2015–16 Bracknell Bees season

During the 2015-16 season, the Bracknell Bees participated in the semi-professional English Premier Ice Hockey League.

Due to an issue with the ice at the John Nike Leisure Centre the home game against Peterborough Phantoms on Saturday 31st October 2015 was postponed. It was re-scheduled for Thursday 26th November 2015 with a 7:45pm faceoff. The club addressed the issue on the official website stating "While a mid-week game is not an ideal option for either team or the fans, this date is unfortunately the only viable date available for both teams and the rink."

Towards the end of November the club released a statement regarding speculation over the clubs short, medium and Long term viability. The club revealed that the season’s finances have been severely affected by a number of factors including the fact that season ticket sales were down 20% on the previous season. The club also listed the fact that the first temporary closure of the ice rink due to plant failure at the beginning of the season also had a negative affect, with the pre-season games being played at an alternative venue, the projected loss of expected match night ticket sales and match night fund raising came to around £8,000.

The incorrectly manufactured shirts supplied for the season took a long time to resolve and hampered sales of replica shirts. The second temporary closure of the ice rink also meant a loss of incoming cash. Between the 24th October and 15th November, the club received £441 in match night ticket sales and £800 in match night fund raising. During this period the salary and rink rental costs alone amount to over £28,000. The ice contract in place requires an upfront payment at the start of the season equivalent to four weeks with the remaining payments being spread across the remainder of the season with payments ending at the end of February 2016.

In the statement the club also pointed out that the fixture scheduling sees a third of the season’s home games being played in the last seven weeks of the season. Due to all the aforementioned issues the club had encountered severe difficulty in meeting its weekly and monthly salary obligation in October and admitted that it was likely they'd struggle to meeting the salary obligations in line with agreed payment dates for November and December. The club finished the press release saying "The challenges we are faced with this season are challenging but not insurmountable. We remain with the objective of taking this club into the Elite League where it rightfully belongs"

Ticketing

Standings

English Premier League

[*] Secured play-off berth. [**] EPL League Champions |}

Schedule And Results

Pre-season

The pre-season schedule would start with a series against the reigning League & Cup champions, the Telford Tigers. The Bees hosted the Tigers at The Hive on Saturday 29th August 2015, before making the trip north for the second game of the series on Sunday 30th August 2015.

The Bracknell Bees pre-season would also see the continuation of the traditional M4 Derby Classic series match-ups against the Swindon Wildcats. The Bees travelled to face the Wildcats at the Link Centre on Saturday 5th September 2015 (face off 5.45pm) before hosting Swindon back at The Hive on Sunday 6th September 2015 (face off 6pm) in the second game of The Two match series.

Regular Season

Play-Offs

External links

• Official Bracknell Bees website