The Slough Jets are an ice hockey team from Slough, Berkshire, England playing in the NIHL South Division 1. The team was founded in 1986 after the construction of the Slough Ice Arena in Montem Lane in Slough and joined the first division of the British League. With the help of Gary Stefan who had previously been with Streatham Redskins, the Slough Jets were formed.
The Slough Jets are one of the few clubs in the UK who from their foundation have continued to play to the present day without interruption or a change of name.
History
The British Hockey League (1986-1996) It did not take long for Slough Jets to make their mark, winning the London Cup in 1989 . They followed this up by winning the Southern Cup and the British League Division One the following season, but they lost the final of the promotion play-off and so did not move up to the Premier Division.
The Jets were runners-up in Division One for three of the next four seasons, before winning the Division and the promotion play-off in 1995, thus moving up to the Premier Division.
The British National League (1996-2002) After a brief settling-in period in the new league structure, the Jets won more silverware in 1998, capturing the Benson & Hedges Plate, and also finishing second in the BNL Southern Premier League the same year. The following season, 1998–99, was the most successful in the club's history to that point, as they won the British National League for the first time. They were also runners-up in the British National League Play-offs, losing to Fife Flyers on penalties.
The club were beaten finalists in the Benson & Hedges Plate in 2000, and this was also the year that one of their greatest players, Gary Stefan, was elected to the Great Britain Hall of Fame. The next few years were to be a fallow spell for the club, who were actually disbanded in 2002 due to financial problems, but were re-formed the same year.
The English Premier Ice Hockey League (2002-2014) In 2002 Teal & White Ltd took over the management of the Slough Jets. In their first EPIHL season the Jets finished 3rd and qualified for the play-offs. In the following year they made the Final of the play-offs.
There was another change of ownership in 2005 as Slapshot Ltd took over the running of the club.
Jets took runner up in the league in 2005–06, 2007–08 and 2009–10 but never made it to league champions. They were successful in the post season play-offs, winning the titles in the 2007–08, 2009–10 and 2011–12 seasons. They also claimed the Premier Cup in 2011.
The final EPIHL season ended with the Jets struggling financially and coach Craig Moran having to hold together a team after Head coach Slava Koulikov left part way through the season along with other players. The Jets finished bottom of the 10 team league and failed to make the play-offs.
End of the Professional Era
In 2014 the Slough Jets ceased professional competition following a decision by Slapshot Ltd to exit the English Premier Ice Hockey League (EPIHL) which was the 2nd tier of British Ice hockey at the time. The Slough Jets name continued with its existing amateur senior team in the National Ice Hockey League South 2 division and the Junior club. It was alleged that some supporters saw the move by the owners to end the professional era to effectively be the end of the club they supported. A move was made by Gary Stefan and Jets media man Mark Denholm to create a new EPIHL team at the rink but attempts to secure ice time were not successful.
A Slough Jets legends match was set up and played on July 14, 2014, to honour the club's professional history and raise money for charity.
The National Ice Hockey League (2014-Present) Slough Jets currently play in the National Ice Hockey League (NIHL) South 1 Britton Division, which is the third tier of UK hockey. After winning NIHL2 league and National honours in the 2018/19 season, Slough Jets senior team moved to a 10 team NIHL1 division for 2019/20 season in a revised English Ice hockey league structure which introduced a new second-tier league called the NIHL National hockey league.
The Slough Jets ENL side had already been formed in 2010 to replace the disbanded Slough Harrier Hawks side and provide a bridge for young players to move from junior hockey to senior hockey. Craig Moran initially took on the Head coach role before resuming his Assistant Manager role for the EPIHL side. When professional hockey ceased in Slough, the Slough Jets NIHL side became the top level of Senior men's hockey at the venue. The coach for the amateur side for the 2014/15 season was Tony Milton.