Britain were founding members of the International Ice Hockey Federation in 1908, and enjoyed winning their first-ever IIHF European Championships in 1910. GB’s Men’s Ice Hockey Team won bronze at the 1924 Olympics, followed by a gold in the 1936 Games. However, since that early success, the country pulled funding and was never seen as a contender on the global stage again.
That changed somewhat in 2018 when Team GB reached the pinnacle and were able to compete in the Ice Hockey World Championships. Their 2019 appearance was the first time that Team GB have competed in the competition since 1994.
The British women's national ice hockey team was founded in 1989 and competed in the IIHF European Championships until 1996. Since then the team has competed in the IIHF World Women's Championships finishing in 23rd place (2nd in Division IIA) in 2018. They currently sit 23rd in the world rankings just one place lower than their male counterparts. Whilst the team is yet to qualify for the Olympics, the number of British female players has nearly doubled since 2011 to 889 eligible players as of 2019.
The National Governing Body is Ice Hockey UK, based in Nottingham. Find out more on the Ice Hockey UK website.