London United

BBL team
color1 = #FFFFFF
color2 = #000066
name = London United

imagesize =
sponsor = None
league = British Basketball League
established = 2002
history = London United
2002-present
arena = SPACe Centre
(Capacity: 600)
location = London,
Greater London
coach = flagicon|UK Tony Garbelotto
ownership = flagicon|Poland Jack Majewski
colours = Navy Blue, White and Red
website = [http://www.london-united.co.uk/ London-United.co.uk]
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London United is a professional basketball team from London, England, competing in the British Basketball League. They were elected into the BBL to replace the London Towers for the 2006-07 season, where they were the sole representatives for the capital city. However after achieving a playoff place in their first season, the franchise was parked for the following campaign because the headline sponsor, MoneyGram, halted its financially backing, thus London United will not be competing for the 2007-08 season.

Franchise history

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 NBL Division 1 (Now known as EBL Division 2) behind the Derbyshire Arrows.

Further successes

Playing as London United, the successes continued with promotion to EBL 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.

The big step up

For owners Jack Majewski and Dave 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 BBL. Their 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.

2006/07

London played their first BBL 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.

2007/08

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 Capital acting as the flagship for London basketball.

Home arenas

:Brunel University (2002-2006):Hackney Space Centre (2006-present)

Season-by-season records

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

Players

Current roster

"The numbers are established according to the official websites of the team ( [http://www.london-unted.co.uk www.london-united.co.uk] ) and Britain's top professional league, the BBL ( [http://www.bbl.org.uk www.bbl.org.uk] )."

"As of October 27 2006"

quad changes during 2006/07 season

In:
*flagicon|UK Marcus Knight - Signed From "Leicester Riders"
*flagicon|UK Tarick Johnson - Signed From "Landstede Zwolle"
*flagicon|UK Laurent Irish - Signed From "London Leopards"
*flagicon|UK Junior Williams - Signed From "Milton Keynes Lions"
*flagicon|USA Marlin Capers - Signed From "Guildford Heat"
*flagicon|USA flagicon|Sweden Bryant Feggins - Signed From "Scottish Rocks"
*flagicon|UK Perry Lawson - Signed From "Newcastle Eagles"
*flagicon|UK Leon Bernard - Signed From "West Herts Warriors"
*flagicon|UK Chris Haslam - Signed From "Banca Nouva Trapani"
*flagicon|UK Pillip Perre - Signed From "Milonas Athens"

Out:
*flagicon|UK Santa Ataha - Transferred To "Milton Keynes Lions"
*flagicon|UK Pete Deppisch - Transferred To "London Capitals"
*flagicon|UK Damian Reid - Transferred To "London Capitals"
*flagicon|UK Mark Quashie - Transferred To "West Herts Warriors"
*flagicon|UK Tom Frederick - Transferred To "West Herts Warriors"

External links

* [http://www.london-united.co.uk/ Official London United website]