The Elite League has announced that all of this years clubs, minus the Basingstoke Bison, who have applied to the EPL, will continue in the league for next season.
Prior to a board meeting today there had been concern voiced by fans around the league to the rumours of the league splitting, with Manchester, Newcastle and Edinburgh being ousted by the other six clubs.
But following the meeting those fears have been allayed, with all of the nine teams committing to the 09/10 season, which will see all teams limited to ten import players.
In the same announcement, the EIHL also stated that next seasons league campaign will span 48 games for each club, whilst the British Knockout Cup will be scrapped with an extended and revised Challenge Cup competition taking its place, with the final at a neutral venue in similar fashion to that of the playoff weekend.
The news comes as great relief to fans across the country and should, hopefully, allow the Elite League to continue in a similar fashion as it has done in the past six years with continuous development and competitiveness.
In other rumours it has recently been suggested that teams from Belgium, the Netherlands and another team from Scotland will join the Elite League for next season. Although these rumours have yet to be officially confirmed or denied, with very little mention in the EIHL press release, representatives of the overseas leagues were present at the recent Playoff Weekend and with Basingstoke leaving the league this season it is thought the league would prefer to have a minimum of ten teams.
Full EIHL Press Release HERE
