Basketball In England
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...
has a very long history in
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
, being introduced there by
YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...
almost immediately after it was invented (having been created by the Canadian Dr.
James Naismith James Naismith (; November 6, 1861November 28, 1939) was a Scottish-Canadian-American physical educator, physician, Christian chaplain, and sports coach, best known as the inventor of the game of basketball. After moving to the United State ...
in 1891 in Massachusetts). World Wars I and II further spurred its popularity. The three highest profile team sports in England are
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
,
cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...
and rugby. Basketball belongs to the next tier alongside
ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...
and
netball Netball is a ball sport played on a rectangular court by two teams of seven players. The primary objective is to shoot a ball through the defender's goal ring while preventing the opposing team from shooting through their own. It is one of a ...
; like these sports, it has a significant and dedicated following, a professional league, but attracts little coverage from the major British media outlets and suffers from lack of "crossover" appeal. While England is the birthplace of the three main sports, and English sides are major powers in each of them, basketball is essentially an "import" from North America, and English/British teams have not generally been successful in them internationally, which also affects their profile. The elite tier is the fully professional
Super League Basketball Super League Basketball (SLB) is a men's professional basketball sports league, league. Established in 2024, the competition replaces the former British Basketball League (BBL) as the top-level men's basketball competition in Great Britain. Hist ...
, featuring teams from
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
and
Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
, while the semi-professional National Basketball League Division 1 effectively forms the second-tier. There is no
promotion and relegation Promotion and relegation is used by sports leagues as a process where teams can move up and down among divisions in a league system, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are sometimes call ...
between the two leagues because the Super League operates a franchise system whereby teams have to "buy into" the league.


History


Introduced by YMCA

Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...
was first introduced in
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
between March 1892 and January 1893 by the president of
Birkenhead Birkenhead () is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liverpool. It lies within the Historic counties of England, historic co ...
YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...
, C.J. Proctor, who had observed the game during a business trip to
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
. This introduction of the game led to a growth in participation in the new game of basketball initially as an internal league played at Birkenhead YMCA members (England's first Central Venue League), and later to other YMCA clubs in the Wirral and
Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial and metropolitan county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Greater Manchester to the east, Cheshire to the south, the Wales, Welsh county of Flintshire across ...
regions. In June 1894 Mel Rideout, a participant in the first game at
Springfield College Springfield College is a private university in Springfield, Massachusetts, United States. The institution's mission, called the Humanism, Humanics philosophy, calls for educating students in spirit, mind, and body for leadership in service ...
, introduced the game at a YMCA Convention held in England. This did not lead to a wider take up of the game. Birkenhead initiative remained a local development until 1911 when a YMCA instructor brought basketball to Birmingham YMCA, and a team was produced. Within a few months teams had sprung up in the district playing one another in friendly matches. The American Rules had been introduced, but the teams in
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...
found them to be too complicated, and when forming a Local Basketball Association, they compiled a more practical set of rules for their own use. The use of YMCA instructors from Springfield College gave a direct link to the origins of the game. Within a short time after the Birmingham Development many YMCA clubs in England had adopted the game and had formed District Associations similar to the Association in Birmingham. Most of these Associations found the same difficulty of complication in the American Rules and in 1912 the Birmingham Association Rules of Basketball were accepted throughout most of England with some slight differences in rules according to particular conditions.


