With Don Depoe deciding not to return it fell to Rick Strachan to accept the challenge of gaining promotion for the Kings to the Premier League. Most of the team were already in place when Rick took over and as he says "I just had to turn up and get them ready to play".
Deals had already been struck with Peterborough players Scott O'Connor, Andy Allan and Trent Kaese and despite the uncertainty which had hung over the Kings during the summer they stood by the contracts and turned up as promised. Paul Donohoe joined the squad from Oxford. The League took on a different format with two Conferences formed - Northern and Southern, Kings were in the former.
Everyone remembers that the season finished on such a high, but things got off to a mixed start as Kings lost their first three fixtures. However, early on Kings' fans got sight of the fearsome Kaese slapshot and Paddy netted his first hat-trick of the season. New netminder Scott (PJ) O'Connor wowed supporters with his skills and picked up 5 Man of the Match awards in September alone. In October, after a poor B&H campaign things began to look up on the league front as Kings started a winning run that was to continue until after Christmas. Kings went 3-3-0 for the season and never looked back. Scott's brother Mike joined the team. By the end of November Kings had moved up to second in the table. More victories saw the team achieve Rick's target as they sat on top of the Northern Conference at Christmas. Doug and Paddy both reached the 100 League point mark and they, with Trent, represented Kings in the All Star game. A crunch match in January saw Kings in Telford. Despite having a 3-goal lead wiped out Kings fought back to win 13-8, as the chant of "We are Number One" echoed around Telford to taunt the Tigers support. Simon Perkins rejoined the team, after being released by Panthers again, and scored a hat-trick in his first game. Rick, at long last, got a well-deserved BIHA Coach of the Month award.
In February the much-awaited clash with Southern Conference leaders Slough took place. Jets took a 3-0 lead but Kings fought back to take the victory. Rick picked up another Coach of the month award and Mike Kindred was selected for the GB 'B' team, scoring a goal on his debut. As the regular season came to a close Kings lost their unbeaten home record to Telford on the final Saturday going down in a hard fought match. But that disappointment faded as Kings travelled to Chelmsford on the final Sunday. Victory over the Chieftains secured them the top spot. Paddy finished t regular season top of the Division One scoring charts with 146 goals, 116 assists.
In April Kings began their push for promotion. Their first matches saw wins over Blackburn and Teesside. Then came the back to back games against Telford. A brilliant performance by John Wolfe in the Tigers' goal helped Telford to victory in the first but the next day the roles were reversed as Kings word 10-7 on home ice, after a nail-biting first and second period. The final weekend saw Kings' promotion confirmed as they beat Blackburn and Telford lost to Teesside. Just to confirm their superiority Kings put on a showcase display of hockey to beat Teesside at home o the final Sunday and finished the season in style.
