1980–81 National Basketball League season

1980–81 National Basketball League season
League National Basketball League
Sport Basketball
Number of teams 10
Roll of Honour
National League champions Birmingham Team Fiat
  National League runners-up Crystal Palace
Play Off's champions Sunderland Saints
  Play Off's runners-up Crystal Palace
National Cup champions Crystal Palace
  National Cup runners-up John Carr Doncaster

The 1980–81 Rotary Watches National Basketball League season was the ninth season of the National Basketball League formed in 1972.[1]

The league was sponsored by Rotary Watches for the third consecutive year and Birmingham Team Fiat broke the Crystal Palace monopoly by taking the league title. Sunderland provided a major shock when securing the Play Off's title. Crystal Palace who were expected to make a clean sweep of silverware gained some consolation by winning the National Cup.[2]

Team Changes

Coventry Team Fiat were rebranded Birmingham and moved to a larger venue at the Aston Villa Leisure Centre which served as a catalyst for their success. Manchester took on the name Trafford for the season but apart from this the teams remained the same. A team called Solent Stars backed by a millionaire businessman called Harry Smith [3] easily won the second division and competed successfully against first division teams in tournaments.[4]

First Division League Standings

Pos Team P W L Pts
1 Birmingham Team Fiat 18 17 1 34
2 Crystal Palace 18 16 2 32
3 Hemel Hempstead Ovaltine 18 13 5 26
4 Sunderland Saints 18 11 7 22
5 John Carr Doncaster 18 10 8 20
6 Stockport Belgrade 18 7 11 14
7 Kelly Girls International Kingston 18 5 13 10
8 Trafford Giants 18 5 13 10
9 Blackpool Pacemakers 18 3 15 6
10 Team Talbot, Guildford Pirates 18 3 15 6

Rotary Watches Play Off's

Semi-Finals

venue & date Team 1 Team 2 Score
March 13, Wembley Arena Birmingham Team Fiat Sunderland Saints 73-80
March 13, Wembley Arena Crystal Palace Hemel Hempstead Ovaltine 88-86

Final

14 March[5]
Sunderland Saints 96–92 Crystal Palace
Pts: David Lloyd ??, Gregg Bunch ??, James McCauley ?? Pts: Dan Lloyd ??, Bob Roma ??, Clive Hartley ??, Alton Byrd ??

Second Division League Standings

Pos Team P W L F A Pts
1 Solent Stars 16 15 1 1824 1221 30
2 Brighton Bears 16 13 3 1654 1426 26
3 Liverpool 16 11 5 1731 1241 22
4 National Breakdown Leeds 16 11 5 1448 1303 22
5 Camden & Hampstead 16 8 8 1457 1468 16
6 Nottingham 16 5 11 1266 1430 10
7 Brunel Uxbridge 16 5 11 1258 1481 10
8 Colchester Moles 16 2 14 1201 1592 4
9 Hemeling Wolverhampton 16 2 14 1272 1779 4

Asda National Cup

First Round

Team 1 Team 2 Score
Hemel Hempstead Ovaltine Crystal Palace 83-97
Stockport Belgrade National Breakdown Leeds 78-80
Sunderland Saints Liverpool 103-78
John Carr Doncaster Trafford Giants 88-87 aet
Brighton Bears Solent Stars 105-129
Nottingham Birmingham Team Fiat 69-105
Brunel Uxbridge KGI Kingston 74-118
Colchester Moles Team Talbot Guildford 77-104

Quarter Finals

Team 1 Team 2 Score
KGI Kingston Crystal Palace 70-81
National Breakdown Leeds Sunderland Saints 71-82
Team Talbot Guildford John Carr Doncaster 71-83
Solent Stars Birmingham Team Fiat 98-101

Semi Finals

venue & date Team 1 Team 2 Score
Dec 05, Bradford John Carr Doncaster Sunderland Saints 73-68
Dec 12, Bletchley Crystal Palace Birmingham Team Fiat 94-73

Final

23 January 1981[6]
Crystal Palace 91–74 John Carr Doncaster
Pts: Bob Roma 24, Clive Hartley 19, Alton Byrd 16, Dan Lloyd 10, Paul Stimpson 8, Richard Rudd 6, Pete Jeremich 6, Kolton Lee 2 Pts: Cliff Bell 20, Danny Randall 17, Paul Richards 16, Steve O'Shea 11, Ian Day 6, Chris Bycroft 4
Coventry Sports Centre

References

  1. ↑ Matthews & Morrison, Peter & Ian (1987). The Guinness Encyclopaedia of Sports Records & Results. Guinness Superlatives Ltd. ISBN 0-85112-492-5.
  2. ↑ "Men's Senior League Winners". Basketball England.
  3. ↑ "Nicholas Harling. "Basketball." Times [London, England] 2 Dec. 1980". The Times Digital Archive.
  4. ↑ "Solent Stars Basketball Club - The Complete History". Solent Stars.
  5. ↑ "Nicholas Harling. "Basketball." Times [London, England] 16 Mar. 1981". The Times Digital Archive.
  6. ↑ "Nicholas Harling. "Basketball." Times [London, England] 24 Jan. 1981". The Times Digital Archive.

See also

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