Josh Warrington to be Leeds Knights special guest at Autumn Cup Final decider

The former world champion will do a guest puck drop ahead of the second leg of the final, in which Leeds trail 3-2 following last Friday’s first leg in Wiltshire.

The Knights are expecting a near sell-out crowd for the game, with almost 2,000 fans expected at the Elland Road venue.

The game faces off at 7.30pm and there are only a handful of tickets remaining which can be booked HERE

Earlier this month, promoter Eddie Hearn revealed Warrington would return to the ring early next year. The former IBF featherweight champion has been waiting to get back between the ropes since his rematch with Mexican Mauricio Lara ended in a technical draw at Headingley in September.

The bout was stopped just after the bell had sounded for the beginning of the third round after Lara was unable to continue because of a deep cut above his left eye which had been sustained after a clash of heads in round two.

Fans will be required to wear face coverings at the game, with the Knights also encouraging fans to do a lateral flow test before they attend.

In a statement, the Knights said: “We would like to keep fans as safe a possible and to keep the sport going. The tests will not be checked and are not mandatory to attend. The club will continue to follow all government guidance and will update the website when further changes occur.

“Please be safe and do not attend a game if you have any Covid symptoms or have tested positive for Covid in the last 10 days.”

Elsewhere, Scottish and Welsh administrations have placed spectator restrictions on indoor sporting events, including ice hockey. These new rulings have affected a number of teams in the full-time Elite League, which has already seen a number of games postponed because of teams being placed into the EIHL’s ‘Covid protocols’.

Teams in Scotland - Dundee Stars, Fife Flyers and Glasgow Clan - will not be able to play in front of more than 200 spectators for three weeks from Boxing Day onwards. Similar restrictions will apply to Cardiff Devils.

At the moment, no further restrictions have been introduced for England by the Governement, although many people expect them to follow suit sometime after Christmas.

It’s not clear how this will affect teams in the NIHL National level, including Leeds, but one option would be to stream games live on the internet for fans to watch at home. This was something done successfully twice during the 2020-21 season, when the Streaming Series and the Spring Cup were played behind closed doors.

The Elite also successfully staged a four-team behind-closed-doors event with the Elite Series in April.