London Lions (basketball)

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London Lions (basketball)
Logo-LondonLions Basketball.png
Founded 1977
Hall Copper box
Homepage www.londonlionsbasketball.com
Chairman (CEO) Vince Macaulay
General Director Christian M. Kumar
Trainer Vince Macauley
league British Basketball League
2012/13: 8th place
Colours Violet / gold / black
Jersey colors
Jersey colors
Kit shorts.svg
home
Jersey colors
Jersey colors
Kit shorts.svg
Away
successes
BBL Cup 2008

London Lions is a professional basketball team from London , England . The team, originally founded in Hemel Hempstead in 1977 as Hemel Hempstead Lakers and now trading as Royals , left Hertfordshire in 1998 and played as Lions in Milton Keynes , before moving to London in 2012. From 2013, the crew of the closed professional league to British Basketball League (BBL) in the 2012 Olympics built hall Copper Box play.

As a result of their origins and history, the Lions have no connection other than their name to the previous ice hockey and speedway teams of the same name or to the “London Maccabi Lions” football team.

history

Established in Hertfordshire (1977 to 1998)

When it was founded in Hemel Hempstead in Hertfordshire, the team referred in name and club colors to one of the most successful franchises of the most highly endowed professional league NBA in the USA , the Los Angeles Lakers . After taking part in the national basketball league (NBL) for the first time in the second division in 1977/78, after the second season in 1979 they were promoted to what was then the highest national division, “NBL Division One”. After they were fourth in the final table straight away in the first season in the top division, they achieved their best final placement in the second season in 1980/81 with a third place, which they repeated two years later in 1983. Two years later it was renamed Hemel Royals and in the 1987/88 season was a founding member of the closed professional league British Basketball League (BBL), which united the best English and Scottish teams in one league.

In the first BBL season 1987/88, the Royals reached an eleventh place in the bottom third of the table among 15 teams. For the following season four clubs were eliminated again and the Royals achieved a play-off placement in the BBL for the first time in seventh place with an almost even season balance . In the first round, however, they were eliminated from defending champion Murray BC from Livingston (West Lothian) . However, the Royals withdrew from the BBL for the following season and started again in the now second-rate NBL Division One, in which they reached fourth place in the 1989/90 season.

After just one year, the Royals returned to the BBL for the 1990/91 season, in which despite only four season wins with eighth place out of nine teams, they achieved another qualification for the play-offs, in which they played against the in the first round Kingston Kings dominating team at that time was eliminated. In the following season 1991/92 they improved with 13 wins in 30 games to a seventh place among ten teams in the final table. In the first play-off round was again the end of the line against eventual runner-up Thames Valley Tigers . In the 1993/94 season, the BBL had grown again to a strength of twelve teams and the Royals took the last place in the table after only four wins this season. One season later there were only three wins of the season and again a twelfth final place, which, thanks to only one win of the season by the Oldham Celtics, did not mean the last place in the table. In the 1994/95 season things improved a little; they won a quarter of the season's games and left three teams behind in tenth place in the table.

The 1995/96 season was another setback for the Hemel Royals. With six wins this season, they achieved three wins less than in the previous season. With this record, however, they were again bottom of the table in the 13-team league. Since the venue barely met the requirements of the time, games were played in neighboring Watford in the following season and were named Hemel & Watford Royals in order to gain new supporters. However, after only two victories this season and another last place in the table in the 1996/97 season, these were rather deterred, so that the complete move to Watford for the 1997/98 season did not bring anything, especially since after three season victories the traditional last place in the table Final table took. The Royals now left Hertfordshire, a year later they did it with the NBL club Stevenage Rebels, another basketball team from Hertfordshire. In the early 1990s, the Rebels had still played in Watford themselves, in 1999 they moved to Worthing on the south coast, where the BBL franchise Bears , which had migrated to Brighton, was replaced and even later found in the BBL as Worthing Thunder .

