The 2019–20 BBL season was the 33rd campaign of the

British Basketball League The British Basketball League (BBL) is a men's professional basketball league in Great Britain and represents the highest level of play in the countries. The league is contested by 10 teams from England and Scotland. There are no clubs howeve ...

, the top British professional basketball league, since its in 1987. The season featured 12 teams from across England and Scotland. On 17 March 2020, the season was postponed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom The COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom is a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In the United Kingdom, it has resulted in confir ...

. On 1 June 2020, the season was cancelled, with no League or Playoffs champions declared.

Changes to format

The 2019–20 season saw a significantly revamped format for the first time in a number of years. The newly-formatted BBL Cup began the 2019–20 season in September, with group stages (2 geographical groups, North and South, of 6 teams each) to determine 8 teams to progress to the Quarter-finals. Single-legged quarter finals and two-legged semi finals matches would determine the two finalists to contest the Cup final. The Championship would run from December to April. All 12 teams were to play each other twice, once home once away, for a 22-game regular season (as opposed to previous years where teams would play each other 3 times for a 33-game regular season). The top 8 teams would qualify for the end of season Playoffs. The Playoffs were due to run from April to May and for the first time in 21 years were due to be determined over a

best-of-three There are a number of formats used in various levels of competition in sports and games to determine an overall champion. Some of the most common are the ''single elimination'', the ''best-of-'' series, the ''total points series'' more commonly kn ...

series. The Playoffs Final would once again be held at the

O2 Arena O2 Arena may refer to: *The O2 Arena (London) *O2 Arena (Prague) *The 3Arena The 3Arena (originally The O2) is an indoor amphitheatre located at North Wall Quay in the Dublin Docklands in Dublin, Ireland. The venue opened as The O2 on 16 Decem ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Teams

Arenas and locations

Personnel and sponsorship

Coaching changes

BBL Cup

The newly-formatted

BBL Cup The British Basketball League Cup, often shortened to the BBL Cup, is an annual cup competition for British basketball teams organised by the United Kingdom's top professional league, the British Basketball League. It is one of two peripheral c ...

began the 2019–20 season on Friday 20 September, with the group stages running until Sunday 24 November. The 12 teams were split into 2 geographical groups, North and South. Each team played each other twice (once home, once away) with the top 4 teams in each group progressing to the Quarter-finals. Single-legged quarter finals and two-legged semi finals matches determined the two finalists to contest the Cup final on Sunday 26 January at the

Arena Birmingham Arena Birmingham (known for sponsorship reasons as Utilita Arena Birmingham, and previously as The Barclaycard Arena and originally as the National Indoor Arena) is an indoor arena and sporting venue in central Birmingham, United Kingdom. It ...

Qualification Stage

North Group

South Group

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

BBL Championship

The BBL Championship ran from Friday 6 December – Tuesday 17 March. All 12 teams were scheduled to play each other twice, once home once away, for a 22-game regular season. On 24 January 2020,

London City Royals The London City Royals were a British professional basketball team, based in the Crystal Palace area of London, England. The team was founded in 2018, however despite big ambitions the team ceased trading less than two years later, during the 20 ...

withdrew from the league, and their 1–3 record was expunged. On 17 March 2020, the season was postponed due to the

. On 1 June 2020, the season was cancelled, with no League or Playoffs champions declared.

Standings

Results

Playoffs

The BBL Playoffs were due to run from Friday 24 April – Sunday 17 May, with the final to be held at the

. The top 8 teams from the regular season of the BBL Championship would have contested the Playoffs, which for the first time in 21 years were to be determined over a

series.

BBL Trophy

The BBL Trophy retained the same format as introduced in the 2018–19 season. The twelve BBL teams were joined in the first round draw by four invited teams;

Solent Kestrels The Solent Kestrels are an English professional basketball club based in the city of Southampton, Hampshire. Founded in 1998, the Kestrels play their home games at the Solent Sports Complex at Solent University, and compete in English Basketball ...

and

Worthing Thunder The Worthing Thunder are an English professional basketball team based in Worthing, West Sussex. The Thunder compete in the National Basketball League (NBL). Founded in 1999 as the Worthing Rebels after the Worthing Bears had relocated to Bri ...

from the

English Basketball League The National Basketball League, or NBL for short, is a league competition representing semi-professional and amateur basketball clubs from England and Wales. It forms levels 2 to 4 on the British basketball pyramid, in line with the Scottish B ...

, Dunfermline Reign from the

Scottish Basketball Championship The Scottish Basketball Championship (SBC, former: ''Scottish National Basketball League'', SNBL) is the national basketball league of Scotland. The league forms the second and third tiers of British basketball (inline with the English Basketbal ...

and

Basketball Wales Basketball Wales ( cy, Pêl-fasged Cymru) (founded in 1952 as the Basketball Association of Wales) is the sole controller and the national governing body of all aspects of the game of basketball in Wales. It is responsible for the management of th ...

. There was an open draw to form a bracket, mapping out each team's path to the final which was held, for the 8th consecutive year, at the

Emirates Arena The Commonwealth Arena and Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome, known for sponsorship reasons as the Emirates Arena, is an indoor arena and velodrome in Dalmarnock, Glasgow, Scotland. Built for the 2014 Commonwealth Games, these venues hosted the badminto ...

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

First round

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

British clubs in European competitions

No British clubs participated in European competition for the 2019–20 season.

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

and

both declined their invitations from

FIBA The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. Originally known as the (hence FIBA), in 1989 it dropped the word ''amateur'' from its na ...

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:2019-20 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. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...