London United
Encyclopedia
London United is basketball
team from London
, England
, currently competing in English Basketball League
Division 2. In 2006 they were elected into the professional British Basketball League
to replace the London Towers
as the sole representatives for the capital city. However after achieving a Play-off place in their first season, the franchise fell into a financial crisis and withdrew but continued to field a team in the lower leagues of the English Basketball League.
Division 1 (Now known as EBL
Division 2) behind the Derbyshire Arrows
.
Division 1 achieved just a year later, in 2003. United spent 3 years in Division 1 with their biggest success coming in 2004-05 when they finished as runners-up, again pipped to the title by the Arrows
. The logical progression for the club was to join the fully professional British Basketball League
in July 2006. However the decision was hastened when the London Towers
withdrew from the 2006-07
season, leaving London
without a professional basketball team.
. Jacks first step was to hire coach Tony Garbelotto
to control the team on-court and bring in Chris Morris (who works closely with Tony Garbelotto running the highly successful Hackney Community College Basketball Academy
programme based at SPACe) to run off-court operations. Majewski, Schiller, Garbelotto and Morris are the Club Directors. Sponsorship soon came, in the way of international money transferers MoneyGram, and a suitable venue was found at the Space Centre
near Hackney
. A mass influx of British
players strengthened the ranks of United, with major signings including internationals Chris Haslam and Tarick Johnson
.
game on September 30, 2006 on the road at Leicester Riders
. Despite trailing 73-52 at the end of the third quarter, a last gasp effort and a 29-6 run resulted in a 81-79 victory for the rookies. United's successful start to the 2006-07 season
continued with another road victory one week later against veterans the Scottish Rocks
, who were defeated 76-70. London United finished the 06/07 season qualifying for the BBL Play-Offs in 8th place with an 11/25 record. Here, they were defeated narrowly by BBL Champions Guildford Heat
. Tarick Johnson finished as the BBL's top-scorer with over 800pts at an average of 23 per game. Johnson was also voted by BBL coaches into the BBL "All-Star" Team of the season.
acting as the flagship for London basketball.
However, this setback did not wipe out the London United brand from the London basketball landscape. London United Basketball re-established itself at Richmond upon Thames College in order to concentrate on developing young elite basketball players and subsequently joined forces with Spelthorne Atoms Junior Basketball Club to create an extensive Junior Programme under the London United Basketball Club umbrella which enabled the Club to reach all age groups from Under 10s through to Senior Level.
In the last two years London United won promotion in two consecutive seasons and is now playing in England Basketball League Division Two. On top of this, in 2010 the Men’s team also won the National Shield.
Notes:
(www.bbl.org.uk).
As of October 27, 2006
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
team from London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, currently competing in English Basketball League
English Basketball League
The English Basketball League is a semi-professional and amateur basketball league in England. It forms the second-tier of competition below the professional British Basketball League....
Division 2. In 2006 they were elected into the professional British Basketball League
British Basketball League
The British Basketball League, often abbreviated to the BBL, is the premier men's professional basketball league in the United Kingdom. The BBL runs two knockout competitions alongside the league championship; the BBL Cup and the BBL Trophy....
to replace the London Towers
London Towers
London Towers was a professional basketball team based in London, England. They were one of the most successful and recognised British sports teams of the 1990s, collecting many titles in the British Basketball League as well as regularly competing in European competitions such as the Euroleague...
as the sole representatives for the capital city. However after achieving a Play-off place in their first season, the franchise fell into a financial crisis and withdrew but continued to field a team in the lower leagues of the English Basketball League.
The beginning
London United basketball club was formed in 2002 following a merger between two local teams, the Ealing Tornados and the North London Lords. Ealing Tornados were themselves a very successful team in the lower leagues, having won promotion after promotion since their foundation in 1999. When the merger took place at the end of the 2001-02 season, Ealing Tornados had just finished as runners-up in NBLEnglish Basketball League
The English Basketball League is a semi-professional and amateur basketball league in England. It forms the second-tier of competition below the professional British Basketball League....
Division 1 (Now known as EBL
English Basketball League
The English Basketball League is a semi-professional and amateur basketball league in England. It forms the second-tier of competition below the professional British Basketball League....
Division 2) behind the Derbyshire Arrows
City of Sheffield Arrows
The City of Sheffield Arrows, or just Sheffield Arrows for short, is a basketball team from Sheffield, South Yorkshire with their first team competing in the English Basketball League, Division 1....
.
Further successes
Playing as London United, the successes continued with promotion to EBLEnglish Basketball League
The English Basketball League is a semi-professional and amateur basketball league in England. It forms the second-tier of competition below the professional British Basketball League....
Division 1 achieved just a year later, in 2003. United spent 3 years in Division 1 with their biggest success coming in 2004-05 when they finished as runners-up, again pipped to the title by the Arrows
City of Sheffield Arrows
The City of Sheffield Arrows, or just Sheffield Arrows for short, is a basketball team from Sheffield, South Yorkshire with their first team competing in the English Basketball League, Division 1....
