Sports season
1980–81 National Basketball League season |
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League | National Basketball League |
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Sport | Basketball |
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Number of teams | 10 |
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Roll of Honour |
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National League champions | Birmingham Team Fiat |
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National League runners-up | Crystal Palace |
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Play Off's champions | Sunderland Saints |
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Play Off's runners-up | Crystal Palace |
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National Cup champions | Crystal Palace |
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National Cup runners-up | John Carr Doncaster |
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National Basketball League seasons |
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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
Sunderland Saints | 96–92 | Crystal Palace |
Pts: David Lloyd ??, Gregg Bunch ??, James McCauley ?? | | Pts: Dan Lloyd ??, Bob Roma ??, Clive Hartley ??, Alton Byrd ?? |
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
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 |
References
- ^ Matthews & Morrison, Peter & Ian (1987). The Guinness Encyclopaedia of Sports Records & Results. Guinness Superlatives Ltd. ISBN 0-85112-492-5.
- ^ "Men's Senior League Winners". Basketball England.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Nicholas Harling. "Basketball." The Times [London] 2 Dec. 1980". The Times Digital Archive.
- ^ "Solent Stars Basketball Club – The Complete History". Solent Stars.
- ^ "Nicholas Harling. "Basketball." The Times [London] 16 Mar. 1981". The Times Digital Archive.
- ^ "Nicholas Harling. "Basketball." The Times [London] 24 Jan. 1981". The Times Digital Archive.
National Basketball League
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See also