1985–86 National Basketball League season

1985–86 National Basketball League season
LeagueNational Basketball League
SportBasketball
Number of teams15
Roll of Honour
National League championsManchester United
  National League runners-upKingston Kings
Playoffs championsKingston Kings
  Playoffs runners-upBirmingham Bullets
National Cup championsKingston Kings
  National Cup runners-upSolent Stars
National Basketball League seasons

The 1985–86 Carlsberg National Basketball League season was the fourteenth season of the National Basketball League formed in 1972.[1]

The league was sponsored by Carlsberg for the second consecutive year and the Kingston Kings completed a Play Off's & National Cup double but Manchester United won the League title.[2]

Team changes

The EBBA increased the first division to fifteen teams adding two clubs from the second division; the two new teams were Brunel Uxbridge & Camden Ducks and the Tyneside basketball club. One club dropped out because Doncaster Panthers suffered financial trouble and were disbanded during the previous summer.
The gap in spending capability between certain teams seemed to be growing with the likes of Kingston, Manchester United and Portsmouth having much larger budgets than some of their competitors.

Carlsberg League standings

First Division

Pos Team P W L F A Pts
1 Sharp Manchester United 28 25 3 2772 2464 50
2 Team Polycell Kingston Kings 28 24 4 3193 2902 48
3 Portsmouth 28 22 6 2721 2513 44
4 Manchester Giants 28 18 10 2565 2456 36
5 London Docklands Crystal Palace * 28 17 11 3237 3050 33
6 Birmingham Bullets 28 15 13 2759 2720 30
7 Brunel Uxbridge & Camden Ducks 28 14 14 2586 2629 28
8 Walkers Crisps Leicester 28 14 14 2907 2957 28
9 Hemel Hempstead Watford Royals 28 13 15 2864 2790 26
10 Sperrings Solent Stars 28 12 16 2595 2568 24
11 Nissan Worthing Bears 28 12 16 0000 0000 24
12 Bracknell Pirates 28 11 17 2907 2985 22
13 QRS Sunderland 28 8 20 2734 2967 16
14 Home Spare Bolton & Bury Hawks 28 3 25 2678 3018 6
15 McEwan Tyneside 28 2 26 2542 2884 4

One point deducted *

Second Division

Pos Team P W L F A Pts
1 Calderdale Explorers 22 18 4 2511 1963 36
2 BPCC Derby Rams 22 18 4 2204 1923 36
3 Team Wakefields Nottingham 22 18 4 2181 1954 36
4 Brixton TopCats 22 15 7 1960 1752 30
5 CAD Tower Hamlets 22 14 8 2043 1920 28
6 ANC Liverpool 22 12 10 2057 1962 24
7 Oldham Ioanian Celtics 22 11 11 2163 2090 22
8 Plymouth Raiders 22 11 11 2062 2051 22
9 English Estates Cleveland 22 6 16 2022 2219 12
10 Team Telecom Colchester 22 5 17 1918 2210 10
11 Swindon Rakers 22 4 18 1859 2185 8
12 Peterborough Jets 22 0 22 1623 2374 0

Carlsberg playoffs

Quarter-finals

Team 1 Team 2 Score
Leicester Manchester United 2-1
Kingston Brunel Uxbridge & Camden 2-0
Manchester Giants Crystal Palace 1-2
Birmingham Bullets Portsmouth 2-1

Semi-finals

venue & date Team 1 Team 2 Score
March 21, Wembley Arena Birmingham Bullets Crystal Palace
March 21, Wembley Arena Kingston Kings Leicester

Third Place

venue & date Team 1 Team 2 Score
March 22, Wembley Arena Crystal Palace Leicester 136-117

Final

22 March 1986[3]
Kingston Kings 114–97 Birmingham Bullets
Pts: Danny Davis (MVP) 37, Steve Bontrager 30, Martin Clark 30 Pts: Dip Donaldson 31, Butch Hays 26, Tyrone Shoulders 22
Wembley Arena
Attendance: ?
Kingston Coach Malcolm Chamberlain
Birmingham Coach Art Ross/Colin Wood

Prudential National Cup

Second round

Team 1 Team 2 Score
Walkers Crisps Leicester QRS Sunderland 105-113
CAD Tower Hamlets Portsmouth 69-111
McEwan Tyneside Oldham Celtics 111-98
Calderdale Explorers Sharp Manchester United 70-97
Sperrings Solent Stars Happy Eater Bracknell Pirates 111-97
Nissan Worthing Bears Plymouth Raiders 107-85
Home Spare Bolton & Bury Hawks Manchester Giants 76-95
Team Polycell Kingston Kings Hemel Hempstead & Watford Royals 132-113

Quarter-finals

Team 1 Team 2 Score
McEwan Tyneside Portsmouth 76-98
Nissan Worthing Bears Manchester Giants 87-82
Sperrings Solent Stars QRS Sunderland 106-83
Sharp Manchester United Team Polycell Kingston Kings 84-98

Semi-finals

Venue & Date Team 1 Team 2 Score
Aston Villa Leisure Centre, Dec 15 Sperrings Solent Stars Nissan Worthing Bears 101-83
Aston Villa Leisure Centre, Dec 15 Team Polycell Kingston Kings Portsmouth 92-75

Final

Live on Channel 4
13 January 1985[4]
Kingston Kings 113–82 Solent Stars
Pts: Steve Bontrager 33, Danny Davis (MVP) 28, Martin Clark 27, Andy Innell, Chrimes Pts: TJ Robinson 28, Bryan Skoech 15, Ron Whitehead 14, Ken Nottage
Royal Albert Hall, London
Attendance: ?
Kingston Coach Malcolm Chamberlain
Solent Coach Steve Fitzsimons

British Masters Cup final

9 April 1986
Birmingham Bullets 87–83 Murray International Metals Edinburgh
Pts: Butch Hays 26, Tyrone Shoulders 22, Dip Donaldson 19, Neville Hopkins Pts: Sam Foggin 33, Stewart 14, Alton Byrd 13
Gateshead
Attendance: ?
Birmingham Coach Art Ross/Colin Wood
Edinburgh Coach ?

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. ^ ""Kingston in command." Times [London, England] 24 Mar. 1986". The Times Digital Archive.
  4. ^ "Nicholas Harling. "Kingston triumph as Stars lose glitter." Times [London, England] 14 Jan. 1986". The Times Digital Archive.

See also