The name of Sir Arthur Elvin MBE, whilst maybe not a household sporting one, will forever be associated with that of Wembley.
Born July 5th 1899 in Norwich, Arthur Elvin left school aged fourteen years and tried numerous jobs before joining the Royal Flying Corps during WW1. He was later shot down over France and spent two years as a prisoner of war.
His association with Wembley started in 1924, working as an assistant in a tobacco kiosk at the British Empire Exhibition. After its closure, he made his fortune by buying up and clearing out the derelict pavilions one by one, and selling off the scrap materials. When the stadium went into liquidation, Elvin quickly quickly raised sufficient backing to buy up the complex, becoming managing director of Wembley Stadiums Ltd in 1927. His next move was to persuade the board to build a multi-purpose indoors sports arena to complement the main stadium. The result was the Empire Pool and Sports Arena, later known simply as Wembley Arena, which opened its doors in 1934.
Having promoted new sports such as greyhound racing and speedway in the stadium, Elvin introduced ice hockey to a wider British public. Canadians were recruited in large numbers to come to Britain and within a couple of years, two further large arenas were constructed in the London area, at Harringay and Earls Court. All three of the London arenas were capable of seating eight thousand spectators.
Wembley iced two teams, the Canadians later renamed the Monarchs and the Lions, and fans flocked to see the ‘new’ sport superbly presented in comfortable surroundings and complemented by an informative programme unequalled by any other sport at the time.
There were more boom years immediately after WW2, but the advent of long-running ice shows over the Christmas and New Year period made the continuation of two teams impractical and in 1950, the Monarchs folded. The Lions remained members of the English, later British, League until 1960, when economic factors meant that the importing of large numbers of Canadian players was no longer viable, causing the virtual collapse of organised hockey in the south of the country.
Whether the then Sir Arthur Elvin MBE, who had died three years earlier while on a cruise to South Africa, would have been able to do anything to ensure continuation of ice hockey at his beloved Wembley, we shall never know. One thing is certain however, he would have been proud that the Wembley Arena became regarded as the spiritual home of ice hockey in Britain and until the dawning of the Superleague era in the late nineties, Wembley was used, albeit once a year for the showpiece finals weekend.
Arthur Elvin was made a Member of the British Empire in 1945 and received his knighthood from King George VI in 1947. He died at sea on February 4th, 1957.
Compiled with research, provided by Martin C.Harris - 1990.
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