. The logical progression for the club was to join the fully professional British Basketball League
British Basketball League
The British Basketball League, often abbreviated to the BBL, is the premier men's professional basketball league in the United Kingdom. The BBL runs two knockout competitions alongside the league championship; the BBL Cup and the BBL Trophy....
in July 2006. However the decision was hastened when the London Towers
London Towers
London Towers was a professional basketball team based in London, England. They were one of the most successful and recognised British sports teams of the 1990s, collecting many titles in the British Basketball League as well as regularly competing in European competitions such as the Euroleague...
withdrew from the 2006-07
British Basketball League 2006-07
The 2006-07 season, the 20th since its establishment of the British Basketball League, started on September 29, 2006 when reigning champions Newcastle Eagles began with a 85-83 loss away to Sheffield Sharks....
season, leaving London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
without a professional basketball team.
The big step up
For owners Jack Majewski and David Schiller , the step-up meant finding a new venue, as well as recruiting more able players and finding corporate investments to fund the venture into the BBLBritish Basketball League
The British Basketball League, often abbreviated to the BBL, is the premier men's professional basketball league in the United Kingdom. The BBL runs two knockout competitions alongside the league championship; the BBL Cup and the BBL Trophy....
. Jacks first step was to hire coach Tony Garbelotto
Tony Garbelotto
Tony Garbelotto is an English basketball coach. He became head coach of Everton Tigers in 2008, and is an assistant coach to Chris Finch with Great Britain....
to control the team on-court and bring in Chris Morris (who works closely with Tony Garbelotto running the highly successful Hackney Community College Basketball Academy
Hackney Community College Basketball Academy
The Hackney Community College's Basketball Academy is a basketball programme, located in the London Borough of Hackney in the UK originally designed to engage young people vulnerable to exclusion from education to gain qualifications through engagement with a sport in which they demonstrated talent...
programme based at SPACe) to run off-court operations. Majewski, Schiller, Garbelotto and Morris are the Club Directors. Sponsorship soon came, in the way of international money transferers MoneyGram, and a suitable venue was found at the Space Centre
Hackney Space Centre
The Hackney SPACe Sports Centre, is actually called SPACe. It's a Time Out Magazine Award Winning Leisure Centre in Hackney, London, England....
near Hackney
Hackney Central
Hackney Central is the central district of the London Borough of Hackney in London, England. It comprises the area roughly surrounding, and extending north from Mare Street. It is situated north east of Charing Cross...
. A mass influx of British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
players strengthened the ranks of United, with major signings including internationals Chris Haslam and Tarick Johnson
Tarick Johnson
Tarick Johnson is a professional basketball player, who played during the 2009-2010 season for Tarragona 2017, after a season with Viopsa Gijon Baloncesto in 2008. Previously he played for CB L'Hospitalet in Spain, after a spell with London United.Tarick joined London United in 2006 after spells...
.
2006/07
London played their first BBLBritish Basketball League
The British Basketball League, often abbreviated to the BBL, is the premier men's professional basketball league in the United Kingdom. The BBL runs two knockout competitions alongside the league championship; the BBL Cup and the BBL Trophy....
game on September 30, 2006 on the road at Leicester Riders
Leicester Riders
The Leicester Riders, officially known as the Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders for sponsorship reasons, is a British professional basketball team that play in the British Basketball League...
. Despite trailing 73-52 at the end of the third quarter, a last gasp effort and a 29-6 run resulted in a 81-79 victory for the rookies. United's successful start to the 2006-07 season
British Basketball League 2006-07
The 2006-07 season, the 20th since its establishment of the British Basketball League, started on September 29, 2006 when reigning champions Newcastle Eagles began with a 85-83 loss away to Sheffield Sharks....
continued with another road victory one week later against veterans the Scottish Rocks
Scottish Rocks
The Glasgow Rocks is a basketball team which competes in the British Basketball League. Formerly known as Scottish Rocks and also Edinburgh Rocks, they are one of the leading franchises in the top-tier league, and the only team to be based outside of England, playing at the Kelvin Hall...
, who were defeated 76-70. London United finished the 06/07 season qualifying for the BBL Play-Offs in 8th place with an 11/25 record. Here, they were defeated narrowly by BBL Champions Guildford Heat
Guildford Heat
Guildford Heat is a basketball club based in Guildford, England that currently play in the British Basketball League. Heat play their home games at the brand-new Surrey Sports Park and was formed in 2005 by fans of former BBL franchise Thames Valley Tigers, who folded during the same year...
. Tarick Johnson finished as the BBL's top-scorer with over 800pts at an average of 23 per game. Johnson was also voted by BBL coaches into the BBL "All-Star" Team of the season.
