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The Belfast Giants where formed in 2000 by businessman Bob Zeller when he put together a plan to start a hockey team in the UK. Belfast was his chosen location and this decision would make the Giants Ireland’s first professional ice hockey team.

The year 2000 brought about the new millennium and a new time of peace to Northern Ireland and the country was developing like never before, the people where always up for something new and they where going to get just that with the Giants. As part of the new millennium Belfast along with the other capital cities of the UK would get government funding to produce a millennium project.

Naming the team was always going to be something of a sensitive issue. It had to be just right, something that both sides of the community would be proud of, something that would represent both sides history and would not cause sectarian divide.

That name would be the Giants – named after the mythological Giant Finn McCool and his Giants causeway on the north coast of the island. This piece of land was a tourist haven and featured rock structures unlike anywhere else in the world baring a stretch of land opposite on the west coast of Scotland. It combined the culture, history and myth of Ireland onto the name and Finn McCools head itself would represent the Giants logo on their jersey. It certainly looked mean enough to be a hockey logo!!

Bob Zellers first move upon being granted permission to start the team was to hire the coach, and who better than the man who had just lead his Bracknell team to league championship success for the first time the previous year? Step forward Dave Whistle; he was hired along with a host of players from that Bracknell league winning team, and they would be the basis of the new Belfast Giants organisation.

The teams arena however would not be ready until December of 2000 and so the team would play the first half of the season on the road, but once the arena was complete it would sell out for the rest of the year, entertaining thousands of people from all across the province just like it still does until today as the Giants continue to put out winning teams to entertain it’s strong fan base.

The Beginning | The Jersey | The Arena | The Captains |
Time Line | The Numbers | Most Memorable Games