Ice-aged! Pensioners with a combined age of more than 1,000 years form their own ice hockey team called the Paisley Piranhas

A group of pensioners have formed an ice hockey team with a combined age of more than 1,000.



The Paisley Piranhas have more than a dozen members aged between 70 and 83 and play a non-contact friendly match once a week.



The group attempted to register in a full-contact local league but no insurance company would cover any player aged over 70.

Exciting: The Paisley Piranhas, pictured, even crossed the Atlantic to play a friendly match in the home of ice hockey, Toronto, Canada

Founder: Robert Grieve, pictured, started playing ice hockey aged 64 because he finds traditional sports like bowls 'boring'

Robert Grieve, who at 83 is one of the team's oldest members, said the sport is more exciting than traditional pursuits, such as bowls.



The grandfather of two, who helped set up the Piranhas, said: ' My wife thinks I’m crazy but I do it anyway.

'A lot of people my age play bowls but I always found it a bit boring. Ice hockey is much more fun and is not really dangerous at all.

'But you get the odd broken nose and sometimes you notice you have a wee bruise here and there.'

A lifelong ice hockey fan, Mr Grieve did not start playing the sport until the early 90s when he was 64.



The Piranhas quickly grew in size after its formation in 1994 and at its peak had 20 members.



The team even crossed the Atlantic to play a friendly match in the home of ice hockey, Toronto, Canada.

Since then the team has lost a couple of players to illness and extreme old age but it continues to attract a turn-out of at least 12 for a weekly none-contact five-a-side match.

Friendly: The team meet once a week for a five-a-side match at Paisley Ice Rink

Founders: The Paisley Piranhas posing at Paisley Ice Rink shortly after they were formed in 1995

Now they meet every Friday for a friendly match at the Waterfront Ice Rink, in Inverclyde, Scotland.

The team currently has three members aged 83. The rest of the team is made up of players in their 70s, with the occasional 40 to 60-year-old helping to make up the numbers.

Mr Grieve, a retired mobile crane operator who lives with his 62-year-old wife Sheila in Renfrewshire, Scotland, added: 'I have always enjoyed skating since I was a kid when we used to practice on frozen ponds, but I didn’t take up ice hockey until a few years ago.

'I used to skate with a few friends in Greenock and a girl who worked there suggested we start a hockey team, so we did.

'It’s good fun. I personally like to play up front and get amongst it. We get a good turnout but we want to attract new younger members of around 50.

'We have some regular youngsters but they are usually too quick for the rest of us. You don’t need to have any ice hockey experience but anyone wanting to join would need to be able to skate.'

Ice rink duty manager Thomas McCowan added: 'These guys are incredible. We enjoy having them here every week.