English National Cup (basketball)
Introduction The '''English National Cup''' is an annual basketball knock-out competition held between professional, semi-professional and amateur teams from the various divisions of the National 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 A.B.B.A. National Championship in 1936, and was the first attempt by the Amateur Basketball Ball Association (A.B.B.A.) to develop an annual national basketball championship in England and Wales. The National Championship was initially structured as an end-of-season event to allow regional champions to compete against their peers from across England and Wales. It was governed by the Amateur Basket Ball Association (A.B.B.A. ), a forerunner of the current Basketball England organisation. During World War II, the competition was put on hiatus; the last pre-war winners, Birmingham Athletic Institute, retained the trophy for the duration of the hostilities.Following the introduction of the National Basketball League (NBL) in 1972, the cup began a gradual decline in its influence on the English game as alternative national competitions became more established. The introduction of the NBL's own end-of-season playoffs in 1979 resulted in the competition being restructured into a season-long knockout tournament similar to football's FA Cup, with the competition renamed the National Cup to avoid confusion with the league championship. This structure continued through the introduction of the independent, franchise-based British Basketball League in 1987, though the cup was eventually truncated to a 16-team event for 1998 onwards, with the clubs holding a BBL franchise being joined by the top teams from the previous year's NBL Division 1 standings. This change in format came at the same time as the BBC began showing live coverage of the semi-finals and final.In 2003, the governance and competition structure of basketball in England underwent a period of reinvention, which included rebranding the NBL as the '''English Basketball League''' and introducing new rules governing the use of import players across all Basketball England competitions. These changes led to conflict with the British Basketball League, which withdrew the support of all top-flight clubs and started their own breakaway competition. The withdrawal of the top-flight clubs led to the National Cup returning to a more open structure, with teams able to enter from all divisions of the NBL. This format largely remains to this day, with small variations in organisation during the early rounds.
Format The current competition structure 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. In some seasons the number of entries has required a preliminary round.
Past winners SeasonWinnersRunners-upVenueResult1935-1936Hoylake YMCALondon PolytechnicBirmingham32 – 211936-1937Hoylake YMCALatter Day SaintsLiverpool23 – 171937-1938Catford SaintsRochdale GreysWembley Arena61 – 471938-1939Catford SaintsRochdale GreysLondon Arena53 – 411939-1940Birmingham Athletic InstituteCentral YMCALondon Arena35 – 301941–1946No competition1946-1947CarpathiansBirmingham DolobranBirmingham48 – 251947-1948Latter Day SaintsLatvian SocietyBarking39 – 301948-1949Latter Day SaintsBirmingham DolobranLeicester44 – 351949-1950Latter Day SaintsUSAF BurtonwoodNottingham43 – 321950-1951Birmingham DolobranLondon PolytechnicNottingham34 – 331951-1952London PolytechnicBirmingham DolobranWembley Arena40 – 291952-1953London PolytechnicBirmingham DolobranManchester55 – 461953-1954London PolytechnicNottingham YMCABirmingham98 – 531954-1955London PolytechnicBirmingham DolobranLondon Arena58 – 541955-1956Oxford UniversityHoddesdonLondon Arena75 – 591956-1957Central YMCALondon PolytechnicLondon Arena63 – 511957-1958Central YMCAEast HamLondon Arena48 – 401958-1959Aspley OBBirmingham DolobranLeicester58 – 391959-1960Central YMCALondon PolytechnicBirmingham95 – 621960-1961London UniversityCentral YMCASouth Ruislip68 – 591961-1962Central YMCARAE EaglesSouth Ruislip87 – 471962-1963Central YMCALondon UniversityRoyal