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Solent Stars

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Solent Stars
LeagueEBL Division 1[a]
Founded1980
Folded2007
ArenaFleming Park Leisure Centre
LocationSouthampton, England
Head coachKerry Kirby[a]
OwnershipBob Paulley

The Solent Stars were a basketball club from Southampton, who were one of the founder members of the British Basketball League, where they competed from 1987 to 1990. For the rest of their existence, the club competed in the English Basketball League and its forerunner the National Basketball League, and the club were members of Division 1 at the time of the club's demise.[1]

Club history

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The Stars first joined the National League in 1980, having been formed the year before by a merger of the Portsmouth Pirates and Southampton Sharks from the Southern League. Success initially came easily to the fledgling club, winning the Division Two title and the National Trophy in their first season, and claiming immediate promotion to Division One. A first Division One title followed in the 1983/1984 season, and at the end of the 1986/1987 season the club were among those who broke away from the National Basketball League to form the British Basketball League.[2]

After three years of solid if unspectacular mid-table finishes, the club struggled to find the financial backing to continue in the professional league, and after a lengthy search for more sponsors the club were forced to drop out of the top flight and return to the bottom of the English basketball structure, entering a team in Division Three (South) to keep the Stars' name alive. Despite the setback, the club were able to claim two subsequent promotions, as they took the Division Three and Division Two titles back-to-back to return to the top flight of the English game in the quickest time possible, only one step away from a return to the British league.[3]

The club finished bottom of Division One in 1996/1997 with a 0-26 record, and was relegated back to Division Two, but this only served as a springboard for further success, as they won Division Two at the first attempt and then followed this up with the Division One title in 1998/1999. For the next several years, the club continued to compete in Division One, continuing through the league's reformatting into the English Basketball League. However, on 31 August 2007, the club announced that they would no longer be fielding a senior men's team in the National League due to a dispute with their home venue, Fleming Park Leisure Centre in Eastleigh. Although owner Bob Paulley was keen to stress this was not the end for the club, they never returned to active competition.[4]

Season-by-season records

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Season[5] Division Played Won Lost Points League Playoffs National Cup National Trophy
Solent Stars
1980-81 NBL Division 2 16 15 1 30 1st N/A Quarter-final Winners
1981-82 NBL Division 1 22 19 3 38 2nd Winners
1982-83 NBL Division 1 24 16 8 32 5th Winners
1983-84 NBL Division 1 36 32 4 64 1st Winners Winners
1984-85 NBL Division 1 26 17 9 34 4th
1985-86 NBL Division 1 28 12 16 24 10th
1986-87 NBL Division 1 24 7 17 14 11th
1987-88 BBL 28 14 14 28 8th
1988-89 BBL 20 4 16 8 9th
1989-90 BBL 28 7 21 14 7th
1990-91 NBL Division 4 (South) 12 11 1 22 1st
1991-92 NBL Division 3 22 20 2 40 1st
1992-93 NBL Division 2 22 5 17 10 10th
1993-94 NBL Division 1 18 7 11 14 8th
1994-95 NBL Division 1 22 7 15 14 10th
1995-96 NBL Division 1 22 3 19 6 1st
1996-97 NBL Division 1 26 0 26 26 14th
1997-98 NBL Division 2 24 23 1 46 1st Winners
1998-99 NBL Division 1 26 21 5 42 1st
1999-2000 NBL Division 1 24 18 6 36 3rd
2000-01 NBL Conference 21 5 16 10 7th
2001-02 NBL Conference 18 11 7 22 3rd
2002-03 NBL Conference 22 7 15 14 9th
2003-04 EBL Division 1 22 4 18 8 10th
2004-05 EBL Division 1 22 5 17 10 10th
2005-06 EBL Division 1 26 4 22 8 12th
2006-07 EBL Division 1 22 7 15 14 8th

Notes:

  • In 1996-1997 teams were awarded one point for a defeat.
  • From 2000-2003 the NBL Conference operated as the second tier league, ahead of Division One.
  • In 2003 the NBL was replaced by the EBL, which reinstated Division One as the second tier.

Notes

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  1. ^ a b At time of closing.

References

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  1. ^ "Solent Stars Club Information". pawprint75.co.uk. Archived from the original on 26 April 2005.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  2. ^ "Solent Stars 1980/1981 Season". solentstars.blogspot.co.uk.
  3. ^ "Solent Stars - League Tables". solentstars.blogspot.co.uk.
  4. ^ "The End of an Era". Solent Stars Club Statement. Archived from the original on 25 February 2008.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  5. ^ "Solent Stars - League Tables". solentstars.blogspot.co.uk.