48-552: SSE Arena may refer to: SSE Arena, Belfast , Northern Ireland OVO Arena Wembley , formerly the SSE Arena Wembley, London, England OVO Hydro , formerly the SSE Hydro, Glasgow, Scotland Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title SSE Arena . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change
96-635: A deal brokered between the Odyssey Trust and facility management company SMG to house the new hockey team in the arena. On 22 March 2000, the BISL confirmed that the Belfast Giants had been accepted into the league to begin play in September for the 2000-01 season . In order to build a competitive roster for the new club, Bob Zeller approached Bracknell Bees championship-winning head coach Dave Whistle to become
144-664: A large car park. As of November 2024, the Odyssey Place area of the complex houses Cineworld , Hollywood Bowl , The Lost City Adventure Golf Apocalypse, W5, Funstation and a range of restaurants, shops and bars. The Odyssey Centre was 50% funded by a £45m grant from the Millennium Commission as part of the Landmark Project for Northern Ireland, with matched funding from the Department of Education for Northern Ireland ,
192-751: A person's political or religious affiliation were banned from the arena. The national anthem of the United Kingdom , traditionally played before games at other arenas in the Elite League, is not played before Giants games. These policies have been successful as the Giants have built a large and enthusiastic fanbase which has become known as the 'Teal Army'. As of 16 March 2020, the Giants have averaged an attendance of 4,387, ranking them 3rd amongst UK teams and 80th in Europe. The Giants have an official podcast, "A View From
240-518: A promenade, shops, additional leisure facilities and a multi-storey car park . On 29 November 2013, the owners of the Odyssey secured planning permission for an extension to include hotels, shops and apartments; work was due to start immediately, with around 800 people set to work on construction of the scheme – described as the biggest redevelopment in Belfast in years. Odyssey Trust's plan was to build next to
288-713: A suspension. The season was cancelled completely in February 2021. In March 2022, the Belfast Giants won their fourth Challenge Cup title after beating the Cardiff Devils 3–2 in overtime at the SSE Arena . The victory made head coach Adam Keefe the most successful in Giants history. The Giants then clinched the 2021–22 Elite League title in April, after a 2-1 shootout victory over the Sheffield Steelers. However they missed out on
336-660: A third assistant captain. The season began with an exhibition tournament, the BT Ice Cup, hosted by the Giants with invitations to the London Knights , Eisbären Berlin , and the Frankfurt Lions . In their first league game, the Giants suffered a 9–3 defeat to the London Knights. This would be followed by a succession of sub-par performance on the road. By late September, Whistle decided to bring in centre Sean Berens to bolster
384-456: A turn in fortune for the Giants mid-way through the season, playing in front of a consistently sold-out Odyssey Arena. The Giants would finish the season with a respectable 17-16-6-9 record, finishing in 6th place, and progressing into Group A of the playoffs to then be knocked out with a 3–3 record. The Giants saw more success in the Challenge Cup, finishing 1st in the group stage to progress to
432-817: Is Cineworld and Hollywood Bowl's first ventures in Northern Ireland. In 2024, Odyssey Place announced that Mary Brown's , Funstation and new concept bar called Chapter & Verse will open new stores in the area during 2024. The Odyssey Pavilion was once home to a thriving nightlife including bars, nightclubs and restaurants. Notable examples include Rockies Sports Bar, Bar 7, Box Nightclub and Beach Nightclub. Several food companies were situated in The Pavilion including Soda Joes, Red Panda, La Tasca and The Streat Cafe alongside two well-known food chains including Northern Ireland's own Indian Ocean restaurants and Pizza Hut . W5, which stands for "Who, What, Where, When, Why",
480-532: Is located in the Titanic Quarter of Belfast. It is a 15-minute walk from the city centre, over the Lagan Weir and Queen Elizabeth Bridges. Visitors are also able to access it via services provided by Translink NI . Glider (Belfast) is the newest way to access the arena from the city centre. The Glider Bus route 'G2' travels from the city centre to the Odyssey bus stop which allows users to depart right outside of
528-718: The Stena Line Belfast Giants due to sponsorship) are a professional ice hockey team based in Belfast , Northern Ireland . They compete in the UK's Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL) and are the current champions for the 7th time in their history. They play their home games at the SSE Arena (formerly known as the Odyssey Arena). Since their inception in 2000, the Giants have won fourteen major honours, including seven British league championships , three British championships by winning
SECTION 10
#1732848221147576-562: The Odyssey Arena from 2000 to 2015. Northern Ireland's biggest indoor arena, with a capacity of 11,000+ for concerts, hosts concerts and sporting events such as Belfast Giants games. On 25 June 2015, it was announced the Arena would undergo a £3 million refurbishment and become the SSE Arena on 4 September 2015, with the naming rights to last for 10 years. Since opening, the SSE Arena has been
