Birmingham Eagles
League	British Universities Ice Hockey Association British Universities Ice Hockey Association The British Universities Ice Hockey Association was founded in spring term 2003 by a group of enthusiastic hockey players from the universities of Oxford, London, Nottingham and Newcastle.- History of the BUIHA :...
Divisions	Division 1 (Northern) Division 2 (Northern)
History	2001 - Present
Home Arena	Solihull Ice Arena
Former Home Arena	Planet Ice Birmingham
Universities	University of Birmingham University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham is a British Redbrick university located in the city of Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Birmingham Medical School and Mason Science College . Birmingham was the first Redbrick university to gain a charter and thus... Birmingham City University Birmingham City University Birmingham City University is a British university in the city of Birmingham, England. It is the second largest of three universities in the city, the other two being the Aston University and University of Birmingham... Aston University Aston University Aston University is a "plate glass" campus university situated at Gosta Green, in the city centre of Birmingham, England.Established in 1895 as the Birmingham Municipal Technical School, Aston was granted its Royal Charter as Aston University on 22 April 1966...
Team Colours	Blue, Black, White
Honours	2007 Division 2 Southern Conference Champions
Website	http://www.birminghameagles.co.uk

The Birmingham Eagles Ice Hockey Club is the Ice hockey club that represents the higher education establishments of the West Midlands Conurbation

West Midlands conurbation

The West Midlands conurbation is the name given to the large conurbation that includes the cities of Birmingham and Wolverhampton and the large towns of Dudley, Walsall, West Bromwich, Solihull, Stourbridge, Halesowen in the English West Midlands....

. They currently play in the British Universities Ice Hockey Association

British Universities Ice Hockey Association

The British Universities Ice Hockey Association was founded in spring term 2003 by a group of enthusiastic hockey players from the universities of Oxford, London, Nottingham and Newcastle.- History of the BUIHA :...

.

History

The Madpuckers years:

The club can be considered a direct descendant of the former English Division 1 team the Birmingham Rockets which folded in 2001 Several of the players were at local universities at the time and the fledgling BUIHA was beginning to attract more institutions.
While it is not clear how or when the decision was made, “PK” Coles, owner of the hockey equipment shop named Madpuckers, began to attract university students from Aston University

Aston University

Aston University is a "plate glass" campus university situated at Gosta Green, in the city centre of Birmingham, England.Established in 1895 as the Birmingham Municipal Technical School, Aston was granted its Royal Charter as Aston University on 22 April 1966...

, UCE

Birmingham City University

Birmingham City University is a British university in the city of Birmingham, England. It is the second largest of three universities in the city, the other two being the Aston University and University of Birmingham...

 (now Birmingham City University) and The University of Birmingham through advertising on campus and his equipment shop.
While a controversial figure, it cannot be denied that PK’s enthusiasm and generous equipment deals were instrumental in getting the club off the ground.

By 2002/2003 with several rocket players still retained due to a BUIHA rule allowing up to 5 non-university players to assist development, the “Madpuckers” as they were then known, were still playing infrequent games against University sides and local rec teams.

In April 2003 the ‘madpuckers’ entered the second national championships held at the NIC in Nottingham. With only 1 point and 3 goals over the preliminary rounds they did not progress.

Becoming The Eagles and the end of the PK era - 2003/2004:

At the start of the 2003/2004 season PK designed a new logo and rebranded the madpuckers the Eagles. The colours went from bright yellow solids to mainly black with light blue stripes. The new logo appeared to be a modified version of the Boston College Eagles

Boston College Eagles

The Boston College Eagles are the athletic teams representing Boston College. They compete in NCAA Division I as members of the Atlantic Coast Conference. The men's and women's ice hockey teams compete in Hockey East. The women's crew team competes in the Eastern Association of Women's Rowing...

 logo.
The Eagles entered the BUIHA cup competition as a founder member of Division 2. The season was hampered with transportation problems and the only games completed were those against Nottingham B.
The fateful home and home against Nottingham B was noteworthy for 2 reasons;

1) The 1st game of the series played at Solihull Ice Arena (the Eagle’s new home as Planet Ice Birmingham had closed due to fire) resulted in a comprehensive 9-3 victory for the Eagles. The return leg was mired in controversy as the Nottingham B side reversed the decision by the same score.
It was obvious to those that had been at the first leg that the Nottingham team was made up of substantially different personnel and upon investigation of player names it was discovered that over half of the Nottingham B team in the second leg in fact played for the Nottingham A team.
At this time in the BUIHA timeline this was not against any rules and therefore the result stood. As a direct result of lobbying by the Eagles of the BUIHA a rule was implemented to prevent players ‘dropping down’ whilst also leaving for provisions to allow promotion/demotion between teams within clubs.

2) In the 2nd game of the series with the Eagles losing then coach PK Coles summarily quit coaching in the middle of the game, choosing instead to sit in the stands and watch. After this incident it was widely held by senior members of the club and the club committee that PK should have no further role to play within the club; however, his influence was underestimated and he continued to coach the development squad until the end of the season.

For the first time during the 2003/4 season the Ice Hockey Club was recognised as a student organisation by the Guild of Students at the University of Birmingham. It was clear that neither party was happy with the arrangement; from the Guild perspective, Ice Hockey was seen as poorly organised and expensive. From the perspective of the club the Guild were unwilling to fund although the main issue was that the Guild was not the Athletic Union.
Recognition by other universities was hard to achieve due to the number of students involved at each institution.

The Eagles entered 2 teams into the national championships, the A team went into the tier 1 competition and the development squad (B-team) entered the Tier 2 competition.
The A team shared a similar fate in 2004 that they did in 2003, after 3 games of the preliminary round they were eliminated with only 1 point and 3 goals scored.
The B team earned the Birmingham Eagles’ first victory at a national championship with a win over Northumbria in the preliminary round. Due to a poorly constructed competition format the Eagles were denied an opportunity to advance past the preliminary round.

This disappointing end to the season also signified the end of the PK era; while he would occasionally be seen at practices over the next few years, his influence over the team was finished.

Student Run Eagles 2004 onwards.

The 2004/5 season began with a full complement of committee members striving to improve both the running of the team and the on-ice product.
Fresher’s fairs at all representative institutions were organised to ensure the best available talent was recruited.
Fixtures were organised well in advance to prevent the embarrassing situation of the previous year that saw the academic year end with cup competition fixtures remaining.
Custom team clothing in University colours was ordered and a dress code for games was implemented.
The A team began play in the southern conference of Division 2 placing them for the first time in the same conference as closest geographical rivals Warwick University.
The B team that performed so heroically at the National Championships was retained and began play in the Tier 3 south cup competition; although very few games were played in this division nationwide.

Origin of players

Countries of Origin
Flag	Country
	Wales Wales Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
	Scotland Scotland Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
	England England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
	South Korea South Korea The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
	Finland Finland Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
	Sweden Sweden Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
	Hong Kong Hong Kong Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
	Brazil Brazil Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
	Canada Canada Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
	USA
	South Africa South Africa The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...