Albert Hall70 – 691963-1964Central YMCALondon UniversityRoyal Albert Hall78 – 561964-1965Aldershot WarriorsOxford UniversityCrystal Palace79 – 631965-1966Oxford UniversityAldershot WarriorsCrystal Palace91 – 701966-1967Central YMCAVauxhall MotorsCrystal Palace64 – 621967-1968Oxford UniversityAldershot WarriorsCrystal Palace61 – 591968-1969Central YMCAAldershot WarriorsCrystal Palace70 – 621969-1970Liverpool PoliceOxford UniversityCrystal Palace73 – 671970-1971Manchester UniversitySuttonCrystal Palace88 – 811971-1972AvenueCambridgeCrystal Palace78 – 661972-1973London Latvian SKSuttonCrystal Palace70 – 691973-1974Sutton & Crystal PalaceEmbassy All StarsCrystal Palace120 – 1001974-1975Embassy All StarsSutton & Crystal PalaceWembley Arena82 – 811975-1976Crystal PalaceEmbassy All StarsWembley Arena108 – 881976-1977Crystal PalaceEmbassy All StarsWembley Arena91 – 901977-1978Crystal PalaceTeam Fiat CoventryWembley Arena89 – 871978-1979Doncaster PanthersCrystal PalaceSheffield Arena73 – 711979-1980Crystal PalaceDoncaster PanthersSheffield Arena97 – 671980-1981Crystal PalaceDoncaster PanthersCoventry91 – 741981-1982Solent StarsDoncaster PanthersLeicester127 – 911982-1983Solent StarsBirmingham BulletsLeicester98 – 971983-1984Solent StarsLeicester RidersRoyal Albert Hall86 – 671984-1985Kingston KingsManchester UnitedRoyal Albert Hall103 – 981985-1986Kingston KingsSolent StarsRoyal Albert Hall113 – 821986-1987Kingston KingsPortsmouthRoyal Albert Hall95 – 871987-1988Kingston KingsPortsmouthRoyal Albert Hall90 – 841988-1989Bracknell TigersManchester EaglesLondon Arena87 – 751989-1990Kingston KingsSunderland SaintsLondon Arena103 – 781990-1991Sunderland SaintsLeicester RidersLondon Arena88 – 811991-1992Kingston KingsThames Valley TigersSheffield Arena90 – 711992-1993Guildford KingsWorthing BearsDoncaster82 – 721993-1994Worthing BearsThames Valley TigersSheffield Arena92 – 831994-1995Sheffield SharksThames Valley TigersSheffield Arena89 – 661995-1996London TowersSheffield SharksSheffield Arena70 – 581996-1997London LeopardsSheffield SharksSheffield Arena87 – 791997-1998Thames Valley TigersLeicester RidersSheffield Arena82 – 781998-1999Sheffield SharksLondon LeopardsSheffield Arena67 – 651999-2000Sheffield SharksManchester GiantsSheffield Arena89 – 802000-2001Leicester RidersLondon LeopardsSheffield Arena84 – 802001-2002Chester JetsBirmingham BulletsSheffield Arena112–1052002-2003Brighton BearsChester JetsNational Indoor Arena, Birmingham89 – 792003-2004Plymouth RaidersTeesside MohawksEnglish Institute of Sport, Sheffield89 – 822004-2005Reading RocketsCity of Sheffield ArrowsNational Indoor Arena, Birmingham76 – 752005-2006Essex & Herts LeopardsReading RocketsNational Indoor Arena, Birmingham79 – 752006-2007Manchester MagicWorthing ThunderNational Indoor Arena, Birmingham85 – 802007-2008Manchester MagicWorthing ThunderMoorways Centre, Derby104 – 892008-2009Reading RocketsManchester MagicEnglish Institute of Sport, Sheffield74 – 682009-2010Bristol Academy FlyersManchester MagicEnglish Institute of Sport, Sheffield63 – 61 (OT)2010-2011Brixton TopCatsBristol Academy FlyersPonds Forge, Sheffield77 – 632011-2012London LeopardsBristol Academy FlyersPonds Forge, Sheffield64 – 632012-2013Leeds CarnegieBristol Academy FlyersPonds Forge, Sheffield66 – 642013-2014Reading RocketsNewham NeptunesWorcester Arena, Worcester93 – 722014-2015Manchester MagicReading RocketsEnglish Institute of Sport, Sheffield76 – 582015-2016Manchester MagicWorthing ThunderEnglish Institute of Sport, Sheffield97 – 842016-2017Team NorthumbriaSolent KestrelsWorcester Arena, Worcester73 – 562017-2018Hemel StormManchester MagicUEL SportsDock94 – 772018-2019Loughborough RidersSolent KestrelsUniversity of Essex Arena, Colchester82 – 632019-2020Solent KestrelsReading RocketsUniversity of Essex Arena, Colchester90 - 672020-2021 2021-2022Solent KestrelsTeam NewcastleNational Basketball Centre, Manchester 109 - 662022-2023Hemel StormDerby TrailblazersNational Basketball Centre, Manchester 102 - 81
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