Altrincham Aces
League	English National Ice Hockey League English National Ice Hockey League The English National Ice Hockey League is an amateur ice hockey league below the English Premier Ice Hockey League which is administered by the English Ice Hockey Association. It is split into two conferences, north and south...
Founded	1961
Disbanded	2003
History	Altrincham Aces 1961-1986, 1995-2003 Trafford Metros 1986-1995
Arena	Altrincham Ice Rink Altrincham Ice Rink The original Altrincham Ice Rink was situated on Devonshire Road. Opened in 1960, the rink was home to the Altrincham Aces and original Trafford Metros Ice Hockey teams, as well as figure and speed skaters....
Capacity	2,500 (1962)
City	Altrincham Altrincham Altrincham is a market town within the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on flat ground south of the River Mersey about southwest of Manchester city centre, south-southwest of Sale and east of Warrington... , England England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
Team Colours	White, Black & Red

The Altrincham Aces were a semi-professional and amateur ice hockey team based out of the old Altrincham Ice Rink

Altrincham Ice Rink

The original Altrincham Ice Rink was situated on Devonshire Road. Opened in 1960, the rink was home to the Altrincham Aces and original Trafford Metros Ice Hockey teams, as well as figure and speed skaters....

, situated on Devonshire Road in Altrincham

Altrincham

Altrincham is a market town within the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on flat ground south of the River Mersey about southwest of Manchester city centre, south-southwest of Sale and east of Warrington...

, a large town located just south of Manchester

Manchester

Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...

 and Salford

City of Salford

The City of Salford is a city and metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It is named after its largest settlement, Salford, but covers a far larger area which includes the towns of Eccles, Swinton-Pendlebury, Walkden and Irlam which apart from Irlam each have a population of over...

. The team was initially founded in 1961, and played on until 2003, when the rink was sold , then demolished to make way for a new housing development.

During the period 1986-1995, the team was known as the Trafford Metros, as the team was in part funded by Trafford

Trafford

The Metropolitan Borough of Trafford is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It has a population of 211,800, covers , and includes the towns of Altrincham, Partington, Sale, Stretford, and Urmston...

 council. This name was revived in 2009, as the name of the Manchester Phoenix

Manchester Phoenix

Manchester Phoenix are a professional ice hockey team from Altrincham, Greater Manchester, England. The club was formed in 2003 as a result of the efforts of supporters group Friends of Manchester Ice Hockey to bring top-level ice hockey back to Manchester after Manchester Storm folded in...

English National League team.

In the course of the team's existence, they played in a variety of regional and national leagues, in the largely amateur structure of the sport within the UK.

Early years

The Aces were formed not long after the collapse of the old British League, and initially played in regional games. In 1967 they became a member of the newly created Northern League, initially playing in the leagues 2nd Division. During their 2nd season in this league they had to withdraw as a number of Scottish teams refused to travel as far south as Altrincham to play games.

The 1970s

In 1970, the Aces became one of the founder members of the new Southern League. The club had its first taste of league success in the 1972-1973 season, and followed this up the next year by finishing as runner up. They were also to finish as runners up in 75-76, 76-77, and in the Inter Cities League in 78-79.