At the EIHA Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Saturday (December 12), the special resolution which would have seen the new body take control of the sport in England did not receive the 75 per cent of yes votes needed to pass.

It instead enjoyed only 60.5 per cent support, with 207 yes votes, 132 against and three abstentions.

The previous EIHA Board had expressed a belief that coming under a single new organisation was the best option for the current membership and for the future of ice hockey in England and the UK, and the majority of delegates agreed, but not enough to pass the motion.

The current system includes Ice Hockey UK (IHUK), the EIHA and the Scottish Ice Hockey Association (SIHA).

IHUK is the national governing body for the sport of ice hockey in the UK and affiliated to the International Ice Hockey Federation, while the EIHA, formed in 1982, is responsible for the administration of all ice hockey in England and Wales.

IHUK and Scottish leaders have also backed the proposals for a new, UK-wide governing body in the past.

As a result of the special resolution not passing, elections for the EIHA Board were subsequently held at the AGM.

Chairman Ken Taggart and Charles Dacres were re-elected, seeing off challenges from Clifton Wrottesley and Paul Ragan to win the two seats that were due for renewal.

Taggart and Dacres received 196 and 168 votes respectively, with Wrottesley's 126 the closest either of the challengers came to unseating the incumbents.

Travis Ward, co-opted to the Board in January, also had their place on it confirmed, with members voting 203-99 in support of Ward's appointment.