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October 28, 1962 is a key date in the history of Fife Flyers. It marked the return of ice hockey after a seven year hiatus. The sport all but collapsed in Scotland, and further afield, around 1954-55 as rinks looked instead to ice shows which generated better returns and involved much less expense, but its light was never fully snuffed out.

The formation of an amateur league marked the re-birth of Fife Flyers and Scottish ice hockey. They joined Falkirk Lions, Perth Panthers, Glasgow Dynamos, Paisley Mohawks, Ayr Rangers, and Murrayfield Royals in a Scottish League that may have been modest in its outlook, but, importantly, gave the players a chance to lace up their skates once more.

While the game was amateur in status, the rosters included some weel-kent faces and outstanding players. Harold ‘Pep’ Young took on the role of player-coach, and was pivotal in getting the team up and running. The Montreal-born player first came here in 1950, and his influence and leadership across the decades mark him out as one of the most important figures in the club’s history.

Pep quickly built an impressive team with stalwarts such as Joe McIntosh and Vern Greger on board along with Bert Smith who had taken his skates to Europe and the Winter Olympics in between running his family’s chain of butcher shops. John Pullar was the starting netminder with Gerry Hudson a key forward – and there was clearly an appetite to see ice hockey as 1600 fans turned up to see Flyers beat Ayr Rangers 5-3 in an exhibition game.

Fife Flyers stalwarts Verne Gregor, Pep Young, Andy Napier and Joe McIntosh. The club returned in 1962 after a near seven year hiatus as the sport struggled in the late 1950s (Pic: Fife Free Press)

Harold Livingston, director of Strachan and Livingston, publishers of the Fife Free Press, dropped the puck at the start of the match, and the fans enjoyed a cracking night of hockey. Pep got their opening goal after falling 2-0 in arrears, and after Hudson equalised, Fife didn’t look back. Smith’s goal for 5-2 was the pick of the bunch. Reported the Press: “He picked up the puck behind his own net, and rushed down the ice. With two defencemen backchecking, he unleashed a shot into the top corner of the net - netminder Laird didn’t even get a chance to make a save.”

The match also marked the revival of the Mirror of Merit trophy, run by the Press, with Young taking the first marks. The paper’s correspondent, Canuck, said: “Ice hockey is back in favour. Playing to a new generation of fans, the world’s fastest sport has a lot to offer, and although this Kirkcaldy line-up is amateur in status, it played imaginative hockey and the standard was very high.”

Flyers opening league game ended in a 3-3 draw with Paisley with their first win a 10-3 result over Perth.

Fife Flyers: fans flocked to 1962 opening game – the first played in seven years