The Northern League was the top-flight ice hockey league in Scotland and initially northern England, from 1966. In 1982 it merged with the Inter-City League and the English League North to form the British Hockey League. The League developed out of the far more limited Scottish League, established in 1962. In 1963, The Wasps, based at Whitley Bay, joined and by 1966 a regular but limited schedule had been established.