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An independent guide. Not the official website of Sapphire Ice & Leisure, Everyone Active, Havering Council or the former Romford Ice Arena. About this site

Why Romford Ice Arena closed, and what came next

Romford Ice Arena closed in April 2013, and for almost five years the town had no ice at all. This is the story of the closure, what became of the Rom Valley Way site, and how skating came back to Romford in 2018.

Why it closed

The rink was council-owned and more than 25 years old, and a 2011 report had already proposed knocking it down and rebuilding. Havering Council's plans for leisure in the borough had moved towards a new, combined ice and swimming centre in the town centre. In 2013 the council sold the Rom Valley Way site to investors, and the arena shut in April that year.

The closure was felt hard. Local press reported skaters "left without a home", the town's MP raised the plight of rink users, and the Raiders had to find somewhere else to play.

Five years without a rink

  • The Raiders moved to Lee Valley Ice Centre in Leyton and played as the London Raiders from 2013 to 2018.
  • Figure skaters and learners travelled to Lee Valley, Chelmsford and further afield.
  • Families lost their nearest public sessions and parties; the nearest ice was now a drive or two train changes away.

The old site

After the building was demolished the land stood empty for years. Reports in 2016 said a Morrisons superstore was planned and that the supermarket had completed on the land; later proposals put forward several hundred homes, with figures of around 600 and then close to 1,000 reported. As of 2024 the site was still reported as vacant. Plans have changed several times, so check the Romford Recorder or Havering's planning pages for the latest position.

The replacement: Sapphire Ice & Leisure

Construction of the new centre began in the town centre in 2016. The building, a five-storey block designed to look like a cube of ice, cost in the region of £28 million and combines a 56 m by 26 m rink with swimming pools, a gym and studios. It opened on 3 February 2018, two months ahead of schedule according to local reports.

The same day the Raiders played their first game back in Romford, beating Cardiff Fire 5–2 in front of a sell-out crowd. Olegs Lascenko scored the Raiders' first goal on the new ice.

The new centre was busy from the start: more than half a million visits in its first year, and over 400 people learning to skate. Find out what it offers in our guide to Sapphire Ice & Leisure.

What a rink gives a town

The five-year gap showed what a local rink is for. It is a cheap night out for teenagers, a party venue, a place for children to learn a sport that builds balance and confidence, a training base for competitive skaters and a stage for a hockey team that brings thousands of supporters into the town centre on a Sunday evening. Romford's skaters noticed every one of those things go, and come back.