Milton Keynes Lions (1998 to 2012)

Vince Macauley, who owned the Royals in 1993 and was once a player in the BBL himself, moved the franchise to Milton Keynes in 1998 with the promise of a new hall , where they played as Milton Keynes Lions at the Bletchley Leisure Center , which was only replaced by a new building in 2009. In addition to the new name, the club colors were later changed to black, gold and white. The new environment also revitalized the franchise. After one had left the traditional last place in the table in the first season at the new location and was only third from bottom, they moved in 2000 as fourth in the "Southern Conference" in the play-offs, in which one against the later title holder Manchester Giants in the eliminated in the first round. At the end of the 2000/01 season, a premiere was experienced. For the first time a regular season of the BBL was concluded with a positive season balance. The 21 wins in 34 games were enough for third place in the Southern Conference, but in the play-off qualifying round they were eliminated against the north-fourth Leicester Riders with two points, who then won the title in the play-offs managed.

In the following season 2001/02 it was enough for the Lions to a balanced season balance, as South third one survived the qualifying round and was eliminated in the play-off quarter-finals against the Sheffield Sharks . Play-off winners were the Chester Jets , who won all titles this season and also prevented the first title success of the Lions, who lost to the Jets in the final of the League Cup BBL Trophy by one point. Then the Lions stagnated again in the following seasons and achieved consistently negative season results in the championship. From 2003 to 2005 this was enough as eighth in the BBL, which was now reunited without conferences, to move into the play-offs, which ended up in the quarter-finals. In the 2005/06 season they even missed qualifying for the final round in tenth place, but rather narrowly because they were only two wins from sixth place in the table. This placement was achieved with a balanced season balance one season later, even if you did not get past the first round again in the play-offs.

Owner Macauley himself became head coach for the 2007/08 season and was a complete success in the first season. In the final of the cup competition BBL Cup you beat the Newcastle Eagles by three points and won their first title. With a positive season balance, fourth in the main round was able to defeat the same opponent and the first in the main round in the play-off semi-finals. In the final of the play-offs, however, they lost the Guildford Heat . In the following season, with a negative season record, they just missed the play-offs in ninth place. At the end of the season, the Bletchley Center venue was replaced by a new building. In addition to the stadium: mk, the arena: mk was planned as a new venue for the Lions, but its realization was postponed. The Lions were now on the permanent search for a suitable venue. After the temporary use of Middleton Hall, basketball was played for two years in the Prestiges Home Arena , also called MK Lions Arena, a converted warehouse with a capacity of 1,400 spectators. In the 2009/10 season, the Lions had reached the play-offs again with a balanced season balance, in which they were eliminated immediately in the first round. However, the following two seasons with negative seasonal results led to another missed the final round.

London Lions (since 2012)

The quarrels about a new hall, since the MK Lions Area also did not provide for permanent operation, had caused the Lions to move again. After the end of the London Towers , franchises such as London Capital and London United had tried unsuccessfully to maintain the tradition of successful basketball teams from the British capital. The buildings for the 2012 Olympic Games now gave the opportunity to settle in a modern venue in the capital. Since the Copper Box was still being rebuilt after the games, the Lions, with their old club colors, temporarily moved as London Lions to the Crystal Palace National Sports Center , where the multiple champions Crystal Palace and London Towers had once played their games. Here it was enough in the 2012/13 season as eighth at least to move into the play-offs, which was followed by an early exit.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ England Basketball: Senior Men - League. (No longer available online.) England Basketball . Archived from the original on April 2, 2013 ; accessed on May 28, 2013 (English, season overview). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.englandbasketball.co.uk
  2. ↑ 2000–01 BBL Championship & Playoffs. British Basketball League , accessed May 28, 2013 (competition overview).
  3. ↑ 2005-06 BBL Championship & Playoffs. British Basketball League , accessed May 28, 2013 (competition overview).
  4. ↑ 2007-08 BBL Championship & Playoffs. British Basketball League , accessed May 28, 2013 (competition overview).