History

The one and only Lee Valley Lions Nostalgia Site!

This section of the site contains all the content from the original Lee Valley Lions Nostalgia Site which was set up back in 2001 to remember the Lions that played between 1983/84 and 1994/95. In 2001 there were no Lions teams at Lee Valley Ice Centre (junior or senior) and no website about the Lions, so I decided to share all that I’d collected over the years in the hope it would bring back some good memories for all the Clockenders and other fans of the day. In 2005 I was contacted to say that the Lee Valley Lions were going to be reformed, so the Lee Valley Nostalgia Site became part of the main Lions’ site, within its History section. Here it is…

The late, great (original 1984/95) Lee Valley Lions

If you can remember…

  • The game where Glasgow Summit Eagles walked off in a tizzy
  • Thrashing Irvine Magnum Wings 32-9
  • Nicknames such as “Millwall”, “Turkey” and “Rambo”
  • Teams such as the Deeside Dragons, Cleveland Bombers and Richmond Flyers
  • Legendary names like Vesa Pennanen, Janne Lehti and Darcy Cahill
  • Chucking torn-up newspaper in the air at Romford away games
  • The time when Steve James came on as temporary netminder

… then you’re in the right place for some Lee Valley Lions Nostalgia!

Here you’ll find plenty to remind you of Saturday and Sunday nights down at the Den, watching some “quality” British ice hockey. Sit back, put on your old Lions scarf and play your bashed-up copy of Billy Ocean’s “When The Going Gets Tough…” (or even better, check it out via YouTube on the Multimedia page!)

Cue all the old favourites – the Goldstone brothers, Mike Fafard, Doug McEwen, Dave Ducharme and the Flying Finns. Remember trying to read your programme just at the point where the lights got turned out, enjoying a good singalong with your chums in the Clock End or having a laugh at the expense of Jamie Crapper, Daryl Lipsey or Terry Ward.

Recall the Supporters’ Club table and the T-Stop, having a bit of a gossip with Mike Cook or Jack McGill, buying 50/50 tickets from Steve (how come we always had the smallest crowds but got bigger 50/50 winnings?!) or getting match info from announcer extraordinaire Peter Livermore! Maybe you’d grab some chips from the café, hang around for the Man of the Match awards (not that the Lions would ever skate round the ice afterwards, of course) then chill out and drown your almost inevitable sorrows up in the bar! Those were the great times to be had in E10. Let your memories live on!

What’s on the site, then?

Hopefully I’ve included all the right stuff to remind you of match nights at Lea Bridge Road. The only thing I can’t supply is the tears and frustration (and occasional jubilation) but I’m sure you remember those all too well! Here’s what you’ll find if you click the links on this page…

  • A variety of Player Profiles – their hockey backgrounds, hobbies etc.
  • Season-by-season match results. You can view the results for a particular season and then check out stats and comments for a large number of individual matches.
  • Details of the various leagues the Lee Valley Lions played in over the years, including end-of-season standings (NB to spot the Lions look towards the bottom of the tables!).
  • Lots and lots of photos. Team photos, player photos, on-ice action shots, you name it. Many were taken from the LVL programmes, others were taken by myself and the remainder are from credited or unknown sources. See how many faces you remember. If you have some photos of Lions players that could be added to the site please get in touch!
  • Some extras to remind you of the Lions and match nights at the Den. I’ve included various bits of team memorabilia, plus newspaper reports and pages from the Clock End Times in PDF format (on the Lions in Print page). Best of all, there is now a multimedia section where you can listen to some of the songs associated with Lee Valley (Billy Ocean’s “When the Going Gets Tough…” being one of them) and even watch some video clips.
  • Lastly, a site-specific search engine to help you steer your way around. Just type what you’re after into the box at the top of the page – couldn’t be easier!

See this site immortalised in national internet magazines Practical Internet (Feb’02) and Web User (6-20 Feb’02)!