Blackburn Hawks have announced a challenge match against new North West outfit Fylde Flyers on Sunday, October 2.

In their inaugural ice-hockey season, the Flyers will visit the Blackburn Arena in what is hoped to be the first of many fixtures between the two Lancashire clubs.

Hawks spokesman Graham Lomax said: “I love the fact that we have another derby to play.

“It’s always been exciting when we’ve played the likes of Manchester and Flintshire – it seems to add another dimension to the game.

“As soon as the fixtures came out, both clubs wanted to get the game on and now that we have crossed the T’s and dotted the I’s, it’s all systems go and I can’t wait.

“It’s their first season and as a club we would like to help them along their way to establishing themselves. Hopefully, sooner rather than later, it may be a regular season game.”

Flyers manager Mick Caunce added: “We’re grateful to the Hawks for accepting the offer of a game and it will be a fantastic opportunity for some of our guys to be able to play in front of a crowd as big as Blackburn.

“It’s also a fantastic chance for us to get some more exposure as a new fledgling club and we look forward to being able to offer the Hawks a game in the near future in our facility at Cleveleys.

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Hawks organisation for their help in making this happen and, like Graham said, hopefully we will be able to do it more frequently in the future.”