At the start of the 1998–99 season, the team found themselves competing in yet another new league, the English League Premier Division. This was a league set up for teams that wanted to compete effectively, but on a smaller budget than those in the British National League. The Hawks competed against teams such as Solihull, Swindon and Milton Keynes, and reverted to the previous name, the Blackburn Hawks, thanks to the pressure put on the management team at the Supporters Club AGM that took place in the Arena bar in May 1998. Jim Pennycook was invited back to the Arena in a playing capacity while the arena management opted to bring in Bobby Haig as coach, the brother of former Hawk John Haig. The season started with a convincing 13-1 win over the Wightlink Raiders. A successful 1998 was followed by controversy at the beginning of 1999, when it emerged that the team had spent three times their seasons budget by Christmas. Five players were released from their contracts at this point to try to ease the financial burden on the club, including import Chad Brandimore and club captain Simon Mills. Mills would go on to play for the Altrincham Aces and have a long-running battle with our own Bryan Dunn. By mid-March the team were struggling and would miss the play-offs due to their financial problems. The fans were still supporting their team though, with around 1,500 fans turning out for a 10-9 win over Chelmsford and a 7-6 loss to Milton Keynes. During that 1998-99 season the Hawks did record more home wins than any previous season.
Due to the financial problems there were some serious concerns and rumours over the club's future, with sections of the press reporting that the team had been threatened with expulsion from the league for refusing to take part in the playoffs. The club decided to drop into English League Division One [Whitley’s division], which prompted a mixed reaction from fans, largely due to the lack of skilled import players in the league. The Hawks also signed up for the Border League, with the likes of Whitley, Kingston, Solway and Dundee taking part. The Hawks would just miss out on a play-off place at the end of the season.
Ahead of the 2000–01 season the league changed its name to the English National Ice Hockey League. It would prove a strange start to the season with a 14-1 loss to Kingston and a 14-0 win over the Bradford Bulldogs before Christmas. They also claimed the North West Cup when they defeated the Altrincham Aces, but would lose to the same opponents in the English Cup. On 3 April 2001 the Blackburn Hawks celebrated their 10th anniversary with a charity game, that saw the return of Steve Moria and many former players. Bobby Haig's All Stars lost 8-9 to Steve Moria's Select, and brought in a crowd of over 1,000 people raising £4,000 for the NSPCC. The Hawks finished the season in fourth place and qualified for the playoffs, whilst finishing second in their Anglo-Scottish Cup group behind Whitley but would lose to the Dundee Tigers in the Semi-final. Blackburn would face Whitley six times during the season with the Hawks taking the first league encounter 6-7 on home ice, but the Warriors took the other five games. The exciting close encounter at Blackburn in the Anglo-Scottish Cup [profiled last week] was next, before two huge wins at Hillheads [10-2 in the league and 19-1 in the ASC]. Whitley then claimed both play-off games 9-3 (h) and 9-1 (a).
The 2001–02 season would see the Hawks finish fourth in the league again. They did however defeat the Warriors in the English Cup at home, but did not make it past the group stages of the competiton. Whitley claimed the remaining three games that season, as they landed the 'Grand Slam'.
In 2002–03 they finished fifth in the league, and just missed out on the final of the English Premier League Cup after finishing second in the qualifying group. However the Hawks' lost all of their games in the Northern Cup. One of Haig's young player's that season was 19-year-old Richard Hulme. In October 2002, towards the end of an under 19 game against the Altrincham Tigers, Hulme was attacked and by Tigers' player Robert Brownbill. Hulme lost two teeth and received a broken jaw when hit with Brownbills steel fist during the game. In January 2003 Brownbill appeared before Preston Crown Court, charged with assaulting Richard Hulme causing actual bodily harm. In what was the first case of its kind in the country, Brownbill was initially remanded on bail in what was to become a test case for the sport and eventually fined £250.
There were many changes ahead of the 2003–04 season; a new logo, a new jersey design, a renewed sponsorship with locally based brewery Thwaites, and a vast amount of upcoming young players. Neil Haworth was named captain for that season, and the opening weekend couldn’t have gone much better, with wins over Bradford Bulldogs 13-2, and Grimsby Buffaloes 20-3. That good start wouldnt continue and the Hawks’ form trailed off eventually finishing fourth in the league. They also lost every game in the Premier League Cup, and finished second in their playoffs group, missing out on the final. Despite all of this, Bobby Haig continued to flourish at Blackburn, and posted another great season with 52 points in 18 games (fifth points scorer in the league).
The following season saw a series of poor results lead to pressure being placed on player/coach Haig, and the Scot contemplated taking his experience elsewhere. However, after talks with the Arena management and club owners, Haig settled on staying at the expense of his job as duty manager and as the junior ice hockey development director, in order to concentrate fully on the coaching of the senior team. By mid-November, the team had no chance to progress in the Premier League Cup, but had more success in the league, sitting comfortable at the top of the North division. The team would finish third in the league which meant they missed out on the playoff group stages. The Hawks also lost every game in English cup.
2005–06 saw a third place in the ENL which, due to an altering of the playoff format, led them to the group stages. However, despite placing second in their playoff group, the Hawks failed to make it to the final. They did make the semi-final of English Cup (where they lost 7-5 to Cardiff), but finished bottom of group C in the Premier League Cup.
The following season the Hawks finished fifth in both ENL and the Northern League, missing out on the playoffs for both competitions. They also missed out on the latter stages of the English cup by goal difference. Surprisingly, the team's top scorer in 2006-07 was not Bobby Haig, but David Meikle, with 35 points in 16 games.
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