British ice hockey great John Murray - who was inducted into the British Ice Hockey Hall of Fame in 1996 - has died at the age of 93 ©IHJUK

British ice hockey great John Murray - who was inducted into the British Ice Hockey Association (BIHA) Hall of Fame in 1996 -  has died at the age of 93.

Born in London in January 1924, Murray served British ice hockey as a player, coach, manager and as a BIHA Council member.

He started to play ice hockey when he was 11, around the time the Wembley Arena, then known as the Empire Pool, was built. 

Murray played for the Wembley Lions for almost three decades between 1939 and 1968. 

During his era he made the national team at several occasions including the 1948 Olympic Winter Games in St Moritz, Switzerland, when Great Britain was last represented with an ice hockey team.

Murray also played at the International Ice Hockey Federation Ice Hockey World Championships in 1950 where Great Britain finished in fourth place, and in 1962 when the British were promoted back to the top level for one season. 

Murray became captain of the team that competed in Colorado Springs and Denver but after winning just one out of seven games the British were relegated and didn’t return except, for one World Championships in 1994. 

Murray also played in two World Championship B-Pool tournaments and in some of them had a triple function as captain, coach and manager of the team.

After retiring as a player, Murray was involved with BIHA where he served as Vice President and he was also working for the British Olympic Committee.

Murray was part of the Wembley Lions side that lifted the British national League in 1956/57. Squad: Gerry Frizzelle, Roy Shepherd, Les Strongman, Ken Booth, Les Anning, Malcolm Davidson, Gordon Scott, Johnny Murray, Ron Kilbey, Allan Lee, Clarence
Murray was part of the Wembley Lions side that lifted the British national League in 1956/57. Squad: Gerry Frizzelle, Roy Shepherd, Les Strongman, Ken Booth, Les Anning, Malcolm Davidson, Gordon Scott, Johnny Murray, Ron Kilbey, Allan Lee, Clarence "Sonny" Rost, Curly Leachman ©EHL

The Second World War interrupted his budding hockey career and he volunteered for the Royal Air Force in 1941, later transferring to the Royal Engineers. 

After the War he also played regularly for the Wembley Terriers, serving as captain and then coach during the seven years of the Southern Intermediate League. 

Throughout this time, he was never out of the top ten scorers.

Murray made international debut for England in 1947 and made his last appearance on the international stage in 1962, at the age of 38. 

His first call-up for the GB squad came at the 1948 Games and, in total, he played a total of five tournaments, two in Pool A and three in Pool B, scoring 8 goals in 23 appearances.

In 1952, he was captain, coach and manager of the all-English team, which took the Pool B title in Belgium. .

Murray spent three seasons with the Southampton Vikings and it was during this time that he was elected onto the Council.

In 1954, the Lions joined the new British National League, which they won in 1956/7. 

The League collapsed in 1960, and faced with the prospect of no regular league matches, the team folded.

Inspired by the success of Brighton Tigers, who had continued to play without a league, the Lions reformed in 1963 to play friendly matches and continued until 1968.

With the re-opening of Wembley in 1963, he spent 1963-68 as player/coach back at the Lions until his retirement in April 1968.

Murray became one of the two BIHA vice-presidents in 1982 and also spent a short time on the International Olympic Committee. 

The Hall of Fame was started in 1948 by the weekly newspaper Ice Hockey World, but lapsed with the publication's demise in 1958. 

It was revived in 1986 by the British Ice Hockey Writers' Association.