BLACKBURN folk know all about getting into the Premier League through the play-offs!
And it's the turn of the ice-hockey stars this time as Blackburn Hawks kick off their promotion bid tomorrow to bring Premier Division hockey to Blackburn Arena. Over the next three weekends, Hawks face six matches which could catapult them into the ten-team elite of the British game.
If the much-vaunted 'SuperLeague' fails to take off next season - Blackburn would be excluded from such a league on grounds of Arena capacity - a successful play-off campaign would see the Hawks in there with British Ice Hockey giants such as Sheffield, Cardiff and Nottingham next season.
Despite a disappointing run of results towards the end of the marathon 52-game regular season, the local side have turned in the most consistent set of results in their five-year history.
Hawks' task over the next 16 days is to play fellow First Division sides Bracknell Bees and Guildford Flames, along with Premier Division strugglers Milton Keynes, home and away on a group basis. The top team secures a Premier Division spot.
Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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