The British Basketball League (BBL) is a men's professional basketball league in the United Kingdom and represents the highest level of play in the country. The league is contested by 10 teams from England and Scotland. There are no clubs however from Wales or Northern Ireland. The BBL runs three additional knockout competitions alongside the BBL Championship which are the BBL Cup, the BBL Trophy and the end-of-season BBL Play-offs.
The Scottish Basketball Championship is the national basketball league of Scotland. The league forms the second and third tiers of British basketball after the professional setup of the British Basketball League, where Scotland currently has one representative in the Glasgow Rocks.
Guildford Kings was a successful British basketball franchise, most prominent in the British Basketball League (BBL) during the early 1990s. They ceased operations at the end of the 1993–94 season.
The Worthing Thunder are an English semi-professional basketball club from Worthing, Sussex, England. Founded in 1999, Thunder competed in the top-tier British Basketball League between 2008 and 2011, having previously dominated the second-tier English Basketball League winning back-to-back Division 1 titles in 2006 and 2007. In the summer of 2011, Thunder returned to the second-tier NBL Division 1, where they have remained ever since.
The National Basketball League, or NBL for short, is a league competition representing semi-professional and amateur basketball clubs from England and Wales. It forms levels 2 to 4 on the British basketball pyramid, in line with the Scottish Basketball Championship, sitting directly below the top tier British Basketball League.
The British Basketball League Trophy, often shortened to the BBL Trophy, is an annual cup competition for British basketball teams organised by the United Kingdom's top professional league, the British Basketball League. It is one of two peripheral competitions operated by the League during the regular season, with the other being the BBL Cup. The competition's structure and format vary from season to season and often includes invited clubs from the English Basketball League and the Scottish Basketball League. The final takes place in March, usually at a neutral venue.
London Capital, officially called PAWS London Capital in reference to their partnership with PAWS Foundation, were a basketball team based in London, England. The team competed in the British Basketball League for a three-year period in 2007-2010, but were demoted to the second-tier EBL Division 1 following a review of the team's progress both on and off the court. The team were subsequently relegated to Division 2 at the end of the 2011/2012 season, and were withdrawn from the league in October 2013 for "failing to fulfil National League obligations".
Carl Miller, is an English former professional basketball player who played in the British Basketball League (BBL), and later the EBL. He is founder of Esteem Through Sport.
Yorick Mortimer Williams is a British professional basketball player, and is currently playing for the Manchester Giants in the British Basketball League. He had a two season stint as player coach for the Giants from 2015-2017.
The Essex & Herts Leopards are an English semi-professional basketball club, based in Brentwood, Essex and St Albans, Hertfordshire.
Manchester Giants was a professional basketball team based in Manchester, England. During its existence, the team won the Trophy in 1999 and the BBL Championship in 2000. The tenure of American coach Nick Nurse, which included those two seasons, was the most successful period in the club's history. The franchise folded 9 games into the 2001–02 season.
The Essex Leopards, or just Leopards as they were more commonly known, was a British basketball team competing in the British Basketball League. Established in 1994, the Leopards franchise was one of the most successful teams of the 1990s, dominating the domestic scene with local rivals London Towers.
The 1994–1995 BBL season was known as the Budweiser League for sponsorship reasons. The season featured a total of 13 teams, playing 36 games each. A major change saw the Guildford Kings franchise fold due to the club being unable to negotiate a viable contract with the owners of the Guildford Spectrum. The league sold Kings' licence to a group headed by Robert Earl, Ed Simons and Harvey Goldsmith, who established the Leopards. Oldham Celtics dropped down a division to National League Division One.
The 1993–1994 BBL season was known as the Budweiser League for sponsorship reasons. The season featured a total of 13 teams, playing 36 games each.
The 1991–1992 BBL season was the 5th season of the British Basketball League since its establishment in 1987. The season featured an increased number of teams with the additions of the Birmingham Bullets and Cheshire Jets. London Docklands changed their name to London Towers.
The 1989–1990 BBL season was the third season of the British Basketball League since its establishment in 1987. The season featured a total of just eight teams, playing 28 games each. Due to the low number of teams, the post-season play-offs featured only the top four teams from the regular season instead of the usual top eight finishers. The future of the league was in the balance due to the waning number of teams. Livingston folded, Crystal Palace and Hemel Hempstead Watford Royals both dropped to the National League and Glasgow Rangers moved back to Kingston. There was small consolation in the formation of a new club called London Docklands which joined the league.
The 1988–1989 BBL season was the second season of the British Basketball League since its establishment in 1987. The season featured a total of 11 teams, playing 20 games each. The league had suffered in the 1989 close season because Portsmouth was wound up followed by Calderdale Explorers and Birmingham Bullets both dropping out of the league. Bolton and Bury Giants became the Olympic City Giants and Kingston moved north of the border playing as Glasgow Rangers. The new season was supposed to feature 12 teams, however Oldham Celtics dropped out of the league and into the National League after just one game, due to financial difficulties.
The 1987–1988 BBL season was the first season of the British Basketball League, a breakaway competition formed by teams from the English National League and the Scottish National League. The season featured a total of 15 teams, playing 28 games each.
The British Basketball League Championship, often shortened to the BBL Championship, is the top-level men's professional basketball league in the United Kingdom. Established in 1987, the competition is administered by the British Basketball League and comprises 13 teams from both England and Scotland. Each team plays a 36-game regular season, from September until April, with the team that finishes in first place being crowned as League champions. Following the end of the regular season, the top eight-placed teams advance to the post-season Play-off tournament to decide the winner of the BBL Championship.
Relocation of professional sports teams in the United Kingdom is a practice which involves a sports team moving from one metropolitan area to another, although occasionally moves between municipalities in the same conurbation are also included. For relocations in other part of the world see Relocation of professional sports teams.
