Swindon Wildcats Head Coach Ryan Aldridge has secured the return of his former junior linemate and long-time servant of the Club, Gareth Endicott, back to the starting roster for the 2009/10 English Premier Ice Hockey League season.

Having debuted for the Wildcats in the 1992/93 season, Endicott, 30, has featured in each of the Swindon senior teams over the past seventeen years.

For the past two season, the feisty hard-shooting winger has been serving as player-coach for the Wightlink Raiders. Despite not qualifying for the playoffs, the team achieved as many points last year as they had achieved in the previous three seasons combined.

Endicott's demonstrated ability to be a leader of men will be a quality that Coach Aldridge will expect as a senior forward and assistant coach in his latest Wildcats team.

"Gareth is one of the players that I wanted to bring back to the club when I first took the job on," said Aldridge.

"He is mature, solid player who brings a wealth of experience to the team.

"He is returning from coaching on the Island where he took them to their highest points totally in years.

"Gareth knows me, the way I am and the way that I expect things to be done.

That is why he will be the perfect assistant coach for me this year.

"He is someone that I trust to tell me the truth and someone that I can bounce ideas off at any time.

"When I sat down and thought about having a player assistant on the bench, there was only one choice and I'm pleased that Gareth has signed up to what we're trying to achieve here.

"It has been about 22 years since we first played together and 11 years since we last played together.

"As kids, both of us dreamt of playing for our local team, the Wildcats, and I am excited that now Gareth will be playing such a large role in helping me take this team forward."

For player sponsorship information, please contact marketing@swindonwildcats.com.

Further roster information will follow soon on www.swindonwildcats.com