The news comes amidst rumours that Watkins was being considered by Elite League Coventry Blaze to replace Sweden bound Paul Thompson.
Tigers Chairman Mike Washburn commenting on the deal said “The new Board have been working tirelessly over the last 6 months to try and ensure that not only the on ice experience matches our fans expectations, but equally as importantly the off ice and back room operations are re built to ensure that we have a club that is fit for purpose in every sense.“
“I accept that much of the work that has been going on by the Board has little or no visibility for our fans – it is never the less vitally important to sustain and build the financial foundations of the club to enable us to move forward. Tom Watkins has been a full participant in this process and I am absolutely delighted that we have now been able to sign Tom not only for next season but also over this coming summer to ensure that he can continue the great work in building a Tigers team that can not only beat the best, but do it consistently.”
“Many will be aware that Tom is a much sought after asset in the ice hockey world – the great news for us is that we have now secured his services. This is a real testament to everyone’s commitment to next season being a truly great one. I believe that next season will see a quantum change in our great club – thanks for all the support, without it we don’t have a reason to exist.”
Watkins himself was pleased to get the deal finalised, saying “I’m delighted to get it done, it’s a tough job but I wanted to stay. When I took up the job initially we looked at it as a five year plan to become more sustainable and competitive year on year, we are three years down the line now, building the club and trying to move forward. We’ve got a good set up and that is continuing to improve. As a team we have lots of potential and recent results have shown that, we have some fantastic young players, we are recruiting players now and will be holding open trials again this year on April 27th. These trials have proved very successful for us in recent seasons, amongst the players we have signed through the trials have been, Marcus Maynard, Dec Ryan, Danny Rose, James Preece, Josh Bruce and Tomas Janak. It’s great to have Mike Washburn and the new committee behind me, and with the on going great support from the fans, we can progress again next season.”
This weekend Tigers will take on Bracknell Bees at home on Saturday, before making the trip north to face Manchester Phoenix on Sunday. More details on the open trials will be announced soon.