624-613: The SSE Arena , is a sports, entertainment and science learning complex located within the Titanic Quarter in Belfast , Northern Ireland . The concept of the complex originated in 1992 and was finalised in June 1998. It opened in December 2000, with expansions in March and May 2001. The complex consists of a multipurpose indoor sports arena, a "hands-on" science learning centre, retail facilities and
672-475: The Belfast Giants at that time as 'Black Sunday' A reference to the jersey worn by the team during the match, introduced for the occasion of their inaugural Challenge cup as well as the day it was played on and the heavy defeat by a team that had suffered crushing losses to them during the regular season. Hockey fans who watched that game and also watched the Winter Olympics Men's Ice Hockey final later on/in
720-580: The Bridge", hosted by fans Patrick Smyth, Davy McGimpsey, Simon Kitchen, and Gareth Martin. There is also an official supporters club known as the Giants OSC. For many years, the Giants have been introduced onto the ice with the song "Rise" by English rock band The Cult . In recent years, " A Warrior's Call " by Danish band Volbeat has also been used as the team's entrance theme. Their goal song begins with The Irish Rovers ' version of " The Belle of Belfast City ",
768-402: The Challenge Cup. In 2002–03, the Giants altered their home jerseys to feature red shoulder piping with teal and black stripes. For 2004–05 the Giants replaced the red shoulder piping with black piping on home jerseys and changed away jerseys to mirror these except with teal as the primary colour. Ahead of the 2021–22 EIHL season, the Giants unveiled a refreshed primary logo and alteration to
816-413: The Elite League grand slam with a 4-1 victory over Cardiff in the play-off final - becoming the first team to win all three domestic trophies in the same season since Nottingham in 2013. Since 2000 the Giants' main logo has depicted a stylized version of the mythical warrior Finn McCool , who is commonly portrayed as a giant in popular folklore. The original logo had Finn brandishing a hockey stick with
864-466: The Giants made their debut on 16 September 2000 against the Nottingham Panthers losing 5–1, with Kory Karlander scoring the club's first ever goal. The next evening, the Giants would travel to Bracknell in an unwelcome return for Whistle and his former Bees core. The Giants came out on top 6-5 after a shoot-out for their first ever win. However, the Giants would win only 4 out of 15 games to start
912-583: The Giants offence. Berens' arrival and subsequent placement on the first line with Riehl and Ruff would prove a catalyst for the Giants' success to come. The Giants would go on a 9-game unbeaten streak shortly thereafter, which was broken by two losses, the first away in London and the second at home to the Nottingham Panthers on 16 October, which would be their last home defeat of the season. The Giants would then win 7–2 at home against Ayr to gain 1st place, where
960-496: The Giants were welcomed at Belfast City Airport by over one thousand boisterous fans. Unfortunately the Giants would struggle with a championship hangover as the team botched come playoff time, not making it past the qualification group. The Giants would, however, advance to the Challenge Cup final for the first time in their history, only to be stifled 5-0 by the Scottish Eagles. That particular match became known amongst fans of
1008-438: The Giants' wordmark in the foreground. The inaugural Giants uniforms featured white home jerseys with red and teal striping, matching socks, and black shorts. The inaugural away jerseys featured their now famous teal with red and white striping, matching socks, and black shorts. For the 2001–02 season the Giants introduced red jerseys with teal and white striping for the BT Ice Cup, and black jerseys with teal and red striping for
SECTION 20
#17328482211471056-538: The Giants. The Belfast Giants Ltd. was founded in 1997 by two Canadian businessmen, Bob Zeller and his associate Albert Maasland, after Zeller was in talks with the British Ice Hockey Superleague (BISL) to launch a new franchise in the United Kingdom. The city of Belfast was chosen, with its new £92 million Millennium Commission project, the Odyssey Complex, due to be completed with the addition of
1104-542: The National Museums Northern Ireland until 31 March 2012 when it became a subsidiary of Odyssey Trust. W5 has won a number of awards, including Best Visitor Attraction, several times. In 2013, W5 opened 'Climbit', the biggest Luckey Climber in Europe where small children can climb up twelve metres in total safety. In October 2009, the Odyssey Trust sought planning permission for a £100m extension plan. The plans included 800 residential units, two hotels,
1152-606: The SSE Arena hosted the UFC 72: Victory as they continued their expansion into Europe where the live events were broadcast on pay-per-view in North America, the United Kingdom and Ireland. World Champion Boxer Carl Frampton has also fought at the SSE Arena. His first fight at the venue was in 2010 when he won the Commonwealth super-bantamweight title by a fourth-round TKO stoppage against Mark Quon. Carl Frampton has continued to fight in
