Formed in 1986 the Swindon Wildcats went for several years without winning any silverware at all but in the 1991/92 season this was to change. Drawn in a group with Streatham Redskins, Basingstoke Beavers and Oxford City Stars the Wildcats team finished top of the group with a record of 5 wins and 1 draw from their 6 group stage games. In the semi-finals the Wildcats took on the Medway Bears and they emerged victorious to move onto the final in Sheffield where they played out the final against the Milton Keynes Kings.
The game was a tense affair that went was tied 5-5 after regulation time and after a nail-biting 10-minute period of sudden death overtime the two teams could still not be separated and a penalty shootout was needed. The hero of the penalty shootout was Wildcats Netminder Ian Woodward who made the crucial save on the final penalty shot the trophy was heading back to Wiltshire. This was a momentous night for ice hockey in Swindon as it was the first success in the team’s history.
Then 27 years later the Wildcats were to taste success in the competition once more, they were drawn in a group along with Hull Pirates and Telford Tigers and after a round robin of fixtures Swindon topped the group and would go onto play the Peterborough Phantoms in the semi-final. The Wildcats were victorious over the two-legged semi and proceeded to face off against the Basingstoke Bison in the final.
The first leg of the final took place in Basingstoke and in a low scoring game it was Swindon who held the advantage bringing home a 3-1 win from the away fixture. Back at home things were heavily in favour of the Wildcats winning the trophy and they duly delivered with a 4-2 win, 7-3 on aggregate to secure success in the Autumn Cup for the first time in nearly 3 decades.
As we look forward to the final against the Leeds Knights we can only hope this Wildcats side delivers as many memories as those of the past.
