News Article | 3rd July 2010 » A New Era for Sheffield

Following the recent shock resignation of Sheffield Scimitars' Head Coach, Jon Rowbotham, the owners, Ian Johnson and Gary Apsley, spent much time considering their own future. As Jon Rowbotham was central to their long term plans for the Scimitars and hockey in Sheffield, they too have now decided to step away from EPL hockey.

Their combined, unexpected, departure at this point in the off-season has of course, triggered intense activity in an attempt to find an alternative owner for the Sheffield club, in order to ensure that a new EPL team can participate in the 2010-11 English Premier League campaign and a hastily assembled group of people have been working tirelessly over the past couple of weeks to ensure that all issues raised by the combined departures have been addressed.

The first step on any new path was confirmation that Gary and Ian would not be entering a Sheffield Scimitars team in the league and this was finally officially confirmed by them on Thursday.

All involved in keeping a team at this level and ensuring they can play out of iceSheffield, are very conscious of the urgency of being able to finalise details as soon as possible, in the interests of both the players and the fans. They also fully understand the necessity of keeping everyone informed of events.

As per the last update, the Club would like to reassure the fans that discussions are at an advanced stage with a potential new owner, one who has close ties with the Sheffield Academy, has the players' interests at heart and who is keen to oversee the continued development of local talent.

A budget and business plan are being worked on, as well as sponsorship packages to send out to potential sponsors.

The players who had been selected by Jon Rowbotham to play for the Scimitars next season have been contacted and kept informed of the on-going situation by Matt Darlow. Players' meetings have been held with those players who were in Sheffield and able to attend at short notice. All have backed the proposals which were put on the table by the prospective new owner and Matt Darlow, and they are keen to be playing for Sheffield EPL in the 2010/11 season.

The Club would like to thank Ian Johnson and Gary Apsley for taking over the reigns from long-time owner Martin Birch, and all their work with the Scimitars over the last year. They gave the club a new direction and allowed the players to have another year playing at EPL level, for which they, and the club, were grateful. Jon Rowbotham also relished the chance to coach at semi-professional level and together with Ian Johnson and Gary Apsley, they found it a challenging season but despite losing some key players before Christmas, they finished the season in 7th position to reach the Play-off Quarter Finals.

As always, we appreciate the fans' patience and a further press release will follow as soon as is possible. A date for an Open Fans' Forum will also be advertised so that you have the opportunity to be fully updated.

Your continued support and help is vital for the new team to move forward.

Next News Article: FANS' FORUM - Friday 16th July, 7pm
14th July 2010
Previous News Article: Press Release - Jon Rowbotham's resignation
27th June 2010

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