England	2019 from Whitley U20	22/23
11		Shaun Kippin 'A'	L	(1987-04-15) 15 April 1987 (age 38)	England	2015 from Deeside Dragons	22/23
14		Dean Holland 'C'	R	(1988-09-22) 22 September 1988 (age 36)	Newcastle, England	2014 from Guildford Flames	22/23
15		Anthony Wetherell		1999 (age 23)	England	2016 from Whitley U18	22/23
16		Lewis Crisp		1999 (age 23)	England	2022 from Billingham Stars	22/23
18		Matěj Valiček*	L	(1998-01-30) 30 January 1998 (age 27)	Czechia	2021 from HC Baník Sokolov B	22/23
20		Philip Edgar	L	(1993-10-06) 6 October 1993 (age 31)	Kitchener, ON, Canada	2017 from University of Waterloo	22/23
27		Jamie Ord		(2001-03-04) 4 March 2001 (age 24)	England	2016 from Whitley U18	22/23
31		Adam Finlinson	L	(1998-04-17) 17 April 1998 (age 27)	Whitley Bay, England	2017 from Swindon Wildcats	22/23
37		Matthew Betham		2004 (age 18)	England	2021 from Whitley U20	22/23
51		Connor Lewis		2005 (age 17)	England	2021 from Billingham Stars	22/23
57		Callum Queenan	R	(1996-10-03) 3 October 1996 (age 28)	Whitley Bay, England	2019 from Meaford Knights	22/23

Team Staff
No.	Nat.	Name	Position	Acquired	Place of birth	Joined From
		Willie Dunn	General Manager	2023
		Tony Hand MBE	Head Coach	2023
		Peter Scorer	Team Medic
		Andrew Thomas James	Equipment Manager
		Adam Mackman	Programme Editor/Radio Commentary
		Andy McGregor	Online/Match Night Announcer
			Videography
			Photography
		Rob Greener	Graphics

2021/22 Outgoing


Outgoing
No.	Nat.	Player	Shoots	Date of birth	Place of birth	Leaving For
12		Dylan Hehir	R	2002 (age 20)	Billingham, England	Leeds Knights, NIHL
26		Rolands Gritans	L	(1991-01-19) 19 January 1991 (age 34)	Daugavpils, Latvia	Billingham Stars, NIHL 1

Honours

British Championship: Winners – 1972/73, 1973/74

English National League Championship: Winners – 1999/2000, 2000/01, 2001/02, 2007/08

English National League: Runners-up – 1997/98

Northern League: Winners – 1973/74, 1974/75 Runners-up – 1976/77, 1977/78, 2006/07, 2010/11

Northern League Play-offs: Winners: 2006/07 Runners-up – 1967/68, 1976/77

English National League North: Winners – 2001/02, 2009/10, 2010/11 Runners-up – 1997/98, 1999/00, 2000/01, 2006/07, 2007/08

English Cup: Winners – 2001/02 Runners-up – 2000/01

Anglo Scottish Cup: Winners – 2000/01

Scottish Cup: Winners – 1991/92, Runners-up – 1992/93

Heineken British Premier League: Runners-up – 1987/88

Benson & Hedges Cup: Runners-up – 1992/93

Autumn Cup: Winners – 1971/72 Runners-up – 1972/73, 1974/75, 1976/77

BIHA Cup: Winners – 1957/58, 1958/59 (as Whitley Bees)

NIHL North Cup: Runners-up – 2019/20 Runners-up – 2021/22

NIHL North Division 1 Moralee: Winners - 2019/20 Runners-up – 2021/22

Ice Hockey Journalists UK Hall of Fame: Terry Matthews (1987), Alfie Miller (1988), J.J. 'Icy' Smith (1988), Hilton Ruggles (2009), David Longstaff (2022)

Junior teams

The Warriors have numerous junior teams, with most bearing names that are considered derogatory and racist, especially when used contemporarily by non-indigenous people.^[2] The teams are:

Under 9 - Mischiefs
Under 11 - Arrows
Under 13 - Mohawks
Under 15 - Tomahawks
Under 18 - Braves
Under 20 - Renegades
Ladies - Beacons

