Games are coming thick and fast now. As well as our home game against Belfast, we've been to Belfast and Nottingham and when I've written this I've got to get up to the rink to travel to Manchester - hopefully an incident free journey this time.

You'll have heard by now about the games we've arranged against Swindon on March 11th and at their rink on the 18th.

As soon as our previous owner left, Ryan Aldridge immediately offered to play these games . He knew better than anyone how much the squad had lost out financially with players being owed wages, and a number of players requiring reimbursement for travel and equipment costs.

He and Brad Cruikshank had worked hard over the summer recruiting and preparing for the season. We were all overwhelmed by the generosity of the fans and Matt Burge, owner of the Devils, in helping us to start the season but when the financial situation of the club worsened and the money raised had proved to be insufficient the owner left .

At that time our priority was to regroup after the departure of our coach and captain. We wanted to do something to help ourselves and not turn to the long-suffering fans for further funding. But first we wanted to get back on track competitively and the new coaching team were pleased by Christmas to have achieved a .50% after a long opening losing streak under the previous owner.

Now seems the right time to respond to Ryan's generous offer. Although we compete fiercely on the ice against each other, hockey players do form a tight-knit community. We have a passion for the sport, a passion which I think is shared by the Bison fans.

I hope as many of you as possible will want to join us on March 11th. For us, it will be a kind of celebration that we can all enjoy together. Whatever the problems we've faced, however little success we've had on the ice in this centenary year, all of us who have come to Basingstoke to play know it as a real hockey town with a great hockey community.

To still be together at the end of this season is in itself a success. You've all been a vital part of this. We thank you and look forward to seeing you all.