The Bespoke Guardians Swindon Wildcats can today confirm that Floyd Taylor will be departing the Swindon Wildcats at the end of the current season.

Floyd will be leaving the team and taking up an unbelievable opportunity travelling to Australia with his Fiancé Vicky.

Speaking to swindonwildcats.com Floyd had the following message to pass onto the Wildcats family

Hi everyone,

I would like to start off by saying a MASSIVE thank you to my parents Sarah and Steve, without them I wouldn’t be playing ice hockey now. The support they’ve given me and my brothers has been incredible. Secondly, I would like to thank the Nells for allowing me to play in Swindon for so long and supporting me in my career.

It’s not going to be easy to say goodbye as I have played ice hockey in Swindon since 1999 and my whole career has been here, I wouldn’t have had it any other way.

What stands out to me during my time here is the friends I have made in Swindon. Every year the club try and make sure the whole team gets along and we have such a tight group it really makes coming to the rink that much easier.

The aim now is to go out with a trophy in hand and winning the playoffs really would be the icing on the cake for me. It’s something I would love to achieve and I think we have the team that can do it.

This year I’ve reached 500 games for the Wildcats and have my Testimonial in April. I think this is the perfect time to bow out of hockey. I spent my whole childhood at the Link Centre watching the Wildcats. Little did I know I would’ve hit 500 games and play 10 years as a professional Wildcat, this is all I dreamt about and it came true.

This has not been an easy decision to make and I will miss ice hockey in Swindon massively. I would like to thank the fans for all of their support over the years, you really are brilliant. I would also like to personally thank Melanie and Nigel Beckett who have been my sponsor for so long, their support really has meant a lot to me over the years.

I hope to see as many of you as possible at my testimonial on 22.04.23!

#12 Floyd Taylor

Similarly, Head Coach Aaron Nell said:

As a club we’re sad to see Floyd go, but we all wish him the best of luck for the future. He’s been part of the club for 10 years and it will be very strange to see a Wildcats team without him skating onto the ice in September.

He will be terribly missed by the guys in the locker-room, he’s a massive part of the team and his personality feeds onto the others around him and we’ll all miss that next year. On the ice, he’s a battler and gives 110% for the team every night. His numbers may not be the highest but the way he plays the game is why he’s been so loved by the Swindon fans.

We’ve got two more home games before the end of the season and I hope everyone will come together to give him the send off he deserves and hopefully as a club we can send him off to Australia with a trophy in his hand.