2007-present
It was announced on September 5, 2007, just two weeks prior to the new season tipping-off, that London United's directors and the BBL had agreed to withdraw from the upcoming campaign. The Press Release stated that United's headline sponsor, MoneyGram, had endured financial difficulties of their own and were forced to withdraw their sponsorship. Without enough funds to compete, the club had no option but to 'park' the franchise for a year and work towards a return to the league for 2008-09. Following the shock announcement, the league was promptly reduced to 12 teams for the upcoming season, with rookies London CapitalLondon Capital
London Capital, officially called PAWS London Capital in reference to their partnership with PAWS Foundation, is a basketball team based in London, England...
acting as the flagship for London basketball.
However, this setback did not wipe out the London United brand from the London basketball landscape. London United Basketball re-established itself at Richmond upon Thames College in order to concentrate on developing young elite basketball players and subsequently joined forces with Spelthorne Atoms Junior Basketball Club to create an extensive Junior Programme under the London United Basketball Club umbrella which enabled the Club to reach all age groups from Under 10s through to Senior Level.
In the last two years London United won promotion in two consecutive seasons and is now playing in England Basketball League Division Two. On top of this, in 2010 the Men’s team also won the National Shield.
Season-by-season records
| Season | Div. | Pos. | Pld. | W | L | Pts. | Play Offs | Trophy | Cup |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| London United | |||||||||
| 2002–2003 | NBL 1 National Basketball League (United Kingdom) The National Basketball League, or NBL for short, is a British basketball league. The league started in 1972 and continued through to 2003 renamed the English Basketball League.-1972-1993:... |
|3rd | |||||||
| DNQ | DNQ | ||||||||
| 2003–2004 | EBL 1 English Basketball League The English Basketball League is a semi-professional and amateur basketball league in England. It forms the second-tier of competition below the professional British Basketball League.... |
|6th | 22 | 11 | 11 | 22 | |||
| DNQ | DNQ | ||||||||
| 2004–2005 | EBL 1 English Basketball League The English Basketball League is a semi-professional and amateur basketball league in England. It forms the second-tier of competition below the professional British Basketball League.... |
2nd | 22 | 18 | 4 | 36 | |||
| DNQ | DNQ | ||||||||
| 2005–2006 | EBL 1 English Basketball League The English Basketball League is a semi-professional and amateur basketball league in England. It forms the second-tier of competition below the professional British Basketball League.... |
|7th | 26 | 14 | 12 | 28 | |||
| DNQ | 1st Round | ||||||||
| 2006–2007 | BBL British Basketball League The British Basketball League, often abbreviated to the BBL, is the premier men's professional basketball league in the United Kingdom. The BBL runs two knockout competitions alongside the league championship; the BBL Cup and the BBL Trophy.... |
|8th | 36 | 11 | 25 | 22 | Quarter-final | 1st Round | 1st Round |
Notes:
- NBL Division One operated as the third tier league behind the NBL Conference and BBL.
- In 2003, the NBL was replaced and restructured as the EBL. Division One was reinstated as the second tier league, instead of the former NBL Conference.
- DNQ denotes Did Not Qualify
Current roster
The numbers are established according to the official websites of the team (www.london-united.co.uk) and Britain's top professional league, the BBLBritish Basketball League
The British Basketball League, often abbreviated to the BBL, is the premier men's professional basketball league in the United Kingdom. The BBL runs two knockout competitions alongside the league championship; the BBL Cup and the BBL Trophy....
(www.bbl.org.uk).
As of October 27, 2006
| 4 |  |
Jacek Jagodka | Guard/Forward |
| 5 |  |
Perry Lawson Perry Lawson Perry Lawson is a British professional basketball player, and currently plays for Mersey Tigers in the British Basketball League.... |
Guard |
| 6 | Marcus Knight | Guard | |
| 8 | |
Tarick Johnson Tarick Johnson Tarick Johnson is a professional basketball player, who played during the 2009-2010 season for Tarragona 2017, after a season with Viopsa Gijon Baloncesto in 2008. Previously he played for CB L'Hospitalet in Spain, after a spell with London United.Tarick joined London United in 2006 after spells... |
Guard |
| 9 | Laurent Irish | Forward | |
| 10 | Junior Williams Junior Williams Junior Williams is a Grenadian football player. He currently serves as midfielder for the Grenada national football team.-References:*... |
Guard | |
| 11 |  |
Marlin Capers | Guard/Forward |
| 12 | /  |
Bryant Feggins | Forward |
| 13 | Leon Bernard | Forward | |
| 14 | |
Chris Haslam Chris Haslam (basketball) Chris Haslam was a British professional basketball player who played for Everton Tigers in the British Basketball League.He learned his game at University of Wyoming in the NCAA I in the mid 90's... |
Centre |
| 15 | Phillip Perre | Guard/Forward | |