Mersey Tigers

2012/13: 12th Place

The Mersey Tigers are a professional basketball team from Liverpool in England. They were formed in June 2007 through the cooperation of the Toxteth Tigers with the football club FC Everton as Everton Tigers, recording in the closed professional league British Basketball League (BBL ) found. In 2010 they changed their name to Mersey Tigers, after the Everton FC withdrew from the collaboration. In 2013 they had to retire after a winless season in the BBL.

History

Everton Tigers (2007 to 2010)

1968 basketball team had been founded with the name of the tiger in the framework of a Community Program in the Toxteth district. The youth team won the U18 Cup competition in 2000. After previously the football club FC Everton had supported the program, one in 2007 founded together the professional team Everton Tigers, recording in the closed professional league BBL found. In the first season 2007/ 08 was reached, among others, national player Chris Haslam on the seventh in the league play-offs, where the eventual champions Guildford Heat defeated in the first round.

For the second season you could win veteran Tony Dorsey for his last season in his active career as well as the US- American Andre Smith and as Nachverpflichtung Chuck Evans. As a coach, took over the former assistant coach of the British national lottery Tony sheaf of his predecessor Henry Mooney. With the final victory in the Cup competition BBL Cup with 103:49 over the Plymouth Raiders they won the first title in early 2009, after they had defeated in the semi-finals of the cup competition BBL Cup Newcastle Eagles. In the semifinals of the League Cup BBL Trophy but they lost to the eventual champions Newcastle Eagles who could defeat even after winning the regular season in the play- offs, the second-placed Everton Tigers with three points difference in the final.

In the third season 2009/ 10, the Tigers reached a fifth-placed play-offs and beat in the semi-final winners and defending champions Newcastle Eagles to then also to win the play-off final against Glasgow Rocks for the first time. After this season, however, withdrew its financial support Everton after only three years for professional franchise, similar to what was previously done with most other collaborations of football clubs and associations of the BBL. How was the cooperation with Manchester United ( 1985-1988 ), Portsmouth (1985 to 1988) or the Glasgow Rangers (1988 /89), who had won all championship titles in the " National Basketball League " ( NBL ), or set up in 1987 BBL was terminated after no more than three years.

Mersey Tigers (since 2010)

After the withdrawal of Everton FC, the team called to Mersey Tigers in. In the first season after the separation was the team, led by captain Andrew Sullivan and his experienced colleagues Nate Reinking, in the 2010/11 season very dominant and won up to the BBL Cup three of the four possible titles of the BBL. Only the final game in the BBL Cup they lost with high 66:93 against the Sheffield Sharks, against which one could take revenge after a victory in the final of the play-offs with five points difference and defended this item. The end of the season was overshadowed by liquidity problems, which meant that you had to leave the former home ground Greenbank Sports Academy. The financial problems then led to a change of ownership and a strict austerity measures. Sporty, this led to a massive slump and after winning in the 2011/12 season with the third- worst record of teams that only ten out of 20 games, they won in the 2012/13 season, not one of the 33 championship games in the league. After the end of the season they finally announced the withdrawal from the closed league.