National Cup

For the British rugby league competition, see BARLA National Cup.

The National Cup is an annual basketball knock-out competition held between professional, semi-professional and amateur teams from the various divisions of the English Basketball League. For most of the competition's history, the draw has featured the elite of English basketball, but teams from the British Basketball League currently do not compete in the National Cup, as they compete in their own separate competition, the BBL Cup.

The final is usually played midway through the season, at a neutral venue. The winners of the tournament are awarded the George Williams Trophy, which is named for the man who donated the original cup.

History

The competition was originally launched as the National Championship Cup in 1936,^[1] as the first attempt to develop a regular national basketball competition in England. The cup was initially organized by the Amateur Basket Ball Association of England and Wales (ABBA), a forerunner of the current England Basketball organization. During World War II, the competition was put on hiatus, with the last pre-war winners, Birmingham Athletic Institute, retaining the trophy for the duration of the hostilities.

Since the introduction of the National Basketball League in 1972, the cup has gradually seen its influence on the English game wane, and the competition was renamed the National Cup in 1979 to avoid confusion with the league championship. A further blow to the competition was to follow in 2003, when the league was re-branded as the English Basketball League and new rules governing the use of import players were introduced across all England Basketball competitions. These changes led to conflict with the independent British Basketball League, which withdrew the support of all top-flight clubs and started their own breakaway competition.^[2]

Format

The competition is a knockout tournament with pairings drawn completely at random – there are no seeds, with the draw for all the rounds up to and including the quarter-final taking place in May. When there are an uneven number of clubs in the draw, some pre-selected teams will receive byes into the next round, but in recent years the number of entries has exceeded 64, necessitating a preliminary round.

Past Winners

^[3] ^[4]

