1986–87 National Basketball League season explained
| 1986–87 National Basketball League season |
| League: | National Basketball League |
| Sport: | Basketball |
| No Of Teams: | 13 |
| Playoffs: | Roll of Honour |
| Conf1: | National League |
| Conf1 Champ: | Portsmouth |
| Conf1 Runner-Up: | Kingston Kings |
| Conf2: | Play Off's |
| Conf2 Champ: | BCP London |
| Conf2 Runner-Up: | Kingston Kings |
| Conf3: | National Cup |
| Conf3 Champ: | Kingston Kings |
| Conf3 Runner-Up: | Portsmouth |
| Seasonslist: | List of English National Basketball League seasons |
| Seasonslistnames: | National Basketball League |
| Prevseason Year: | 1985–86 |
| Nextseason Year: | 1987–88 |
The 1986–87 Carlsberg National Basketball League season was the fifteenth and last season of the National Basketball League formed in 1972.[1]
The league was sponsored by Carlsberg for the third consecutive year. Portsmouth won the first division league title, Kingston Kings claimed the Play Off's & Crystal Palace lifted the National Cup for the seventh time in their history.[2] Team Walsall (formerly Team Sandwell) won the second division. This would be the last National League season because the top English and Scottish teams would breakaway and form the British Basketball League.
Team changes
The first division was reduced to thirteen teams following two mergers.[3] Manchester United and Manchester Giants merged at the end of April 1986 and agreed to take the name Manchester United and play in Stretford. The second merger came four months later at the beginning of September 1986 when Crystal Palace and Brunel Uxbridge & Camden Ducks joined forces with fixtures being split between the Crystal Palace Sports Centre and Brunel University. In between the two mergers the Nissan Worthing Bears and Tyneside Basketball Club both folded. The EBBA admitted two new teams in the form of Calderdale Explorers and Derby Rams from the second division.
Carlsberg League standings
First Division
| width=20 | Pos | width=300 | Team | width=20 | P | width=20 | W | width=20 | L | width=20 | F | width=20 | A | width=20 | Pts |
|---|
| 1 | | 24 | 21 | 3 | 2393 | 2089 | 42 |
| 2 | | 24 | 21 | 3 | 2530 | 2158 | 42 |
| 3 | Sharp Manchester United | 24 | 19 | 5 | 2282 | 2010 | 38 |
| 4 | | 24 | 17 | 7 | 2311 | 2151 | 34 |
| 5 | Leicester Riders | 24 | 16 | 8 | 2438 | 2340 | 32 |
| 6 | | 24 | 11 | 13 | 2264 | 2303 | 22 |
| 7 | Calderdale Explorers | 24 | 10 | 14 | 2180 | 2216 | 20 |
| 8 | | 23 | 8 | 15 | 2281 | 2341 | 16 |
| 9 | Birmingham Bullets | 24 | 8 | 16 | 2167 | 2227 | 16 |
| 10 | Reg Vardy Sunderland 76'ers | 24 | 7 | 17 | 2246 | 2448 | 14 |
| 11 | Draper Tools Solent Stars | 24 | 7 | 17 | 2245 | 2431 | 14 |
| 12 | Home Spare Bolton & Bury Hawks * | 23 | 6 | 17 | 1944 | 2199 | 11 |
| 13 | BPCC Derby Rams | 24 | 4 | 20 | 2056 | 2424 | 8 | |
- Hemel v Bolton fixture not played and Bolton were deducted one point
Second Division
| width=20 | Pos | width=300 | Team | width=20 | P | width=20 | W | width=20 | L | width=20 | F | width=20 | A | width=20 | Pts |
|---|
| 1 | Team Walsall | 18 | 15 | 3 | 1907 | 1647 | 30 |
| 2 | Oldham Celtics | 18 | 15 | 3 | 2071 | 1575 | 30 |
| 3 | Just Rentals Rhondda | 18 | 14 | 4 | 2205 | 1954 | 28 |
| 4 | CBS Centurions Colchester | 18 | 12 | 6 | 1721 | 1705 | 24 |
| 5 | Lambeth TopCats | 18 | 11 | 7 | 1689 | 1622 | 22 |
| 6 | TF Group Cleveland Comets | 18 | 10 | 8 | 1793 | 1828 | 20 |
| 7 | Tower Hamlets | 18 | 5 | 13 | 1670 | 1779 | 10 |
| 8 | Plymouth Raiders | 18 | 4 | 14 | 1731 | 1844 | 8 |
| 9 | Swindon Rakers | 18 | 3 | 15 | 1555 | 2010 | 6 |
| 10 | Ellesmere Port Jets | 18 | 1 | 17 | 1610 | 1988 | 2 | |
Carlsberg playoffs
Quarter-finals
| width=200 | Team 1 | width=200 | Team 2 | width=60 | Score |
|---|
| Portsmouth | Hemel Hempstead Watford Royal | 2-0 |
| Kingston Kings | Calderdale Explorers | 2-1 |
| Manchester United | Bracknell Pirates | 2-1 |
| Brunel Crystal Palace London | Leicester Riders | 2-1 | |
Semi-finals
| width=200 | venue & date | width=200 | Team 1 | width=200 | Team 2 | width=60 | Score |
|---|
| Apr 03, Wembley Arena | Portsmouth | Brunel Crystal Palace London | 102-106 |
| Apr 03, Wembley Arena | Kingston Kings | Manchester United | 111-80 | |
Third Place
| width=200 | venue & date | width=200 | Team 1 | width=200 | Team 2 | width=60 | Score |
|---|
| Apr 04, Wembley Arena | Portsmouth | Manchester United | 99-89 | |
Final
Second round
| width=280 | Team 1 | width=280 | Team 2 | width=60 | Score |
|---|
| Derby Rams | Brunel Crystal Palace | 73-90 |
| Tower Hamlets | Hemel Hempstead Watford Royals | 95-117 |
| Oldham Celtics | Calderdale Explorers | 95-115 |
| Portsmouth | Lambeth Topcats | 121-81 |
| Plymouth Raiders | Solent Stars | |
| Bracknell Pirates | | |
| Manchester United | Leicester Riders | 113-111 |
| Kingston Kings | TF Group Cleveland | 122-64 | |
Quarter-finals
| width=280 | Team 1 | width=280 | Team 2 | width=60 | Score |
|---|
| Hemel Hempstead Watford Royals | Portsmouth | 99-127 |
| Brunel Crystal Palace | Calderdale Explorers | 81-94 |
| Solent Stars | Manchester United | 85-88 |
| Kingston Kings | Bracknell Pirates | 113-102 | |
Semi-finals
| width=250 | Venue & Date | width=240 | Team 1 | width=240 | Team 2 | width=60 | Score |
|---|
| Aston Villa Leisure Centre, Nov 30 | Calderdale Explorers | Portsmouth | 77-81 |
| Aston Villa Leisure Centre, Nov 30 | Kingston Kings | Manchester United | 95-86 | |
Final
See also
Notes and References
- Book: Matthews & Morrison, Peter & Ian. The Guinness Encyclopaedia of Sports Records & Results. 1987. Guinness Superlatives Ltd. 0-85112-492-5. registration.
- Web site: Men's Senior League Winners. Basketball England.
- Web site: "Clubs join forces." Times [London, England] 4 Sept. 1986]. The Times Digital Archive.
