Reuniting ice hockey’s Wembley Wizards 40 years on as legendary Scottish team honoured

The British championship crown won at Wembley Arena was the pinnacle of a campaign that started with a scouting trip to Canada to find the three star players to lead and reignite the sport in one of its most established heartlands.

Now, 40 years on, Ron Plumb, Dave Stoyanovich and Danny Brown – names which still raise smiles and spark the warmest anecdotes rinkside – are to be reunited with their Fife team-mates for a special anniversary event put together by a group of fans.

A live show in May – almost 40 years to the day of their finest hour – will celebrate the team’s achievements, recall its great characters and share once again the stories from road trips, which formed part of a sporting adventure that captured a generation of fans.

With the town’s collieries at a standstill, people flocked to the rink in such numbers that many bought their tickets on a Friday just to ensure they got in on a Saturday night. A rink that held just over 3,000 people was packed to the rafters and games were even shown live on BBC’s Grandstand – complete with Alan Weeks, the doyen of commentators – with matches switched to lunchtime face-offs still attracting full houses.

Jack Dryburgh, the late rink manager – a talented ice hockey player in his own right – knew how to sprinkle some stardust at the box office. Born round the corner from the rink, he launched the sport in Aviemore and managed Solihull Ice Rink before returning to Scotland and, eventually, Kirkcaldy Ice Rink.

The 1980s saw the sport entering a boom time on the back of major sponsorship from Heineken, and Flyers were keen to make their mark after a flat 1983-84 campaign.

Dryburgh was given a mandate to reignite the sport and fill the building. Ahead of the 1984/85 season, he and team manager, the late John Haig, went to Canada to recruit players specifically to put Flyers back on the map.

They found what became known as the Plumb Line – player-coach Ron Plumb, and forwards Dave Stoyanovich and Danny Brown. They joined a team that was largely built around Kirkcaldy-born and bred players; the Latto brothers, Gordon and Dougie, Chic Cottrell, Neil Abel, Gordon Goodsir, Craig Dickson and Stuart Drummond to namecheck, but a few.

Games back then were high-scoring, free-flowing affairs – Stoyanovich netted 108 goals in 36 starts, for example – and the intense rivalry with Racers often produced fireworks and the most intimidating, gladiatorial atmosphere witnessed in the rink.

Ice hockey’s Heineken era reached parts other decades simply couldn’t. To this day it remains one of the most fondly remembered times by generations of fans who criss-crossed the UK to watch games and savoured some of the club’s greatest moments.

Flyers’ season started with eight straight wins to top their Autumn Cup qualifying section, scoring 93 goals into the bargain, and a place in the final where they were beaten by Durham Wasps. Among the fans rinkside that night was one Jocky Wilson, Kirkcaldy’s twice world darts champ.

The club finished the league as runners-up, and saved the best to last with a place in the championship play-off finals at the sport’s spiritual home at Wembley Arena. With fans from every team attending the weekend – as is traditional in the sport – they stormed to a 9-4 victory over Racers to claim the trophy in front of a huge travelling support that headed south in a convoy of busses.

On the day, the players were presented with watches rather than medals. More importantly, they became club legends – the Plumb Line and the class of ‘85 was the benchmark against which every Flyers’ line-up was judged until Mark Morrison led the club to Grand Slam glory in 2000.

The 2025 celebrations will be a unique chance for fans who were there to relive one of the greatest weekends of following Flyers and introduce a classic team to a new generation of supporters.

The events are being put together by a small team of long-standing Flyers’ fans, with months of preparatory work already done. It is being led by club historian, John Ross, with Joe Rowbotham, assistant team manager in 1985 and member of KIHC’s management committee; Alan Westwater, former Flyers’ programme editor, Iain Anderson, a supporter of the team since 1983, and Allan Crow, editor of the Fife Free Press.

They have already contacted all the surviving team members who are looking forward to the 40th-anniversary reunion, and put the wheels in motion to secure a venue. Work has also started on an exhibition in Kirkcaldy that will be launched that same week.

Ross said: “The 1985 team remains one of the greatest in the club’s history, and it is only fitting we mark this landmark anniversary. We hope fans, old and new, will be able to enjoy our live event and exhibition of memorabilia – and share their memories of an incredible achievement 40 years ago.

“We have had a great response from the players and key people connected with the team in 1985 who all want to be part of the celebrations and are looking forward to reuniting them for the first time in 40 years.”

The organising committee is appealing to fans who can donate memorabilia for the exhibition, and also to the business community to come on board as sponsors. Their contributions will help underpin the not-for-profit event, and boost the organisers’ donations to the two charities which will benefit; CHAS, the club’s long adopted charity, and Maggie’s Fife Cancer Care Centre in Kirkcaldy.