1200-533: The SSE Arena, Belfast up until 2018 and helped promote Northern Ireland by using it as the venue for his matches Since 2008, the venue has also played host to the Premier League Darts . Formerly known as the Odyssey Pavilion, Odyssey Place houses multiple shops, restaurants, cafes, entertainment venues and leisure facilities. The major redevelopment of Odyssey Place sees two new major companies entering
1248-643: The Sheridan Group and the Sports Council for Northern Ireland . The application to the Millennium Commission was led by the Ulster Museum , which wished to develop a science centre and teamed up with Peter Curistan, who wished to develop an IMAX , and then led the development of the arena with consultants L&R Leisure. The name "Odyssey" was chosen to symbolise the 'journey of discovery' that would be
1296-403: The arena, Sheridan for the pavilion, and National Museums Northern Ireland for W5. In 2011, the Odyssey Trust fully took over the arena. In 2011, the Odyssey Pavilion, which was owned by the Sheridan Group, went into administration, and the building went under the control of KPMG temporarily until energy company SSE purchased it. It is managed by the Odyssey Trust. The SSE Arena was known as
1344-553: The central open space. In 2006, the Odyssey Arena was shortlisted for 'International Large Venue of the Year' (over 8,000 seats) outside of North America. This took place at the 17th Annual Pollstar Awards in 2006. This shortlisting made the Odyssey Arena one of the top six major concert venues in the world. The SSE Arena, Belfast, has won the ‘App of The Year’ at the 2017 DANI (Digital Advertising Northern Ireland) Awards. The complex
1392-550: The club's home, away and Challenge Cup jerseys. One corner of the SSE Arena has been dubbed 'Boomerang Corner' – named in memory of long time Giants fan, Stewart Boone – and was left unreserved for a large group of fans who generate noise, bang drums, and start game night chants until the 2022–23 season when these seats became bookable. Originally there was a traditional four-sided scoreboard suspended over centre ice. This has recently been replaced by two large screens for scores and video replays; one behind Boomerang Corner and one at
1440-438: The coronavirus pandemic. The Challenge Cup was the only competition to see a winner crowned. The 2020–21 Elite League season - originally pencilled in for a revised start date of 5 December - was suspended on 15 September 2020, because of ongoing uncertainty over coronavirus pandemic restrictions. The EIHL board determined that the season was non-viable without supporters being permitted to attend matches and unanimously agreed to
1488-467: The early hours of the next day would have seen Theo Fleury, a later Giants signing receive his gold medal as part of the winning team. With the eventual demise of the Superleague in mid-2003, there were concerns that the Giants organisation would not survive because of developing financial issues. The club ran up debts of approximately £1.4 million, with Maasland saying that the Giants were "by far and away
SSE Arena - Misplaced Pages Continue
1536-419: The existing Odyssey Arena and Pavilion as part of the restart of the Belfast master plan. In October 2017, it was announced that planning permission had been submitted to transform the complex in a £10m refurbishment. Plans included a new entrance to the Odyssey Pavilion, upgrade of public realm spaces, and reconfiguration of existing retail units. A second phase would see improved visitor access and greater use of
1584-834: The first head coach of the Belfast Giants. Initially, Whistle was sceptical, deterred by having seen the violent footage of The Troubles on North American news media. In response, Zeller invited Whistle to visit Belfast and experience the changing city first-hand. Following his visit, Whistle agreed on a 3-year deal to coach the Giants. Whistle's roster recruitment began by looking toward his championship team in Bracknell, signing seven core players from that team to build upon in Belfast: Shane Johnson , Todd Kelman , Rob Stewart, Todd Goodwin, Kevin Riehl , Paxton Schulte , and Colin Ward . The captaincy
1632-632: The home to the UK's Elite Ice Hockey League team, the Belfast Giants . The Belfast Giants play weekly home games against teams from across the U.K. between September and March of each year. On 2 October 2010, the Boston Bruins faced the Belfast Giants 'Selects' in an NHL Challenge match. The venue also hosts a number of live sporting events including WWE which brings superstars from WWE Raw and WWE Smackdown brands so wrestling fans are able to watch their favourites perform live. On 16 June 2007,
1680-427: The link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=SSE_Arena&oldid=1157096681 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages SSE Arena, Belfast The Odyssey Complex , consisting of Odyssey Place and
1728-513: The most recent of which came during the 2022-23 campaign, five Challenge Cup titles (including in 2017–18, 2018–19, 2021–22 and 2022–23), and two play-off championships. Belfast Giants were added to EA Sports' NHL 20 game, enabling players to take control of the Giants in the Champions Hockey League . The 2019–20 EIHL season was cancelled on 13 March 2020 with the remaining league fixtures and subsequent play-offs scrapped due to