Season	Winners	Runners-Up	Venue	Result
1935/1936	Hoylake YMCA	London Polytechnic	Birmingham	32 – 21
1936/1937	Hoylake YMCA	Latter Day Saints	Liverpool	23 – 17
1937/1938	Catford Saints	Rochdale Greys	Wembley Arena	61 – 47
1938/1939	Catford Saints	Rochdale Greys	London Arena	53 – 41
1939/1940	Birmingham Athletic Institute	Central YMCA	London Arena	35 – 30
1940-1946	No competition
1946/1947	Carpathians	Birmingham Dolobran	Birmingham	48 – 25
1947/1948	Latter Day Saints	Latvian Society	Barking	39 – 30
1948/1949	Latter Day Saints	Birmingham Dolobran	Leicester	44 – 35
1949/1950	Latter Day Saints	USAF Burtonwood	Nottingham	43 – 32
1950/1951	Birmingham Dolobran	London Polytechnic	Nottingham	34 – 33
1951/1952	London Polytechnic	Birmingham Dolobran	Wembley Arena	40 – 29
1952/1953	London Polytechnic	Birmingham Dolobran	Manchester	55 – 46
1953/1954	London Polytechnic	Nottingham YMCA	Birmingham	98 – 53
1954/1955	London Polytechnic	Birmingham Dolobran	London Arena	58 – 54
1955/1956	No competition
1956/1957	Central YMCA	London Polytechnic	London Arena	63 – 51
1957/1958	Central YMCA	East Ham	London Arena	48 – 40
1958/1959	Aspley OB	Birmingham Dolobran	Leicester	58 – 39
1959/1960	Central YMCA	London Polytechnic	Birmingham	95 – 62
1960/1961	London University	Central YMCA	South Ruislip	68 – 59
1961/1962	Central YMCA	RAE Eagles	South Ruislip	87 – 47
1962/1963	Central YMCA	London University	Royal Albert Hall	70 – 69
1963/1964	Central YMCA	London University	Royal Albert Hall	78 – 56
1964/1965	Aldershot Warriors	Oxford University	Crystal Palace	79 – 63
1965/1966	Oxford University	Aldershot Warriors	Crystal Palace	91 – 70
1966/1967	Central YMCA	Vauxhall Motors	Crystal Palace	64 – 62
1967/1968	Oxford University	Aldershot Warriors	Crystal Palace	61 – 59
1968/1969	Central YMCA	Aldershot Warriors	Crystal Palace	70 – 62
1969/1970	Liverpool Police	Oxford University	Crystal Palace	73 – 67
1970/1971	Manchester University	Sutton	Crystal Palace	88 – 81
1971/1972	Avenue	Cambridge	Crystal Palace	78 – 66
1972/1973	London Latvian SK	Sutton	Crystal Palace	70 – 69
1973/1974	Sutton & Crystal Palace	Embassy All Stars	Crystal Palace	120 – 100
1974/1975	Embassy All Stars	Sutton & Crystal Palace	Wembley Arena	82 – 81
1975/1976	Crystal Palace	Embassy All Stars	Wembley Arena	108 – 88
1976/1977	Crystal Palace	Embassy All Stars	Wembley Arena	91 – 90
1977/1978	Crystal Palace	Team Fiat Coventry	Wembley Arena	89 – 87
1978/1979	Doncaster Panthers	Crystal Palace	Sheffield Arena	73 – 71
1979/1980	Crystal Palace	Doncaster Panthers	Sheffield Arena	97 – 67
1980/1981	Crystal Palace	Doncaster Panthers	Coventry	91 – 74
1981/1982	Solent Stars	Doncaster Panthers	Leicester	127 – 91
1982/1983	Solent Stars	Birmingham Bullets	Leicester	98 – 97
1983/1984	Solent Stars	Leicester Riders	Royal Albert Hall	86 - 67
1984/1985	Kingston Kings	Manchester United	Royal Albert Hall	103 - 98
1985/1986	Kingston Kings	Solent Stars	Royal Albert Hall	113 - 82
1986/1987	Kingston Kings	Portsmouth	Royal Albert Hall	95 - 87
1987/1988	Kingston Kings	Portsmouth	Royal Albert Hall	90 - 84
1988/1989	Bracknell Tigers	Manchester Eagles	London Arena	87 - 75
1989/1990	Kingston Kings	Sunderland Saints	London Arena	103 - 78
1990/1991	Sunderland Saints	Leicester Riders	London Arena	88 - 81
1991/1992	Kingston Kings	Thames Valley Tigers	Sheffield Arena	90 - 71
1992/1993	Guildford Kings	Worthing Bears	Doncaster	82 - 72
1993/1994	Worthing Bears	Thames Valley Tigers	Sheffield Arena	92 - 83
1994/1995	Sheffield Sharks	Thames Valley Tigers	Sheffield Arena	89 - 66
1995/1996	London Towers	Sheffield Sharks	Sheffield Arena	70 - 58
1996/1997	London Leopards	Sheffield Sharks	Sheffield Arena	87 - 79
1997/1998	Thames Valley Tigers	Leicester Riders	Sheffield Arena	82 - 78
1998/1999	Sheffield Sharks	London Leopards	Sheffield Arena	67 - 65
1999/2000	Sheffield Sharks	Manchester Giants	Sheffield Arena	89 - 80
2000/2001	Leicester Riders	London Leopards	Sheffield Arena	84 - 80
2001/2002	Chester Jets	Birmingham Bullets	Sheffield Arena	112 - 105
2002/2003	Brighton Bears	Chester Jets	National Indoor Arena, Birmingham	89 - 79
2003/2004	Plymouth Raiders	Teesside Mohawks	English Institute of Sport, Sheffield	89 - 82
2004/2005	Reading Rockets	City of Sheffield Arrows	National Indoor Arena, Birmingham	76 - 75
2005/2006	Essex & Herts Leopards	Reading Rockets	National Indoor Arena, Birmingham	79 - 75
2006/2007	Manchester Magic	Worthing Thunder	National Indoor Arena, Birmingham	85 - 80
2007/2008	Manchester Magic	Worthing Thunder	Moorways Centre, Derby	104 - 89
2008/2009	Reading Rockets	Manchester Magic	English Institute of Sport, Sheffield	74 - 68
2009/2010	Bristol Academy Flyers	Manchester Magic	English Institute of Sport, Sheffield	63 - 61 (OT)
2010/2011	Brixton Topcats	Bristol Academy Flyers	Ponds Forge, Sheffield	77 - 63
2011/2012	London Leopards	Bristol Academy Flyers	Ponds Forge, Sheffield	64 - 63
2012/2013	Leeds Carnegie	Bristol Academy Flyers	Ponds Forge, Sheffield	66 - 64
2013/2014	Reading Rockets	Newham Neptunes	Worcester Arena, Worcester	93 - 72
2014/2015	Manchester Magic	Reading Rockets	English Institute of Sport, Sheffield	76 - 58

References

↑ "Men's Competition History". pawprint75.co.uk. Archived from the original on July 5, 2008. Retrieved 15 June 2014.
↑ "James slams National Cup wreckers". getreading.co.uk. Retrieved 15 June 2014.
↑ "Men's National Competition Winners". England Basketball. Archived from the original on June 18, 2003. Retrieved 15 June 2014.
↑ "England Basketball League Statistics". England Basketball. Retrieved 15 June 2014.

English Basketball League

Division One

Division Two

Brixton TopCats Derbyshire Arrows East London All-Stars Eastside Eagles London Ipswich Liverpool London Greenhouse Pioneers London Westside Loughborough Students Riders Nottingham Hoods Solent Kestrels Worcester Wolves II

Competitions

League Championship (Play-off Finals)
National Cup
National Trophy
Patrons Cup
National Shield
National Founders Cup

Other

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