Name

Belfast Giants

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Next Event (12 Dec)
calendar next Belfast Giants vs Guildford Flames

Manager
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flag country Adam Keefe

League Position


Recent League Form ➡


Established
2007 (18 years old)

Sport
Sport Icon Ice Hockey

Venue
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SSE Arena Belfast

(11,058 Capacity)

Former Names
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Archive

Primary Colours

Location
Belfast, Northern Ireland

Nicknames

Competitions
UK Elite Ice Hockey League
Champions Hockey League

Last Edit
smudgie: 07/Apr/25
Logo
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Upcoming
tiny league badge icon 12 Dec Belfast G tiny home badge icon 7:00pm tiny away badge icon Guildford
tiny league badge icon 13 Dec Belfast G tiny home badge icon 7:00pm tiny away badge icon Guildford
tiny league badge icon 14 Dec Dundee St tiny home badge icon 5:00pm tiny away badge icon Belfast G
tiny league badge icon 21 Dec Belfast G tiny home badge icon 5:00pm tiny away badge icon Dundee St
tiny league badge icon 26 Dec Belfast G tiny home badge icon 7:00pm tiny away badge icon Fife Flye

Results
tiny league badge icon 06 Dec Cardiff D tiny home badge icon 2 - 1 tiny away badge icon Belfast G
tiny league badge icon 05 Dec Mancheste tiny home badge icon P - P tiny away badge icon Belfast G
tiny league badge icon 29 Nov Glasgow C tiny home badge icon 3 - 4 tiny away badge icon Belfast G
tiny league badge icon 28 Nov Dundee St tiny home badge icon 1 - 4 tiny away badge icon Belfast G
tiny league badge icon 23 Nov Guildford tiny home badge icon 2 - 5 tiny away badge icon Belfast G

Description british english flag icon
The Belfast Giants are an ice hockey team from Belfast, Northern Ireland that compete in the Elite Ice Hockey League. Home games are played at the 12,000-capacity Odyssey Arena in Belfast.

Currently the Belfast Giants are sponsored by Stena Line and are known as 'The Stena Line Belfast Giants'. The previous major sponsors were Aer Lingus, LBM, Coors Fine Light Beer and Harp Lager who sponsored the Belfast Giants in sequence since their inception.

Sectarianism had long been seen as a significant problem in some sports in Northern Ireland. When the club was established, the Belfast Giants were keen that the club not attach itself to a particular faith or community, instead wanting to represent Belfast as a whole. A number of policies were subsequently introduced to try to ensure this. Particular clothing (such as association football replica shirts), which might have displayed a person's political or religious affiliation, were banned and flags were not permitted to be brought into the arena. The national anthem of the United Kingdom, traditionally played before games at other arenas in the Elite League, is not played before Giants games. These policies have been successful and the Giants have quickly built a large and enthusiastic fanbase who did not have to fear the sectarianism that marred other sports in Northern Ireland.

Initially members of the now defunct Superleague, the Giants won the championship in 2001–02 and were play-off champions in 2002–03. With the Superleague's demise, there were concerns that the Giants would not survive because of major financial problems which had developed. Running up debts of £600,000 and facing the threat of liquidation creditors voted to accept 20p in the pound allowing the club to continue. One company was believed to be owed nearly £65,000.

However, with the creation of the new Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL) for the 2003–04 season, the Giants survived. The Giants finished 4th in the league's first season, but failed to reach the post-season play-offs..

The Giants finished runners up in the 2004–05 season behind the Coventry Blaze but were winners of the Cross-over League Cup, which was played with teams from the BNL.

In 2005, The Giants unveiled NHL All-Star and Olympic Gold Medal winner, Theo Fleury who made his debut against the Edinburgh Capitals. The Giants won 11–2, with Fleury scoring a hat-trick. With 4 additional assists and a fight under his belt, he was named man of the match.

Besides Fleury, several other players who previously played in the NHL have played for the Giants; Paul Kruse, Jason Ruff, Paxton Schulte, and Jason Bowen, Bowen and Kruse having played almost 600 games between them. Kevin Westgarth is the latest incumbent from the NHL to don the Giants jersey, arriving from the Calgary Flames after several seasons in North America's top league.

With an average attendance of around 4,023, the Giants are one of two Elite league ice hockey squads among the most popular teams of the continent, along with the Nottingham Panthers.
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