During the dark days of the 1940 "phoney war", when rationing, gas masks and baffle walls were the order of the day, a new exiting winter sports stadium, the ice rink, first opened its doors to large crowds of people. East lane had never seen such crowds since the days when Abercorn Football Club played on the same piece of ground.

Paisley ice rink brought a fresh breath of air to the East End of the town. It was the most up to date arena in Great Britain and could boast an ice space of 20,000 sq feet, seating for 5,000 spectators, a first class restaurant, café, milk bar and a well-appointed shop. The streamlined, shell like building was large. Even the car park could provide 800 spaces. All the privately owned cars in Paisley at the time could have parked here!

Soon, the stadium was filled with enthusiastic skaters, who appreciated the smooth surface of "continuously reconditioned ice". The shop adjoining the foyer offered for sale the latest fashions in skating boots, but these were expensive to buy. White leather skating boots for ladies could cost as much as £8.00 nearly two weeks wages! Most people hired boots, for the ladies a dark brown leather and for gents "black hockey's" were a must.

Skaters skimmed over the ice in anti clockwise circles. To deviate from this brought the wrath of the ice stewards down upon you. From a glass partitioned box overlooking the ice, Walter Munn, a dapper little gent, played the latest hit parade records. You could say he was paisleys first ever disk jockey! One favourite record was "to give me 5 minutes more" (of skating time if you please!).

How ever, to the uninitiated, skating had its dangers. Wee Paisley boys and girls were warned, "if you fall over face first, tuck in your fingers, otherwise a skate blade might cut them off." Unfortunately this sometimes happened. Other skaters were considered "posh" to receive private skating lessons from national Skating Association teachers, in a roped off section of the ice. Or perhaps they were considered proficient enough to receive lessons from paisley's own Scottish champion ice figure skater, Margaret Vernal. To be a member of the "skaters club" allowed you the treat of a plate of gammon sandwiches!

Another treat was to watch the Christmas ice pantomimes. These first began in 1946, just after the end of the war. Who could forget the sight of Cinderella's Coach illuminated all round with electric bulbs and no sign of a supply flex! (The coach was a sledge drawn by Shetland ponies ) Who could forget Humpty Dumpty and his antics on the slippery ice in the 1947 pantomime!

The main attraction of Paisley ice rink, to young and old, was the Paisley Pirates ice hockey team. The early teams were mainly Canadians. This brought a kind of North American culture and hero worship to Paisley. After each game, wee Paisley boys stood impatiently at the doors, clamouring for autographs. But it did not stop there. If you were lucky in the scramble, you might be given a broken hockey stick, quickly have it repaired with black electricians tape then play with it in the street and, with double ball bearing roller skates gliding over the tarmac, you became a Paisley Pirate".

The "Paisley Pirates" were the epitome of the game in Scotland. In season 1953-4 they won the Autumn Cup, the Scottish Cup and the Canada Cup.

Their success brought them to the British League, but local supporters could ill afford to travel down South and gradually support waned. The junior team, the Wildcats, were wound up, followed by the Pirates.

The phoenix which rose from the ashes, at that time, was the Paisley Mohawks. They were an amateur team which, under the dynamic leadership of well known ‘Hall of Fame appointee’ and head coach, Billy Brennan, laid claim to the Paisley ice pad in 1961.The Mohawks carried the torch for another decade keeping the fans happy and bringing many a piece of silverware to the show-cases of the old rink.

The names of many Mohawk players, from that time, still resound from energetic conversations at matches today – Alastair Brennan, Billy Miller, Alistair McRae and the late Jackson McBride, to name but a few. In 1971, just 31 years after it was first laid down, the ice pad in East Lane was melted for the last time and the flash of the hockey skate was not seen in Paisley for another twenty years. The old rink was demolished in 1973, a supermarket has been built where the old rink used to stand.

Paisley Buddies were delighted that hockey was relaunched in 1992 on the opening of the new Paisley Ice Rink within the confines of The Lagoon Leisure Centre, located at 11 Christie Street, Paisley. In no time at all, the smouldering embers of hockey fever were quickly fanned and the flame burst into life again. Initially it took time to get a truly home side together and, consequently the first professional team to grace the hallowed ice was the Ayr Raiders. Although foreigners from ‘doon the watter’ they kept the crowd on their feet, for one season, with games in the Autumn Cup and the Heineken Premier League.

1993 saw Paisley come into it’s own again as a newly formed home team burst out of the dressing room and onto the ice to the strains of Tina Turners’ ‘Simply the Best’. The ‘Paisley Pirates’ were reborn. Starting off in Scottish Division One where they started living up to past glories by winning the league in their inaugural season by Christmas.

The late 1990's were the start of tougher times for the Pirates, they regularly finished out of play-off contention and close to the foot of the table. With the costs of travel to the south of England, the Pirates could not afford to continue play in the British National League so in 2002 the club made the decision to transfer to the Scottish National League where they continue to play.