The 1988–89 BBL season was the second season of the

British Basketball League The British Basketball League (BBL) was a men's professional basketball sports league, league in Great Britain. Since its establishment in 1987 the BBL represented the highest level of basketball competition within the United Kingdom. The orga ...

(known as the

Carlsberg Carlsberg may refer to: Places * Carlsberg (district), a district in Copenhagen, Denmark ** Carlsberg station, its train station * Carlsberg, Germany, a municipality in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany * Carlsberg Fjord, Greenland Other uses * Carlsbe ...

League for sponsorship reasons) since its establishment in 1987. The season featured a total of 11 teams, playing 20 games each. The league had suffered in the 1989 close season because

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

was wound up followed by

Calderdale Explorers The Calderdale Explorers are an English basketball club, based in Halifax, West Yorkshire. The Explorers compete in English Basketball League Division 3 North. A previous incarnation of the club was a founding member of the British Basketball ...

and

Birmingham Bullets The Birmingham Bullets were a British professional basketball team from Birmingham, England who competed in the British Basketball League (BBL). The club was founded in 1974 as Coventry Granwood before moving to Birmingham in 1980 as part of the ...

both dropping out of the league. Bolton and Bury Giants became the Olympic City Giants and Kingston moved north of the border playing as Glasgow Rangers. The new season was supposed to feature 12 teams, however

Oldham Celtics Oldham is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan B ...

dropped out of the league and into the

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

(Tier 2) after just one game, due to financial difficulties. The season was dominated by the success of the league's two Scottish teams

Glasgow Rangers Rangers Football Club is a professional football club in Glasgow, Scotland. The team competes in the Scottish Premiership, the top division of Scottish football. The club is often referred to as Glasgow Rangers, though this has never been it ...

and Livingston, who finished the regular season in first and second place respectively.BBL Media Guide 2003/04, page 15 Glasgow's

Kevin Cadle Kevin Cadle (March 17, 1955 – October 16, 2017) was a British-based American sports presenter and former basketball coach. Cadle was born in Buffalo, New York in 1955. After retiring from coaching in 1997, Cadle presented American football and ...

and

Alan Cunningham Sir Alan Gordon Cunningham, (1 May 1887 – 30 January 1983), was a senior Officer (armed forces), officer of the British Army noted for his victories over Italian forces in the East African Campaign (World War II), East African Campaign duri ...

were also named as the league's Coach and Player of the year, however the Scottish dominance was broken by Bracknell Tigers who were victorious in the League Trophy against Livingston in the Final. Below the Carlsberg League in the National League Division 1, it came as no surprise that Oldham Celtics sealed the title bearing in mind that they had originally planned to play in the top tier.

Carlsberg League (Tier 1)

Final standings

Playoffs

Quarter-finals

(1) Glasgow Rangers vs. (8) Olympic City Giants (2) Livingston vs. (7) Hemel Royals (3) Sunderland 76ers vs. (6) Bracknell Tigers (4) Leicester City Riders vs. (5) Manchester Eagles

Semi-finals

Third place

Final

National League Division 1 (Tier 2)

Final standings

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...
National Cup

Second Round

Quarter-finals

+ Derby expelled after match was abandoned following a scuffle

Semi-finals

Final

NatWest Trophy

Group stage

North Group

South Group

Despite dropping out of the Carlsberg League and into the

after just one game of the season,

continued their schedule in the League Trophy.

Quarter-finals

Glasgow Rangers vs. Olympic City Giants Livingston vs. Manchester Eagles Bracknell Tigers vs. Derby Rams Leicester City Riders vs. Solent Stars

Semi-finals

Glasgow Rangers vs. Livingston Bracknell Tigers vs. Leicester City Riders

Final

Seasonal awards

* Most Valuable Player:

(

) * Coach of the Year:

(

) * All-Star Team: ** Tony Balogun ( Leicester City Riders) ** Jimmy Brandon ( Leicester City Riders) ** Tommy Collier ( Livingston) **

(

) ** Dan Davis (

) ** Lorenzo Duncan (

Hemel Royals London Lions are a British professional basketball team based in Stratford, East London, England, and compete in the Super League Basketball (SLB). The team was originally founded in 1977 as the Hemel Hempstead Lakers. Following an ownershi ...

) ** Butch Hays (

) **

Russ Saunders Stillwell Russell Saunders (January 1, 1906 – April 29, 1987) was an American football fullback in the National Football League (NFL). He played with the Green Bay Packers during the 1931 NFL season. He was an All-American at USC and was one ...

(

Sunderland 76ers The Newcastle Eagles are a professional basketball club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. They play in Super League Basketball, the top-tier professional basketball league in Britain for men and women, and the European North Basketball Leag ...

) ** Phil Smith (

Solent Stars 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 ...

) **

Clyde Vaughan Clyde Vaughan (born in Mount Vernon, New York, United States) is a basketball coach and former professional player, who enjoyed a distinguished career at college level and professional level and international level for the England men's national ...

(

)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1988-89 British Basketball League season British Basketball League seasons 1

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

Carlsberg League (Tier 1)

Final standings

Playoffs

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Third place

Final

National League Division 1 (Tier 2)

Final standings

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ... National Cup

Second Round

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

NatWest Trophy

Group stage

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

Seasonal awards

References

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...
National Cup