1980–81 National Basketball League season

1980–81 National Basketball League season
LeagueNational Basketball League
SportBasketball
Number of teams10
Roll of Honour
National League championsBirmingham Team Fiat
  National League runners-upCrystal Palace
Play Off's championsSunderland Saints
  Play Off's runners-upCrystal Palace
National Cup championsCrystal Palace
  National Cup runners-upJohn Carr Doncaster
National Basketball League seasons

The 1980–81 Rotary Watches National Basketball League season was the ninth season of the National Basketball League.[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 Offs title. 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]

National League

First Division

Pos Team P W L F A Pts
1 Birmingham Team Fiat 18 17 1 1748 1530 34
2 Crystal Palace 18 16 2 1787 1467 32
3 Hemel Hempstead Ovaltine 18 13 5 1725 1498 26
4 Sunderland Saints 18 11 7 1633 1490 22
5 John Carr Doncaster 18 9 9 1549 1441 20
6 Stockport Belgrade 18 7 11 1510 1638 14
7 Trafford Giants 18 6 12 1418 1563 12
8 Kelly Girls International Kingston 18 5 13 1546 1680 10
9 Team Talbot, Guildford Pirates 18 4 14 1470 1730 8
10 Blackpool Pacemakers 18 2 16 1386 1735 6

Second Division

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 Moels 16 2 14 1201 1592 4
9 Hemeling Wolverhampton 16 2 14 1272 1779 4

Rotary Watches playoffs

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 ??

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.[permanent dead link‍]
  3. ^ "Nicholas Harling. "Basketball." The Times [London] 2 Dec. 1980". The Times Digital Archive.
  4. ^ "Solent Stars Basketball Club – The Complete History". Solent Stars.
  5. ^ "Nicholas Harling. "Basketball." The Times [London] 16 Mar. 1981". The Times Digital Archive.
  6. ^ "Nicholas Harling. "Basketball." The Times [London] 24 Jan. 1981". The Times Digital Archive.

See also