Deal or No Deal? Sheffield Steelers and EIHL hovering on the brink

Smith and other Elite League bosses had been hoping the administration would finance a mini ice hockey season, behind closed doors, but which fans could watch on the web.

Those talks continued off and on, until November 19, when the Government announced their 'winter survival package' to help various sports navigate around the Covid crisis.

Things were looking up, it seemed.

Elite standard ice hockey was supposedly in line for £4m.

It still is - but the process of qualifying and then accessing the funds is moving at a snail's pace.

And that could be too slow to make the tournament a reality.

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The EIHL had been hoping for a milestone meeting with Government financiers this Thursday.

But, The Star has learned that the virtual get-together has now been pushed back another fortnight.

Delays are not what the EIHL need at a time when they are looking to squeeze in a series of games before the Great Britain national team take part in the (scheduled) World Championships in May.

But other than the time discussions are taking, there is another critical doubt, one which centres on the terms of the deal.

Is the £4m a loan or a grant, or a percentage of each?

Astonishingly, that has still not been entirely ironed out.

Smith, who believes a six-week season, as a minimum, can still happen, is trying to be patient as he knows the Government has bigger fish to fry than sanctioning an ice hockey series.

And a short season beginning as late as mid-March is still achievable, if the loan or grant issue is ironed out.

Asked about the continuing financial conundrum, Smith told The Star: "It is still the case we don't exactly know (the nature of the deal.) If I did then we could make a decision.

"We have not been given categoric confirmation as yet as to what the percentage of what that £4m will be: loan or grant.

"It is possible a good two thirds of that could be a loan. But this is all hypothetical until we hear something more concrete. And that will only happen when we put our final submissions in. We just want to get started but we have to wait and see."

It seems clear that the bigger the loan element in that £4m might be, the less chance there is of a puck being dropped in games featuring Sheffield Steelers, Manchester Storm, Nottingham Panthers, Coventry Blaze and Guildford Flames.

But Smith still feels an agreement can still be reached.

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The Star understands that the £4m would go not just to the five English clubs, but also a slice of that sum would go to a management company set up to run the tournament and pay officials like referees.

The timetable for a return-to-play programme has been changed several times, since April.

But if matters are not resolved by the end of February, then Sheffield Arena will have to wait until September before fans see their heroes again.

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