The Fife Flyers are the only EIHL team that struggles with signing homegrown players every year and that hasn’t changed despite critics calling for change. As we approach the 24/25 season the Flyers approach another year without enough homegrown players to fill a fourth line and cover injuries.
The Fife Flyers were one of the main source for upcoming homegrown players with the likes of Stephen Murphy, the King brothers, Lee Mitchell, and Adam Walker to name a few, however, this has changed over the years as the last few homegrown players to leave the Fife Flyers either retired or dropped down a level due to money or not receiving an offer from the Flyers. Bari McKenzie is one key player to look at as he loved his time with the club however they couldn’t work out a deal to get him back and a result of this saw him drop down to the NIHL, Jordan Buesa too, he joined the Fife Flyers for the 18/19 season where he didn’t play much minutes each night which we saw regularly with the team and homegrown players.
It doesn’t stop there, if we travel back to the year 2001 Flyers fan saw a promising goalie Stephen Murphy decide to leave the Fife Flyers to go to the newly founded Dundee Stars, whether this move was due to money or gametime is unknown however this move saw the Flyers lose a goalie who would become one of the best in the country. The Belfast Giants noticed the skill of Murphy and they signed him and he went on to become a British champion, EIHL champion and Challenge Cup champion. This is another sign of the Fife Flyers having a homegrown player in their grasps and letting them go.
The Fife Flyers had a solid number of homegrown players for a few years in the EIHL with the likes of Allan Anderson, Stephen Gunn, Blair Daly, Kyle Horne, Chris Wands and Thomas Muir which were all players capable of playing regular minutes every night however, these players had been with the team for awhile which resulted in many of them retiring. The only player that didn’t retire was Allan Anderson who was still young however, he decided to make the move from the Fife Flyers to the Kirkcaldy Kestrels, just like Andrew Little has done this season. Another notable transfer we saw with a homegrown Fife Flyers was Chad Smith who departed from the team and joined the Glasgow Clan due to a lack of ice time which the player has made clear as he has regularly commented of Flyer’s social media pages, one reply being on the post about the signing of Brodie Kay last season where he said “Quality player needs ice time”, this comment could be brushed off as a joke however, it could also be a dig towards the lack of ice time he received during his tenure with the club.
The Fife Flyers joined the EIHL in 2011 with a roster which was 60% homegrown players, the highest percentage of homegrown players within any Fife Flyers EIHL roster. This figure tragically changed over the years as the team adapted to the import demand, within five years (2011/12 - 2016/17) the percentage of homegrown players on the roster dropped by 30% meaning for the 2016/17 season the Fife Flyers roster was 30% homegrown players (which is seven homegrown players out of a roster size of 23). Now that we approach the 24/25 season the homegrown player percentage is sitting at 16% when rounded which is three homegrown players out of 19 players.
The Fife Flyers are almost destined to be slammed with injuries around the midseason point like previous years and they have even less injury cover as we speak and with Fynn Page being on a two way with the Bristol Pitbulls it will be even worse along with one of the homegrown players being the backup netminder. It is important to the fans to hear why the lack of homegrown players seems to get worse year by year. Is it poor input from the GM or the directors or is it a budget issue, we aren’t too sure, it may simply be players declining offers from the team however, it is important for the issues to be resolved if they seek to contest the higher end of the table.
Author - Calan Yule
Last Edited - 20:02 06/08/2024
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