Sitting In The Cheap Seats

With a little over two weeks to go until the puck drops for head coach Keefe's testimonial game, the Belfast Giants have confirmed the full roster who will be icing to celebrate his time with the Giants and his impact on Belfast. With a who's who of former and current Giants, some well known names for NHL fans and even some of Adam's family, involved it promises to be a fun event as Keefe rotates between the teams to ice with so many influential figures from across his career.  Read on for the full press release. ----- The Stena Line Belfast Giants are pleased to confirm the full roster of players and coaches for Adam Keefe ’s testimonial, which is set to take place at The SSE Arena, Belfast on Sunday 8 June 2025.   The highly anticipated one-night-only celebrate will commemorate the legacy of Adam Keefe – a true Giant in every sense – with a star-studded lineup of players taking to the ice in his honour. Featuring members of the Belfast Giants 2024/25 Challenge Cup and Eli...

photo courtesy of William Cherry, Press Eye It’s EIHL playoff final weekend! After eight months of toil, four teams will face off for the chance to lift the last silverware of the season. First up Belfast Giants take on Cardiff Devils so I caught up with David Goodwin to see how the team are feeling after a battle against Dundee Stars and how ready they are for the games ahead. It was, I suggest, an intense weekend for the team. “Yeah, I mean it was. It always is. The quarterfinals… you never know what you're going to get.” Goodwin replies. “On one hand, you have us, the Giants, who are coming off a league title win, so we're on a high. But then you got Dundee, who don't want to go away quietly. They were fighting and scratching and clawing for every inch and it lead to two feisty games. “I give Dundee a lot of credit. They threw everything they had at us. But ultimately, I think our consistent play, maybe some of our higher skill was able to shine through and get the...

  Last weekend the Belfast Giants etched their names, once again, in the EIHL history books with a record-setting seventh league title. A dramatic win for the men in teal, away in Nottingham in the final minutes of the season, was a fitting end to a spectacular season and though there are still play off games to contend with, the club have made sure to celebrate their success. We caught up with Jeff Baum to see just how much fun was had and to hear about how he keeps focused for the games still to come. “It’s a very unique situation to win a trophy and still have - hopefully - four more games to keep playing. It’s a great honour to have finished out the league season the way we wanted to and to be able to celebrate that together…. That sigh of relief that we’ve been able to accomplish a goal we set ourselves at the beginning of the season. That’s two goals checked off, from the three we set ourselves at the beginning of every season. Now it’s time to reset our mindset, get back ...

It’s the hottest day on record, the south coast swelters as we all look for a way to cool off… and on stage at Chichester Festival Theatre it is hotter still as their big summer musical is launched. So as I write this I’m thankful for two things – the air-conditioning that was added in Chichester’s 2014 relaunch and the sheer joy of Gershwin’s timeless tunes!

With a perfect record of 16 wins from 16 games leading to their fourth promotion in as many seasons London Irish Emeralds – the women’s first 15 for London Irish Amateur RFC – have found their way into Championship 1, the top tier of the RFU women’s leagues and home to some of the most celebrated teams in the game. So how do they look back on last season and what does the future look like for them?

It’s Inter-Services time again, one of my favourite periods in the rugby calendar and as I can’t get along to any of the games in person this year I decided I was long overdue in giving them some publicity. I caught up with some members of the Royal Navy women’s team ahead of them taking on the RAF in Ealing this weekend. It’s clear from the off that there’s a lot of excitement about the game. “I’m really excited” scrum half Olivia Critchley-Peddle exclaims. “It’s been three years since we’ve played this fixture, so nobody knows what to expect!” The score line three years ago favoured the RAF but there’s a distinct change to this year’s tournament as winger Abi Ashby explains “For the first time in a few years it’s almost a level playing field. The Army and RAF have lost their international players to the Six Nations so for the first time the Navy will be able to step up and show what we can do against a similar opposition.” LH Rose Dixon will lead the @RNRugby Senior Women against ...