Mersey Tigers

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Mersey Tigers
Founded June 19, 2007
Hall Knowsley Leisure & Culture Park
(750 seats)
Homepage http://www.merseytigers.com/
Owner Steve Brookfield
Team manager Paul Maryon
Trainer Tony Walsh
league British Basketball League
2012/13: 12th place
Colours Black / orange
Jersey colors
Jersey colors
Kit shorts.svg
home
Jersey colors
Jersey colors
Kit shorts.svg
Away
successes
BBL play-offs 2010, 2011; BBL Regular Season 2010/11;
BBL Cup 2009; BBL Trophy 2011

The Mersey Tigers are a professional basketball team from Liverpool , England . They were created in June 2007 through the cooperation of the Toxteth Tigers with the football club Everton FC as Everton Tigers , which were accepted into the closed professional league British Basketball League (BBL). In 2010 they changed their name to Mersey Tigers after Everton FC withdrew from the cooperation. In 2013 they had to withdraw from the BBL after a winless season.

history

Everton Tigers (2007 to 2010)

In 1968, as part of a community program in the Toxteth district, a basketball team called the Tigers was founded. The youth team won the U18 cup competition in 2000. After the football club FC Everton had already supported the program, the professional team Everton Tigers was founded in 2007, which was accepted into the closed professional league BBL. In the first season 2007/08 they reached the play-offs with national player Chris Haslam in seventh place in the league , where they lost to the eventual title winner Guildford Heat in the first round .

For the second season you could win old star Tony Dorsey for the last season of his active career as well as the American Andre Smith and as a post-contract Chuck Evans . The previous assistant coach of the British national team Tony Garbelotto took over as coach from his predecessor Henry Mooney. With the final victory in the BBL Cup with 103: 49 over the Plymouth Raiders they won the first title in early 2009, after they had defeated the Newcastle Eagles in the semi-finals of the BBL Cup . In the semi-finals of the League Cup BBL Trophy, however, they were subject to the later title winner Newcastle Eagles, who could defeat the second-placed Everton Tigers with three points difference in the final even after winning the regular season in the play-offs.

In the third season of 2009/10, the Tigers reached the play-offs in fifth place and defeated the first-placed and defending champion Newcastle Eagles in the semifinals, and then won the play-offs for the first time in the final against Glasgow Rocks . After this season, however, the Everton FC withdrew its financial support after only three years for the professional franchise , similar to most other collaborations between football clubs and clubs of the BBL before. The cooperation with Manchester United (1985 to 1988), Portsmouth FC (1985 to 1988) or the Glasgow Rangers (1988/89), all of which had won championship titles in the "National Basketball League" (NBL) or the BBL founded in 1987 , even after no more than three years.

Mersey Tigers (since 2010)

After the withdrawal of Everton FC, the team was called Mersey Tigers. In the first season after the separation, the team, led by national team captain Andrew Sullivan and his experienced colleague Nate Reinking , was very dominant in the 2010/11 season and won three of the four possible titles of the BBL except for the BBL Cup. Only the final game in the BBL Cup was lost 66:93 against the Sheffield Sharks , against whom they could return the favor by five points after a victory in the final of the play-offs and defend this title. The end of the season, however, was overshadowed by liquidity problems, which led to the fact that one had to leave the previous home ground Greenbank Sports Academy . The financial problems then led to a change of ownership and strict austerity measures. In terms of sport, this led to a massive slump and after winning only ten of 20 games in the 2011/12 season with the third worst record of all teams, they did not win a single of the league's 33 championship games in the 2012/13 season. After the end of the season they finally announced the withdrawal from the closed league.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Everton Tigers to join BBL ranks. BBC , June 20, 2007, accessed June 4, 2013 .
  2. ↑ a b James Pearce: Everton Tigers are relaunched as Mersey Tigers after football club withdraw funding. Liverpool Echo , July 27, 2010, accessed June 4, 2013 .
  3. ↑ England Basketball: Under 18 Men - National Cup. (No longer available online.) England Basketball . Archived from the original on April 2, 2013 ; accessed on April 6, 2013 (English, overview of title winners and finals). 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
  4. ^ Scott McLeod: Everton launch basketball team. Everton FC , June 19, 2007, accessed June 4, 2013 (media info).
  5. ↑ Revealed: Everton Tigers and Mersey Tigers cash crises. Liverpool Echo , February 22, 2011, accessed June 4, 2013 .
  6. ^ Mersey Tigers under new ownership ahead of new season. BBC , August 2, 2011, accessed June 4, 2013 .