ultimately led to the Knights folding in 2003. Owing a large debt to Ice Hockey UK and facing the prospect of having only three member clubs, the Superleague placed itself into liquidation on 30 April 2003. Elite ice hockey league The Elite Ice Hockey League was formed by the remaining three clubs (Belfast Giants, Nottingham Panthers, and Sheffield Steelers) and played their first season on 12 September 2003. The Elite league is seen as the successor league to the Ice Hockey Superleague. Participating clubs The superleague was formed with eight founding clubs, with nine participating at any one time at its peak. Ten clubs have played in the Superleague. * Denotes founding member † Club folded in the 2002–03 season. Champions Criticism There were two main areas of criticism of the Superleague. It was widely regarded that the league was too reliant on imported players, illustrated by the participation of only four British trained players in the 2003 season. The financial situation of the league was unsustainable partly due to a high salary cap at £400k. Smaller teams such as Bracknell couldn't compete with the larger arena teams who had higher revenues. Notes See also British ice hockey league champions 1 Sports leagues established in 1996 1996 establishments in the United Kingdom 2003 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Defunct multi-national ice hockey leagues in Europe