Leicester Riders

Leicester Riders
League	British Basketball League
Established	1967
History	Loughborough All-Stars 1967–1981 Leicester All-Stars 1981–1986 Leicester City Riders 1986–1997 Leicester Riders 1997–present
Location	Leicester, Leicestershire
Team colours	Red, White and Black
Main sponsor	Jelson Homes
Head coach	Rob Paternostro
Ownership	Kevin Routledge / Russell Levenston
Website	LeicesterRiders.co.uk
Uniforms
Home Away

The Leicester Riders, officially known as the Jelson Homes Leicester Riders for sponsorship reasons, is a British professional basketball team that play in the British Basketball League (BBL). They are the oldest operating basketball team in the country,

Franchise history

Founded on 26 April 1967 and then known as the Loughborough All Stars, the Leicester Riders are the oldest club in British basketball.

They were founder members of the National Basketball League in 1972 and the BBL in 1987.

The Riders were founded by students and lecturers at Loughborough University in April 1967 and were known as the Loughborough All Stars. They were founder members of the National Basketball League in 1972, and the British Basketball League in 1987, and are the oldest club in British basketball operating at the top flight.

The club moved from Loughborough to Leicester in 1981, backed by Leicester City Council and Leicester City Bus (hence the change in nickname to "Riders"), before moving back to play at Loughborough University in 2000, following the closure of Granby Halls, at a new venue barely a stone's throw from Victory Hall where the club played its first game.

Logo used from 2004 until 2013

In 2004 the Riders agreed a sponsorship deal with De Montfort University (DMU) and moved back to Leicester, where they played their games at the DMU's John Sandford Sports Centre.

Following a difficult period for the Club financially between 2005 and 2007, former director of the team, Mike Steptoe, and the supporters club formed a consortium which raised enough money to keep the side running. Then local business Jelson Homes stepped forward to sponsor the Club and the appointment of general manager Russell Levenston began a turning point for the club. Part of the sponsorship deal with Jelson Homes was to ensure the future of the club by investing in 'basketball in the community' schemes, providing the youth of Leicester with basketball coaching programmes, such as the "Shoot to the Future" programme, run with the support of the Police.

Riders also now have an extensive youth programme for boys and girls, a Women’s team near the top of England Basketball’s Division One, one of the country’s largest Basketball Apprentice schemes at Charnwood College, and a partnership with Loughborough University, led by the Great Britain men’s captain Drew Sullivan, and which includes a GB Futures player, Jamell Anderson, two Great Britain Under 20 men’s internationals and two Great Britain Under 20 women’s internationals, as well as a number of boys and girls in England Under age international teams. Membership in the Club is expected to reach nearly 1,500 this season. The Club’s community programmes reach nearly 15,000 young people in the City and County.

The Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders secured the BBL Cup in thrilling fashion as they defeated the Newcastle Eagles 80–85 at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham on 13 January 2012, in front of a bumper 7,500 crowd, and live on Sky TV, their first piece of silverware since they won the Cup and the Playoff finals in 2001.

Home arenas

John Sanfdord Sport Centre, former home of the Leicester Riders.

Victory Hall (1967–1981)

Granby Halls (1981–2000)

Sir David Wallace Centre (2000–2004)

John Sandford Centre (2004–2014)

Sir David Wallace Centre (2014–2016)

Leicester Community Arena (2016–present)

Season-by-season records

Notes:

• From 1999–2002 the BBL operated a Conference system. Leicester competed in the Northern Conference.
• DNQ denotes Did Not Qualify.

Players

Current Roster

Notable former players

External links

• Official Leicester Riders website
• Leicester Riders on Twitter
• Riders Ball Online, an unofficial fans' website

British Basketball League
Bristol Flyers Cheshire Phoenix Glasgow Rocks Leeds Force Leicester Riders London Lions Manchester Giants Newcastle Eagles Plymouth Raiders Sheffield Sharks Surrey Scorchers Worcester Wolves
Competitions	BBL Championship (Play-off Finals) BBL Cup BBL Trophy Cup Winners' Cup (defunct) Women's British Basketball League
Seasons	1972-73 1973-74 1974-75 1975-76 1976-77 1977-78 1978-79 1979-80 1980-81 1981-82 1982-83 1983-84 1984-85 1985-86 1986-87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17
Awards	Individual: Coach of the Year Most Valuable Player Team: British Team of the Year Defensive Team of the Year Team of the Year
Other	BBL TV Expansion British Basketball Union English Basketball League Scottish National League National Cup National Basketball League