The British National League was a professional ice hockey

Ice hockey

Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...

 league in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

. It was founded in 1954 by the merger of the English National League

English National League

For the current league see English National Ice Hockey LeagueThe English National League was an early ice hockey league in England. It was founded in 1935 by most of the teams who had previously competed in the English League. It was suspended during the Second World War, but returned in 1946...

 and the Scottish National League, due to a declining number of teams, as many ice rink

Ice rink

An ice rink is a frozen body of water and/or hardened chemicals where people can skate or play winter sports. Besides recreational ice skating, some of its uses include ice hockey, figure skating and curling as well as exhibitions, contests and ice shows...

s previously fielding several sides chose to cut back.

After the 1954/5 season, all the Scottish teams with the exception of Paisley Pirates

Paisley Pirates

The Paisley Pirates were founded in 1946 and are one of the oldest ice hockey clubs in Scotland and the UK . The Pirates were the epitome of the game in Scotland during the 1950s...

 quit professional ice hockey, and the league was never able to regain its strength. It collapsed in 1960, after which no ice hockey league operated in the UK until the formation of the Scottish League in 1962 and its successor the Northern League

Northern League (ice hockey, 1967)

The Northern League was the top-flight ice hockey league in Scotland and initially northern England, from 1966. In 1982 it merged with the Inter-City League and the English League North to form the British Hockey League....

 in 1967.

Champions

1954-55 Harringay Racers

Harringay Racers

Harringay Racers was a British ice hockey club based in Harringay, England.The side was founded in 1936 and initially played alongside Harringay Greyhounds at the Harringay Arena. Both sides entered the English National League, which Racers won in 1937/8. After a break during World War II, the...

1955-56 Nottingham Panthers

Nottingham Panthers

The Nottingham Panthers are a British professional ice hockey club based in Nottingham, England. They are members of the Elite Ice Hockey League...

1956-57 Wembley Lions

Wembley Lions

The Wembley Lions were an English ice hockey team.The team were founded in 1934 but showed a continuity with the London Lions team which had played at various venues since 1924. The Wembley team were based at the newly built Empire Pool which they shared with the Wembley Monarchs until 1950.The...

1957-58 Brighton Tigers

Brighton Tigers

The Brighton Tigers were an English ice hockey club based in Brighton. The team existed from 1935 until 1965 and were one of the United Kingdom's most successful sides during that period...

1958-59 Paisley Pirates

Paisley Pirates

The Paisley Pirates were founded in 1946 and are one of the oldest ice hockey clubs in Scotland and the UK . The Pirates were the epitome of the game in Scotland during the 1950s...

1959-60 Streatham

Streatham Redskins

The Streatham Redskins are a British ice hockey club based in Streatham, London, England. Amongst the oldest British ice hockey teams still in existence, they were oginally founded in 1932 as Streatham, and added the name Redskins in 1974. During the 1980s, the club were one of the leading teams in...