http://www.manchesterphoenix.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2724

Some very interesting points raised here especially about ex Storm fans not wanting to watch the Phoenix but then how many will want to watch the Phoenix play in the Aces home town

Its more the "stormies" who don't consider Phoenix their team, just like you Mark with the Aces/Phoenix situation rather than "Phoenix fan not supporting their team because they play in Altyy"

It all seems a bit daft to me personally, its still ice hockey in our area wink wink and its still a team to support. So what we're not getting stupid sized crowds anymore, so what we have a couple of lines of "imports". It still a hockey team, trying to give ice hockey to the people who love it and provide the best quality for both the youths who want to do well and spectators.

But the interesting part about the original posting is people can not associate themselves with the Phoenix who were die hard Storm fans.

In the same way ex Aces supporters can not associate themselves with the Phoenix playing out of what was the Aces home town.

It is easy to say move on and don’t live in the past but at the end of the day the Phoenix are not our team.

Some of us will come and watch players we have watched develop in leaps and bounds under Claude Dumas or others we have watched in the past get the opportunity to step up like Matty Compton.

Yet at the end of the day the Phoenix have more in line with another type of bird the cuckoo and as such people will never be able to associate themselves with this team but still pay and watch occasional games

But the interesting part about the original posting is people can not associate themselves with the Phoenix who were die hard Storm fans.


i presume by this you mean that that is why people continue to wear storm shirts when they have phoenix ones rather than me saying that you can't be a phoenix fan until you turn your back on the storm as this was so NOT what i was trying to say. a little clarification?

the main reasons for me starting the thread on the phoenix forum was that even after over 3 years since the storm folded several areas of the press in recent weeks have referred to manchester phoenix as manchester storm. we are getting called the storm in other elite league arenas. my point is will this continue until the phoenix is more successful than the storm were (doubtful in terms of numbers anyway)?
i have seen and heard people that i consider friends get as weary with this as me when they were stormies and i wasn't. i asked the question to get it out there, maybe i had a sudden rush of madness.

i did not start that thread to upset people or to say that the storm shold be forgotten. it shouldn't. my thoughts are is it holding us back?

what i don't want is something that i wrote (trying to ask other's thoughts without upsetting people) to be used as another "typical manchester fan" quoting tool.

You are not being used as another Manchester fan quoting tool.

I know you to well to try and belittle your viewpoint

It was the replies from certain people in the Storm camp who have parallel views over in Altrincham.

People keep saying Manchester ice hockey is back. To me Ice Hockey in Altrincham is back which is a nice little town in Cheshire with a long history of ice hockey development starting with the Aces then the Metros back to the Aces and know we have a team called the Phoenix who are playing out of Altrincham with the old development set up back in place.

Yes some people may want to break away from the Storm and believe that they and the Metros before them and forget the history. Then there are two sets of people who have lost there team for 2 completely different reasons who don’t want to lose that connection who use references and wearing of shirts from the old era.

I don't think the Alty Aces faithful will have too long to wait before there is an Aces team back in Alty when the Pheonix flames get P****d on cos they don't win nowt and Mr Morris loses interest and decides to pull the plug cos it will be costing too much to pay the players who from what I have seen aren't that good!!

You wait and see I'll give it 2 seasons at the most (including this one!) before it all goes T**s up and either the new rink will close (which I don't think it will as their will be enough revenue from general skating and stuff) or the Altrincham Aces will get their rightful home back!!

Manchester ice hockey is proven to be a novelty!!

ALTRINCHAM ICE HOCKEY IS IN OUR BLOOD!!!!!

No offence, but if Mr Morris was going to 'lose interest' in ice hockey, he would already have done so, dont you think?

For some of us from Manchester, hockey isnt a novelty. We love it just as much as you do.

Why do people (on both sides) have to perpetuate a divide between 'us and them'?

It is not a us and them divide what the Phoenix are offering is not what the Aces offered to us so they are two completely different animals the Phoenix are the Man United of Ice hockey calling themselves Manchester but play in Trafford like the football team.

The Aces are the poor cousins or Manchester City of ice hockey. You would not expect the two camps to cross over so why in Ice Hockey where there is the same divide

As said before I am no Phoenix fan but Mr Morris is taking a huge business risk and I wouldn't actually blame him for pulling out of it if it didn't pay off.

You wait and see I'll give it 2 seasons at the most (including this one!) before it all goes T**s up and either the new rink will close (which I don't think it will as their will be enough revenue from general skating and stuff) or the Altrincham Aces will get their rightful home back!!



no one deserves to lose their team, but posts like the above don't do either side of this any good.
at some point you may want to think about what makes your idea of a hockey team superior to other people's.
i hope you get your team back i really do but that doesn't mean you have to want the phoenix to fail

Nobody wants to see anyone lose there team but Manchester Ice Hockey has a track record of being a novelty especially the Phoenix.

The Storm at the end was not financially viable.

The Phoenix has spent 2 of its 3 years of existence not playing because it did not live up to its initial business plan.

What is to say it will not fail again especially with all the delays and loss of revenue from the ice rink.

It is not Neil I am worried about losing interest but the other backers losing interest which was the case when Phoenix was first muted and Neil ploughed his own business money in.

If the Phoenix loses its backers again can Neil keep it afloat on his own

Getting near time to call a halt to this.

There is nothing to suggest financial problems at the Phoenix. NM has a reputation for not spending unnecessarily. Sure the rink delay impacts on income but there's no need to spend on promoting the team in the area either. Don't forget also that current games are non season ticket so that's more money coming in earlier than expected.

The new Phoenix team isn't outstanding but is competent (mid table) and has a good goalie behind it - no reason at all why it shouldn't draw crowds in a rink with atmosphere.

Rink is also meant to still be on schedule for opening at the end of next month. http://www.manchesterphoenix.co.uk/news/s/0/556_phoenix_update_on_ice_dome_schedule.html

They'll be doing well if they can achieve that particularly in light of new (rink fitting out) delays at Cardiff but remember Planet Ice are behind it too rather than just a local businessman.

I'd love to see an Aces/ENL team back in the rink next season but its going to be way different from what we had in the past - we have to move on.

Shame the thread lost its original point of why certain sections can not associate themselves with the Phoenix.