SWINDON Wildcats have beaten off competition from six clubs to secure the shock signature of Great Britain international Stevie Lyle.

The Basingstoke netminder was approached by five EPL sides - including Swindon - and two from the Elite League, and has opted to sign a two-year deal at the Link Centre.

Lyle’s friendship with Wildcats head coach Ryan Aldridge and Swindon’s proximity to Cardiff, where the 33-year-old is based, were crucial factors in his decision.

“I’ve known Ryan for a long time and I always said to him once I had done my time in the Elite League and came down to the EPL, I wanted to play for him,” said Lyle.

“It’s only an hour from home and over the season those hours add up. For my family Basingstoke was a bit of a trek, but now it will be easier for my two boys to watch their dad play hockey.

“Swindon are a club going the right way and I feel I’ve still got it.

“I know Swindon had a lot of overtime losses last year and I think I can be the difference in some games to help the team get over the line.”

The signing of Lyle is a big statement of intent from Wildcats given that the former Cardiff Devils man was one of the star players for league runners-up Basingstoke last season.

The Welshman had a superb save average of 92.43 per cent from the 1,678 shots he faced and was in stunning form as the Bison edged out Swindon in the play-off quarter-finals.

Aldridge was thrilled to tie Lyle down to a two-year deal and revealed he had been working on bringing the netminder to Wildcats for a number of years.

“We needed to get a British game-breaker and I think he is that,” said Aldridge.

“This year he had the most shots against and shots against per game and was still the top goalie in the league.

“Since I came back to Swindon we talked about him being here one day.

“He didn’t get in contact with me last year because we had already signed our goalies, so he didn’t think it was right.

“But he’s always wanted to play here and we’ve talked about it for four or five years. Luckily now we’ve managed to make it happen.”