A common theme from the chairs of Ice Hockey UK, England Ice Hockey and Scottish Ice Hockey is that bringing all three bodies together as one, fully merged organisation, would benefit current and future generations in the UK ice hockey community.
Lord Clifton Wrottesley, chair of Ice Hockey UK, alongside Duncan Hough (England) and John Colley (Scotland) have enjoyed continued, regular and engaged dialogue in recent months, all pulling towards the merger of the organisations.
With support from UK Sport and home nation sports councils for the sport to proceed with a merger, the respective Chairs all shared commentary on the project.
Chair of Ice Hockey UK, Lord Clifton Wrottesley, commented: “This merger represents a truly transformational moment for our sport.
“Under one governing body, we can further strengthen our foundations, significantly amplify our voice with our national and international partners and stakeholders, as well as create the long-term stability ice hockey in the UK needs to flourish at all levels.
“Together as one, we have the opportunity to firstly look-after the sport with a more appropriate structure, but also to build a more ambitious, connected and above all sustainable future for every player, coach, official, volunteer and supporter.”
John Colley, chair of Scottish Ice Hockey, outlined the significance of the proposed merger for Scotland and for members across the UK.
He said: “Scottish Ice Hockey has been a long-standing supporter of a single national structure, and this proposal finally gives us a pathway to make it a reality.
“For SIH, this merger provides certainty, clarity, and a genuine opportunity to enhance the experience for all our members. It also creates, for the first time, a credible platform to attract public investment into the sport, funding that SIH does not currently receive.
“A single, modern governing framework will remove barriers that have held us back for many years, enabling far stronger cross-border collaboration, improved competition structures, and seamless development pathways. This means better support for clubs, higher playing standards, and a clearer journey for players, coaches and officials at every level of the game.
“Working as one will deliver the progress our sport desperately needs, both now and for generations to come.”
Duncan Hough, chair of England Ice Hockey, concluded: “This is an important and positive step for the sport across England and the UK. A single governing body enables us to remove barriers, streamline processes and reinvest more directly into the development of players, coaches, officials and volunteers.
“By bringing our organisations together, we can deliver more value for our members and drive growth in a way that simply is not possible with the sports current structure.”
Henry Staelens, chief executive officer at Ice Hockey UK and England Ice Hockey added: “It is extremely positive to see the open dialogue and ambition from Ice Hockey UK, England Ice Hockey and Scottish Ice Hockey.
“From the moment I took the reins in early 2023, I’d strongly questioned the value of three separate governing bodies, and everyone I spoke to felt the same – there are, quite simply, far greater benefits for everyone across the sport if we work as one. But given the history of the sport, it was about “how do we get there”?
“The work we have done over the past three years has enabled all three organisations to clearly envisage the strength in coming together under one banner.
“At the moment, we’re all using different systems and solutions to manage the sport. Bringing the best of these together would provide greater efficiencies and effectiveness in sport delivery, and deliver more value to where it matters – on the ice. This would then enable us to focus on growing and developing the game above and beyond what we have been doing.
“This is an exciting time for ice hockey and the next few weeks are critical to engage and explain to the community what this will look like in practice.”
Ice Hockey UK, England Ice Hockey and Scottish Ice Hockey will call an extraordinary general meeting for their respective organisations on Wednesday 17 December 2025, where the boards will encourage members to vote in favour of merging the bodies.
Formal notice, voting papers and full details will be issued to voting members of the organisations in due course.
In advance of the vote, England Ice Hockey and Scottish Ice Hockey will host a number of meetings with key stakeholders and groups across the sport, to ensure the merger delivers improvement and certainty in relation to their requirements.
Additionally, a drop-in Q&A session led by Henry Staelens and Grant King (chief operating officer, IHUK & EIH) will be held on 26 November 2025 via Microsoft Teams, which will be open to all registered voting members of EIH and SIH. Details on how to register and attend will be circulated shortly.
Full information and updates on the proposed merger will be shared across England Ice Hockey and Scottish Ice Hockey channels in the coming weeks.
Members are welcome to submit any questions or comments about the merger in advance via memberservices@englandicehockey.com for England and media@scottishicehockey.co.uk for Scotland.
England Ice Hockey and Scottish Ice Hockey staff will ensure all queries are addressed during the sessions or in the follow-up materials.
Photo credit: Andrea Bailey
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