1776-499: The opposite corner of the rink. Two traditional scoreboards are located in the two remaining corners. Sectarianism has long been a significant problem with sports in Northern Ireland. When the club was established, Giants' management was committed to ensure the club did not attach itself to any particular faith or community, instead aspiring to represent Belfast as a whole. A number of policies were introduced to achieve this. Football colours, clothing, and flags which may have displayed
1824-460: The play-offs , and five Challenge Cups . The Stena line Belfast giants have a very interesting history. The biggest moment in the teams history would be winning the treble in the 2022-23 season. Then winning the league, followed by the league playoffs against The Cardiff Devils and The challenge cup against the Fife Flyers. They were lead to victory by head coach Adam Keefe who previously played for
1872-540: The science centre; Michael Montgomery, a 14-year-old at the time, came up with the name. The complex adopted the name, and the Science Centre became W5. The arena opened in 2000, and W5 on 31 March 2001, with the pavilion opening a few months later. The Odyssey is quoted to have cost £120 million to complete. The whole complex Odyssey was held in trust by the Odyssey Trust Company, with leases to SMG/Sheridan for
1920-531: The space. The previous Odyssey Cinema's space will now be home to world's second largest cinema chain Cineworld who will be redeveloping and entering the space of the previous Sheridan IMAX cinema. The Odyssey Bowl is home to arcade games, bowling alleys and a restaurant will re-launch itself after being purchased by the Hollywood Bowl Group , while Zizzi , Nando's and Five Guys will open restaurants. It
1968-453: The team would remain for the rest of the season. Following a 4–1 win at Sheffield on 17 January 2001, the Giants travelled to Bracknell needing only 1 point to win the league. On the 19th January, in a poetic return to Bracknell for Whistle and his former Bees core, the Giants would force a 2–2 draw with the home side to clinch their first ever championship with a league record-breaking 16-game unbeaten streak. Upon their arrival back in Belfast,
SSE Arena - Misplaced Pages Continue
2016-604: The treble after losing the 2022 EIHL play-off final 6-3 to the Cardiff Devils. The Belfast Giants won their fifth Challenge Cup in March 2023 following a 9-3 victory against the Fife Flyers in a sold out SSE Arena. The following month they clinched the 2022–23 Elite League title with a 6-1 victory against the Guildford Flames , thus making them the most successful team in the Elite League era as of 2023. They then completed
2064-596: The two-leg semi-final against the Sheffield Steelers . The Giants won the first leg, 2–1, and lost the second leg, 7–0, for an 8-2 aggregate loss. Dave Whistle re-signed ten members of the original line-up for the Giants second season, adding only six to the new roster; defencemen Chad Allan and Terran Sandwith , forwards Curt Bowen, Dave Matsos and Jason Ruff , and Mike Bales in goal. Jeff Hoad, Jason Bowen, and Colin Ward would retain their roles as captain and assistant captains respectively, to be joined by Sandwith as
2112-542: The venue. Metro (Belfast) service '94' takes users from Donegall Square North, just outside the Visit Belfast Welcome Centre, to the venue with stops immediately outside. The Titanic Quarter railway station is only a 10-minute walk away from the Arena and Titanic Belfast visitor centre. The arena is located across the bypass bridge and off of Sydenham Road after exiting the railway station. Belfast Giants The Belfast Giants (known officially as
2160-524: The worst business [he had] been involved in". One partner company was believed to be owed nearly £65,000. However, facing the threat of liquidation, creditors voted to accept a 20p-to-the-pound pay-out, allowing the club to continue under new ownership of local businessman Jim Gillespie and join the newly established first-tier of British ice hockey dubbed the Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL). The Belfast Giants have won six EIHL regular season titles -
2208-497: The year. Finally, the Giants played their first home game against the Ayr Scottish Eagles on 2 December 2000 to a sell-out crowd of 7,300 in what Whistle described as an "awesome spectacle" despite a 2–1 defeat. In the first period, Paxton Schulte would score the only goal for the Giants and fought Trevor Doyle shortly after, cementing his overnight status as a cult player for the hometown fans. The home ice proved to instigate
2256-405: Was awarded to incumbent signing Jeff Hoad , with assistants Jason Bowen and Colin Ward. The beginning of the inaugural Giants season was marred with difficulties as the opening of the Odyssey Arena was delayed until early December 2000. This meant that the Giants were forced to play their first 15 games of the season on the road, without consistent ice-time for training or practice. Regardless,
2304-406: Was developed by Sally Montgomery, the Ulster Museum 's project director (and then founding CEO), with the exhibitions being designed by Hands On Inc (Florida, United States), and Ontario Science Centre , Canada. W5 has roughly 250 interactive exhibits, along with 6 themed exhibitions, in 3500 square metres of exhibition space, workshop space and lecture theatre. W5 was a wholly owned subsidiary of
#146853