The Wembley Lions were an English

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...

 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...

 team.

The team were founded in 1934 but showed a continuity with the London Lions

London Lions

The London Lions based out of London, England was an independent professional ice hockey team that played 72 games during the 1973-74 season against the top European hockey teams. It was started by Detroit Red Wings owner Bruce Norris with a vision of building a league to be affiliated with the...

 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

Wembley Monarchs

The Wembley Monarchs were an ice hockey team in the United Kingdom. They were founded in 1929 as the Grosvenor House Canadians, transferred to Wembley Canadians for the 1934-35 season and became the Monarchs in 1936...

 until 1950.

The team entered 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...

, winning it in 1935-36 and 1936-37. After a break during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, they returned and again topped the league in 1951-52. In 1954, Lions joined the new British National League

British National League (1954 - 1960)

The British National League was a professional ice hockey league in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1954 by the merger of the English National League and the Scottish National League, due to a declining number of teams, as many ice rinks previously fielding several sides chose to cut...

, which they won this championship in 1956/7. The League collapsed in 1960, and faced with the prospect of no regular league matches, the team folded.

Inspired by the success of 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...

, who had continued to play without a league, Lions reformed in 1963 to play friendly matches and continued until 1968.

One of their most notable players was James Robertson Justice

James Robertson Justice

James Robertson Justice was a popular British character actor in British films of the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s.-Biography:...

, better known as an actor, who tended goal for a season.