Nottingham Panthers  The Nottingham Panthers are a British professional ice hockey club based in Nottingham, England. They are members of the Elite Ice Hockey League. Their main team sponsor is the Nottingham Building Society. The Nottingham Panthers have won four league titles (two English National League titles, one British National League title and one Elite Ice Hockey League title), five Championships, six Autumn Cups and eight Challenge Cups during their history. The Panthers are the only British team to win European club honours with one Continental Cup. They are the only team to have played in every season where a British league championship has been contested and are the only founding member of the Premier Division in 1983 to have continually participated in the top flight league. The Panthers have 16 members enshrined in the British Ice Hockey Hall of Fame and have had 34 players represent Great Britain at the World Championships and in Olympic qualifying. The club was founded in 1946 after earlier attempts to establish a team were postponed due to World War II. During their first eight seasons the Panthers played in the English National League. They joined the newly formed British National League in 1954, which they competed in until its disbandment in 1960. With no league to play in the club also ceased operations. In 1980, players and officials from the Sheffield Lancers relocated to Nottingham and reformed the Panthers. Both the original and modern Nottingham Panthers played their home games at the Ice Stadium until 2000 when the team moved into the National Ice Centre. The Nottingham Panthers have one of the largest fanbases in British ice hockey, averaging over 5,000 spectators per game during the 2014–15 season. Their supporters have shared a number of rivalries with other teams during their history. Currently the Panthers have a fierce rivalry with the Sheffield Steelers. The two sides have played over 200 games, including eleven major finals, since 1992. An initial attempt to bring a professional ice hockey team to Nottingham was made in 1939 following the completion of the Ice Stadium in Nottingham City Centre. A team was assembled and brought to the United Kingdom from Canada to compete in the 1939–40 English National League season but were promptly sent home having not played a single game due to the outbreak of World War II. Seven years later, after the war had ended, a second effort to bring ice hockey to the city was begun. With a team of Canadians largely from Winnipeg, Manitoba, the Nottingham Panthers played their first competitive game on 22 November 1946 with a 3–2 home victory over the Wembley Monarchs. The Panthers struggled during their early years and only once during their first four seasons did they finish in the upper half of the league table.