World War I and the inter-war years

Many Inter-Clubs and Inter-YMCA. games were played until in 1914 with the start of
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
a large number of young men left their home towns for
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
. Basketball naturally lost a great deal of its initial impetus and although many games were played during the War years the development was limited. With the arrival of the Americans into the War in 1917, many keen British basketball players, found out more about the game and in 1918 an American YMCA Physical Director brought some influence to bear on the District Associations in England, with the result that the local rules were altered slightly and the game became more like the American game. The game was influenced greatly by American forces in Europe during and after World War I and many European Countries as a result began to play Basketball. Britain continued to be influenced during this period, and YMCA clubs developed the game with added flavour. Rules, however, continued to vary according to the country in which the game was played and this state was to continue for a great number of years. In 1924 basketball was included as a demonstration game at the Paris Olympic Games. Great Britain was successfully represented in this Tournament by a team from the London Central YMCA who won all their games. The London Central YMCA (also written about as CentYMCA Harriers in the Dutch press) were reigning National YMCA Champions this championship having been established in 1922. One of the players from the victorious YMCA team introduced the game to the Netherlands, i.e. A.M.V.J. Amsterdam in 1929. In his honour there still is to this day a tournament called after him, the Lew Lake tournament organized by the first Dutch basketball club, AMVJ Amsterdam, founded in January 1930. Still today Lew Lake is honoured in the Dutch basketball world as the first one to give basketball demonstrations and teach the game in Holland. AMVJ organized an international basketball tournament in March 1932, the first international games in the Netherlands. Teams from Belgium, Lille, Holland and CentYMCA took part. Centymca ended second after Olympique Lille. The game continued to develop in England and in 1936 a meeting was called at the London Central YMCA to form a Governing Body for the sport. The new Association, the Amateur Basket Ball Association of England and Wales (ABBA.) was established with Mr. Herbert Naylor, the National Physical Director of YMCA in England as chairman, Mr. J. A. Clay of Birmingham as Honorary Secretary and Mr. W. Browning as London Area Secretary. To run the Association England was divided into four areas: #
Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
and a radius of up to 100 miles #
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...
and a radius of up to 100 miles #
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
(including
Bournemouth Bournemouth ( ) is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. At the 2021 census, the built-up area had a population of 196,455, making it the largest ...
) and a radius of up to 100 miles #
Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...
and a radius of up to 100 miles A Divisional Secretary was appointed in each area. The game continued to spread in England as it was doing worldwide. Prior to 1936 basketball had been included in the Far Eastern Olympics held in Japan each year. Many new faces appeared in Basketball in England. Mr. George Williams of London presented a cup to the ABBA, as Senior Championship Cup and the first tournament for the cup was staged in Birmingham on 6 June 1936. The finalists in this Knockout Championship Tournament were Hoylake YMCA and London Polytechnic. The former winning the 1st Championships of England and Wales by 32 points to 21 points. Greater interest was taken in Basketball because of the incentive of the Championships and many more teams affiliated to ABBA the following year. The standard of play also improved and on 19 March 1938,
Hoylake Hoylake () is a coast, seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. It is at the north west of the Wirral Peninsula, near West Kirby and where the River Dee, Wales, River Dee meets the Irish Sea. At the 2021 United K ...
YMCA (the 1937 winners) were opposed by
Latter Day Saints The Latter Day Saint movement (also called the LDS movement, LDS restorationist movement, or Smith–Rigdon movement) is the collection of independent church groups that trace their origins to a Christian Restorationist movement founded b ...
. This game won by Hoylake YMCA was the first game to be broadcast on
radio Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3  hertz (Hz) and 300  gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...
with a running commentary being given during the final. The George Williams Trophy played for by the teams in this competition is still used today for EB's premier Championship Competition. Hoylake YMCA in October 1937 represented England in the Tournament at a Paris Competition - the first International team to play for England. During 1937, Basketball had increased in popularity, not only with senior players, but also with the younger members. Junior games were played extensively and in 1938 ABBA organised on similar lines to the Senior Championships a National Junior Championship of England and Wales. Plaistow YMCA presented the ABBA with a Challenge Cup. On 9 April 1938 the first Junior Championship Final was held in Birmingham between
Ton Pentre Ton Pentre () is a village in the Rhondda, Rhondda Valley in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. Historic counties of Wales, Historically part of Glamorgan, Ton Pentre, a former industrial coal mining village, is a district of the comm ...
( Rhondda Valley) Boys' Club and London Polytechnic with the Welsh Club winning the first tournament. On the 18th, 19th, and 20 April 1938 basketball was included along with the European Roller
Speed Skating Speed skating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors race each other in travelling a certain distance on skates. Types of speed skating are long-track speed skating, short-track speed skating, and marathon speed skat ...
Championships the Semi Finals and Finals of the Basketball Championship of England and Wales. In the Final, the Catford Saints beat Rochdale Greys 61 points to 47 points. The standard of play in this Championship showed considerable improvement. On the day following the Championship Finals Catford Saints represented England in the first International match ever held in Britain. The game against Germany was won by England by 40 points to 35 points. On 22/23 October 1938 a composite England International Team competed in the International Basketball Tournament at the Sports Palace in Berlin. The team with Mr. W. Browning as Coach and Mr. J. Clay as Manager included three Birmingham players - F. Cole, C. Hunt and A. J. Lee, four London players - F. Gibson. R. Bradley, A. Hants, M. Ashton. and also F. Allen (Rochdale) and G. McMinn (Manchester). This was the first time a composite International Team had travelled abroad and this in itself showed the development of English Basketball. Birmingham and London Area supplied the majority of those International players in keeping with the level of the development of Basketball in England. ABBA of England and Wales, had, gone all out to attract the public, with success. Basketball was now being played extensively in most areas of England and Wales and the public seemed to be interested. In February 1939 a London National League was started involving 6 teams playing in a League Competition at Haringey Arena.


World War II

English Basketball
was progressing very well indeed and by including "Catford Saints" as the English team (1939 Championship Winners) in the
Liège Liège ( ; ; ; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the Liège Province, province of Liège, Belgium. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east o ...
Festival that year, the ABBA once more made England's position in European Basketball felt. It is unfortunate for the progress of Basketball that World War II started in the latter part of 1939. A Championship Final was held in April 1940 with the Birmingham Athletic Institute (BAI) beating London Central YMCA in this final. Due to the war there was no Championship for the next six years and thus Birmingham retained the Trophy for that period. The War, although stemming the development of the actual number of clubs in Britain, did have a good effect upon the game. The
Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...
adopted the game and a number of Army teams were started. The Army influenced the other services and Inter-Service Tournaments were started. Many novices at basketball were introduced to a better class of play and coaching in the services. With the fall of the European Countries, many service personnel from these countries came to Britain, included in the Polish and French services contained some very keen basketball players, these people helped in the development of the game in the Forces. In 1942/43, with the arrival of American forces, a further impetus to the growth of the game was given and their influence on the game in Britain continued for many years after the War.


Present

Basketball struggles to get funding, but there are still two leagues. The highest level is
Super League Basketball Super League Basketball (SLB) is a men's professional basketball sports league, league. Established in 2024, the competition replaces the former British Basketball League (BBL) as the top-level men's basketball competition in Great Britain. Hist ...
, which replaced the
British Basketball League The British Basketball League (BBL) was a men's professional basketball sports league, league in Great Britain. Since its establishment in 1987 the BBL represented the highest level of basketball competition within the United Kingdom. The orga ...
in 2024. The
National Basketball League (England) The National Basketball League, or NBL for short, is a league competition representing semi-professional and amateur basketball clubs from England and Wales. It forms levels 2 to 5 on the British basketball pyramid, in line with the Scottish B ...
includes four senior men's divisions as of 2024. There are also several amateur local leagues across the UK.


References


External links


League website
{{Basketball in Europe by country