Belfast was a very different place when the Giants played their first game in December 2000. The Good Friday deal was just two years old and the city was hit by a clash that remained raw. There was peace in the streets, but it was fragile and the sports landscape was as entrenched and traditional as ever. Sports fans in Belfast lived on a restricted diet with rugby, soccer and Gaelic games. Ulster’s rugby team had just won the European Cup, but played in a dilapidated, windswept mausoleum in East Belfast favored mainly by Protestant fans. The Antrim hurricane team played in the heart of nationalist West Belfast at Casement Park, but their glory days were long gone. And the various parts of the Irish Union throughout the city were connected by political races. Religious chanting was common and watching a game made a rotten experience for anyone longing for a brighter expression of local pride. A mural by Belfast Giants. Photo: Clodagh Kilcoyne / Reuters The city needed something new, but the foundations for a professional ice hockey game in Belfast were weak at best. There was (and still is) only one ice rink in Ireland and the sport was little known. Would they pay thousands of fans to watch North American athletes play an alien sport in a new venue? The Millennium Commission had raised 45 45 million to build a glittering arena in the shadow of the city yard, but the thought that an ice hockey team would bring in thousands of spectators was still lingering. These yards were famous for building the Titanic, after all, and that did not last long. However, there was a method behind the apparent madness. Ice hockey was so new and so weird that it did not bring any of the traditional obstacles that plagued other sports. The team would represent the whole of Belfast. Giants fans rush to tell you “in the land of the Giants, everyone is equal” and, in a sport known for its barbaric success, it quickly established itself as one of the most family-friendly places in town. Kevin Westgarth, who won the Stanley Cup with the LA Kings, played for the Giants in 2014. Photo: Michael Cooper / Getty Images Robert Fitzpatrick, who grew up in Northern Ireland in the 1970s and is now the CEO of the Giants-owned company, says participation was vital to their vision. “From the beginning, the Giants were a place where everyone was welcome. I mean everyone: Protestants, Catholics, LGTB community, it does not matter. All are equal. Our color is blue-green and this plays an important role in our identity. Football jerseys have never been allowed in the arena. If we see a young child in a football shirt, we just give him a Giants T-shirt and they put it on. “Now we see generations of families in this city who are wonderful.” The Canadians who signed with the Giants played an ice hockey game that excited the crowd. The rules had to be explained regularly in the program notes, by the arena announcer or even by the team mascot, Finn McCool, the legendary Irish giant. But the fan base was growing every year and so was their knowledge of the game. The Giants now play in larger crowds than any Northern Ireland football team. Paddy Smyth was studying at Queen’s University in Belfast when he watched the team play its first game against the Ayr Scottish Eagles in 2000. “I grew up in West Belfast and had a family from Detroit. I remember one of my relatives visiting in the 1990s and talking about the Red Wings. I continued with the sport indefinitely and then saw the first Giants game advertised for six pounds. I could not say no. I went and he stuck to me. The Giants in action against the Nottingham Panthers. Photo: Michael Cooper / Getty Images “You go to the races and you feel this immense pride in your city. I like to shout, “Come to Belfast.” That is what I support. I grew up with Gaelic football and football, but there was not the same relationship. Going to Giants games and making friends with people from all walks of life hangs me. “We are all committed to supporting the Giants and that is exactly what the sport should be about.” Paddy made an incredible friend through the sport. “My friend Davy and I are really opposed. I am a Catholic from a Republican background. he is a Protestant and an orange man. “Through the Giants we had a common interest and that was the only thing that ever mattered.” Davey says he started going to games with his wife. “I used to watch Glentoran play football in East Belfast, but she wanted to go somewhere that was hidden, safe and had food and clean toilets. In Belfast, if you grow up in a specific area, it can be difficult to meet someone outside of your background. Even now, I would have a hard time telling you about my universal friends from Belfast other than hockey. With Paddy, we shared this love of the Giants, we created a podcast together and it is a friendship that I continue to appreciate. We are diametrically opposed politically, but we agree to disagree. You will find believers and Republicans sitting together at the games. It does not matter and it never has. “ Adam Keefe, former Giants player and current coach in 2014. Photo: Michael Cooper / Getty Images Davy is convinced that the generals behind the Giants have lost an important selling point for the club. “One of the biggest recruiting tools the Giants have is the Belfast women. There are so many former players who have stayed in Northern Ireland since they finished. About 20 never left. “ One of them is Giants coach Adam Keefe, who moved to Belfast from Ontario 11 years ago as a player, married a local and never left. “I was completely ignorant of the history of Belfast,” he says. “I remember a newspaper asking me for an offer and I said something like, ‘I can’t wait to bring the fighting Irish back to Ireland.’ It was never published in the newspaper and I did not understand why. The great thing about the Giants is that they really spend time educating you about the city and your responsibility playing here. You are not playing for a regular team – you have the responsibility to represent Belfast as we know what the Giants mean to the people here. Giants general manager Steve Thornton. Photo: Michael Cooper / Getty Images “When I was writing, a friend asked me if Belfast was safe to visit. Now our players from Canada and the United States absolutely love it. They could not be better treated. When I first arrived, I was surprised. I mean hockey in Ireland? However, everyone who comes loves it. You do not even have to sell the Belfast Giants. The players just want to come. I found it shortly after I arrived. “I wanted to stay here for my whole career and fortunately I met my wife.” The general manager of the team, Steve Thornton, is another Canadian who arrived as a player and has not managed to leave. He returned to Canada to start a corporate career when he retired, but his family lost Belfast and they returned. “I remember coming here 20 years ago and the name of the city was synonymous with what people in Canada had heard on the news. I liked it from the beginning. It was almost as if people were overcompensating for friendship. They were so eager to make sure you enjoyed their city. Hockey is now mainstream in Belfast. “We want the Northern Irish to have a team they can be proud of and we believe that has definitely been achieved.” Belfast Telegraph journalist Stewart McKinlay wrote in the program notes for the Giants’ first home game in 2000: “It will be a proud day when a Northern Ireland player emerges as Belfast Giant.” This ambition has come true, with nine players from Northern Ireland rolling up their sleeves to play for the Giants. Goalkeeper Andrew Dickson grew up in Ballymoney, an hour’s drive north of Belfast. “The first time I heard about ice hockey was from a friend who had just returned from a trip to Philadelphia. He had gone to a Flyers game and could not stop talking about how amazing it was. We bought the video game, could not stop playing it, and then at 17, we started playing hockey online – initially at the local Tesco car park, but eventually created a leisure center championship. “We kept hitting, but I was in the net, so I did a lot of training and they finally spotted me playing for the Junior Giants.” Andrew Dickson on the goal of the Giants. Photo: Michael Cooper / Getty Images Dixon trained in Belfast all week – driving one hour to start at 10.15pm and returning at 1.30am. – while studying at a technical college. There was no junior championship in Northern Ireland, so he took the ship to Scotland every weekend to compete. “There was a lot of hard work, and I guess an element of some talent, and after three years, I was lucky enough to play for the Giants. I had no family background in ice hockey. It’s funny, my dad did not follow everything. In fact, I remember telling him I was going to play my first game for the Giants and he said he was going to see the Rangers. Now she absolutely loves it. He is in every game and even throws neighbors. “I just loved playing this sport from the beginning and I was always afraid that I would eventually learn it, but I’m still here. “My real hope is that I have inspired a child not only from Belfast, but from somewhere else in the country to come out and dream that he can play for the Giants.” The Giants are fighting to win the double, but their plans are bigger than …