Imports

1969-70 Dave Marsden
1975–1976 Don McAdams
1977–1978 Jan Pettersson & Harri Semi.
1978–1979 Brian Labatte
1979–1980 Lars Opsahl
1980–1981 Lars Opsahl
1981–1982 Buzz Brown
1982–1983 Tim Whitehead
1983–1984 Ron Butler, Al Kent & Kel Land
1984–1985 Pete Fitzpatrick, Hugh Alcorn & Roy Wallace
1985–1986 Peter Dunkley, Brian Mason, Steve Attwell & Bill Audycki
1986–1987 Jim Earle, Tom Earle & Bruce Stanley
1987–1988 Scott Morrison, Luc Chabot & Mike Babcock
1988–1989 Scott Morrison, Hilton Ruggles & Mike Rowe
1989–1990 Hilton Ruggles, Marc Damphousse, Claude Lefebvre, Wayne Crawford, Chris Duperron, Marco Ronkko, Mike Vellucci & James Gasseau
1990–1991 Hilton Ruggles, Claude Dumas, Brad Hyatt, Daryl Evans, Steve Chartrand & Blaine Peerless
1991–1992 Hilton Ruggles, Claude Dumas, Mike Rowe, Rob Abel & Bobby Brown
1992–1993 Claude Dumas, Scott Morrison, Mike Rowe, Mike Mowbray & Steve Brown
1993–1994 Scott Morrison, Steve Brown, Tyler Larter, Mike Rowe, Eric LeGros
1994–1995 Steve Brown, Dean Richards, Brian Verbeek, Mike Rowe, Martin St. Amour
1995–1996 (as Newcastle Warriors) Steve Brown, Chris Norton, Richard Laplante, Jason Smart, Dean Richards, Scott Morrison, Rick Fera, Scott Campbell, Lars Thunnell, Niklas Gullikson, Risto Halenius, Tim Salmon
1996–1997 Matthew Beveridge, Stefan Simoes, Mark Stokes, Matt McGuffin, Grant Morrow
1997–1998 Timo Loucasvuori, Kimmo Saarinen, Seppo Rajpar, Sami Rajpar
1998–1999 Trond Gundersen
1999–2000 Trond Gundersen
2000–2001 Fredrik Jonsson, Lauri Oksanen
2005–2006 Hakan Andersson
2008–2009 Peter Tomek
2015–2016 Andre Payette
2016–2017 Andre Payette
2017–2018 Philip Edgar
2018–2019 Rolands Gritāns, Philip Edgar
2019–2020 Rolands Gritāns, Philip Edgar
2021-2022 Rolands Gritāns, Rihards Grigors, Matěj Valíček
2022-2023 Rihards Grigors, Philip Edgar, Matěj Valíček

Retired jerseys

Alfie Miller (#10) is the only jersey that has been retired for the Warriors.

Logo

Despite the Warriors' logo depicting a Native American (the logo and colours being "inspired" by the Washington Redskins) and the associated controversy which resulted in the Redskins removing their logo on the grounds that it was considered racist,^[3] there has been no similar discussion around the Warriors'. Teams like Frölunda Indians HC and Chicago Blackhawks which have similar logos have come under significant pressure to change their logos on similar grounds. Frolunda announced that they would no longer be called the Indians and would be changing their logo.^[4]

References

↑ "Warriors owners announce move to Scottish National League".
↑ Vowel, Chelsea (2016). "Just Don't Call Us Late for Supper - Names for Indigenous Peoples". Indigenous Writes: A Guide to First Nations, Métis & Inuit Issues in Canada. Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada: Highwater Press. p. 7. ISBN 978-1553796800. Let's just agree the following words are never okay to call Indigenous peoples: savage, red Indian, redskin, primitive, half-breed, squaw/brave/papoose.
↑ "The Washington Redskins Are Changing Team Name and Logo—Who's Next?". Vogue. 13 July 2020. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
↑ "Swedish ice hockey club to drop Native American logo". Reuters. 17 September 2020. Retrieved 2 December 2021.

External links

Official Website

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[1] "Warriors owners announce move to Scottish National League".

[Vowel-1-2] Vowel, Chelsea (2016). "Just Don't Call Us Late for Supper - Names for Indigenous Peoples". Indigenous Writes: A Guide to First Nations, Métis & Inuit Issues in Canada. Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada: Highwater Press. p. 7. ISBN 978-1553796800. Let's just agree the following words are never okay to call Indigenous peoples: savage, red Indian, redskin, primitive, half-breed, squaw/brave/papoose.

[3] "The Washington Redskins Are Changing Team Name and Logo—Who's Next?". Vogue. 13 July 2020. Retrieved 2 December 2021.

[4] "Swedish ice hockey club to drop Native American logo". Reuters. 17 September 2020. Retrieved 2 December 2021.

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