Aberdeen Oilers Floorball Club

Aberdeen Oilers Floorball Club

Nickname(s)	Oilers
Founded	2007
Arena	Beach Leisure Centre
Capacity	25
Coach	Michal Kanda
League	Floorball Northern League
Championships	Northern League (2009)
Home colors Away colors

Aberdeen Oilers is a floorball club based in Aberdeen, Scotland.

History

Aberdeen Oilers were officially founded in January 2007 and became the most northern floorball club in Britain. Two brothers and former Dundee floorball players (Neil and Michael Shaw) and two students from Switzerland (Sascha Fässler and Lorna Teal) started off with organising training sessions in Aberdeen, the first of which was held on December 9th 2006 at Torry Sports Centre. Soon the group of players prospered as members were attracted from all walks of life including students from the local education institutions and people living and working in the Aberdeen area. Quite a number of individuals of the initial group were employed in companies of the local oil industry – a fact which largely influenced the choice of the later adopted team name. On 3 March 2007 the first ever match was played in Torry Sports Centre against Balwearie Floorball Club from Fife, which ended in a narrow 2–3 defeat for the Oilers. After further friendly matches played in Glenrothes and a friendly tournament in Dundee the Oilers were soon ready to play their first competitive matches.

Early competitive games

Seatronics became the first sponsor of the club, helping to acquire the first full team kit that allowed the team to participate in the Scottish Cup qualifiers that took place in April 2007. After a clear 9-0 defeat in their first match against Scottish league record champions Chapel Floorball Club the Oilers managed a deserved 5-5 draw in a hard fought match against Balwearie Lightning. The next tournament on the agenda was the British National Championships organised by the Great Britain Floorball Federation and played in Perth on the first weekend in May 2007. A group of 15 Oilers made their way down to central Scotland to attend the flagship competition in British floorball and meet teams from all over the country. Drawn in a group together with teams from Bath, Glenrothes and Linlithgow the Oilers managed to secure a clear 5-0 victory in their first match against Linlithgow. The second match against Chapel Floorball Club from Glenrothes ended in an undeserved 4-1 defeat after a good game with plenty of goal opportunities on both sides. A further defeat against Bath meant that Aberdeen Oilers ended up 3rd in their group. The relatively good goal difference however allowed the team to progress to the quarter finals of the tournament where they played later finalists Brighton Rock. The match ended 4-1 in favour of Brighton. To determine the final placing of teams, a further round saw the first clash between Dundee Northern Lights and the Oilers, a game which proved to be one of the closest fought in the whole tournament. Regular time could not split the two sides after the Oilers scored an equaliser in the dying seconds of the game. The penalty shoot-out ended in sudden death after 7th rounds with the more experienced Dundee side finally winning the game. Aberdeen ended up 8th overall.

2007/08 Northern League season

In their first ever season (2007/2008) in the British Floorball Northern League, the team qualified for the British National Championships in the last round of the league after wins against Dundee and Balwearie Lightning. Another sponsorhip deal was secured with Kongsberg Maritime. At the Nationals held in Stratford-Upon-Avon in May 2008 the team played against London Vikings, Bournemouth Bullets and Brighton Rock, and missed out narrowly on a place in the semi-finals.

2008/09 Northern League season

Already in their second season (2008/2009) in the British Floorball Northern League, Aberdeen Oilers were crowned Scottish floorball champions. The team showed a flawless performance with only one game lost in the whole season. In the British National Championship held in Edinburgh in May 2009, Aberdeen played Oxford Floorball club, Balwearie Lightning, London Sharks, Brighton Rock and Edinburgh. Final position was 7th place. After the British Nationals 2009, Aberdeen Oilers Floorball Club announced a new equipment sponsorship deal with Swedish floorball equipment manufacturers Salming. The new Salming jerseys feature the logo of World Vision charity.

Roster – men's team

As of May 1, 2009

Goalkeepers
Number		Player	Catches	Acquired	Place of Birth
38		Michal Zacik		2008	Slovakia

Defender
Number		Player	Shoots	Acquired	Place of Birth
16		Neil Shaw		2007	United Kingdom
81		Billy Brown		2007	United Kingdom
6		Martin Kanda		2009	Slovakia
43		Marian Papcun		2008	Slovakia
20		Johan Samuelsson		2009	Sweden
23		Marek Vrabec		2008	Slovakia
33		Alex Sutherland		2007	United Kingdom

Forwards
Number		Player	Shoots	Position	Acquired	Place of Birth
99		Jan Felcman			2008	Czech Republic
12		Daniel Walti			2008	Switzerland
4		Petter Krantz			2007	Sweden
11		Nils Lindström			2009	Sweden
8		Michael Kanda			2008	Slovakia
10		Lukas Bronec			2008	Czech Republic
18		Arvis Heidemanis			2008	Latvia
9		James Young			2008	United Kingdom
33		Michal Kvapil			2010	Moravia

Roster – women's team

As of May 1, 2009

Goalkeepers
Number		Player	Catches	Acquired	Place of Birth
38		Michal Zacik		2008	Slovakia

Players
Number		Player	Shoots	Acquired	Place of Birth
5		Linda Glass		2007	United Kingdom
3		Alissa James		2008	United Kingdom
14		Jasmin Godbold		2008	Germany
4		Laura Siim		2008	Estonia
22		Maria Nahkshina		2007	Russia
2		Natalie Hicks		2009	Zimbabwe
13		Ewa Baumgart		2009	Poland
9		Dan-Thi Nguyen		2009	Switzerland

Notable former players

Northern League record

Year	Teams	Position	GP	W	D	L	GS	GA
2007/08	8	3	14	9	0	5	81	73
2008/09	7	1	12	11	0	1	76	24
Total 1 title			26	20	0	6	157	97

Northern Ladies League record

Year	Teams	Position	GP	W	D	L	GS	GA
2007/08	4	2	8	2	2	4	15	18
Total 0 titles			8	2	2	4	15	18

British Nationals record

Year	Teams	Position	GP	W	D	L	GS	GA
Perth 2007	12	8	5	1	0	4	11	23
Stratford-Upon-Avon 2008	8	5-8	3	1	0	2	12	20
Edinburgh 2009	12	7	6	2	0	4	-	-
Total 0 titles			14	4	0	10	23	43

References

• Oilers official web site