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Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
has a very long history in
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, being introduced there by
YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London, originally ...
almost immediately after it was invented (having been created by the Canadian Dr.
James Naismith James Naismith (; November 6, 1861November 28, 1939) was a Canadian-American physical educator, physician, Christian chaplain, and sports coach, best known as the inventor of the game of basketball. After moving to the United States, he wrote ...
in 1891 in Massachusetts). World Wars I and II further spurred its popularity. The four highest profile team sports in the United Kingdom are
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
,
cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
,
rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...
and
rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...
. Basketball belongs to the next tier alongside
ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...
and
netball Netball is a ball sport played on a court by two teams of seven players. It is among a rare number of sports which have been created exclusively for female competitors. The sport is played on indoor and outdoor netball courts and is specifical ...
; like these sports, it has a significant and dedicated following, a professional league, but attracts little coverage from the major British media outlets and suffers from lack of "crossover" appeal. While England is the birthplace of the four main sports, and England teams are relatively major powers in each of them, Basketball, like ice hockey, is essentially an "import" from North America, and English and British teams have not generally been successful in them internationally, which also affects their profile. The elite league is the fully professional
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 ...
, featuring teams from
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
and
Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
, while the semi-professional National Basketball League effectively forms the second-tier. There is no
promotion and relegation In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...
between the two leagues because the BBL operates a
franchise Franchise may refer to: Business and law * Franchising, a business method that involves licensing of trademarks and methods of doing business to franchisees * Franchise, a privilege to operate a type of business such as a cable television p ...
system whereby teams have to "buy into" the league.


History


Introduced by YMCA

Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
was first introduced in
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
between March 1892 and January 1893 by the president of
Birkenhead Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liver ...
YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London, originally ...
, C.J. Proctor, who had observed the game during a business trip to
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
. This introduction of the game led to a growth in participation in the new game of basketball initially as an internal league played at Birkenhead YMCA members (England's first Central Venue League), and later to other YMCA clubs in the Wirral and
Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan county, metropolitan and ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of List of ceremonial counties of England, 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Merse ...
regions. In June 1894 Mel Rideout, a participant in the first game at
Springfield College Springfield College is a private college in Springfield, Massachusetts. It confers undergraduate and graduate degrees. It is known as the birthplace of basketball because the sport was invented there in 1891 by Canadian-American instructor J ...
, introduced the game at a YMCA Convention held in England. This did not lead to a wider take up of the game. Birkenhead initiative remained a local development until 1911 when a YMCA instructor brought basketball to Birmingham YMCA, and a team was produced. Within a few months teams had sprung up in the district playing one another in friendly matches. The American Rules had been introduced, but the teams in
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
found them to be too complicated, and when forming a Local Basketball Association, they compiled a more practical set of rules for their own use. The use of YMCA instructors from Springfield College gave a direct link to the origins of the game. Within a short time after the Birmingham Development many YMCA clubs in England had adopted the game and had formed District Associations similar to the Association in Birmingham. Most of these Associations found the same difficulty of complication in the American Rules and in 1912 the Birmingham Association Rules of Basketball were accepted throughout most of England with some slight differences in rules according to particular conditions.


World War I and the inter-war years

Many Inter-Clubs and Inter-YMCA. games were played until in 1914 with the start of
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
a large number of young men left their home towns for
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
. Basketball naturally lost a great deal of its initial impetus and although many games were played during the War years the development was limited. With the arrival of the Americans into the War in 1917, many keen British basketball players, found out more about the game and in 1918 an American YMCA Physical Director brought some influence to hear on the District Associations in England, with the result that the local rules were altered slightly and the game became more like the American game. The game was influenced greatly by American forces in Europe during and after World War I and many European Countries as a result began to play Basketball. Britain continued to be influenced during this period, and YMCA clubs developed the game with added flavour. Rules, however, continued to vary according to the country in which the game was played and this state was to continue for a great number of years. In 1924 basketball was included as a demonstration game at the Paris Olympic Games. Great Britain was successfully represented in this Tournament by a team from the London Central YMCA who won all their games. The London Central YMCA (also written about as CentYMCA Harriers in the Dutch press) were reigning National YMCA Champions this championship having been established in 1922. One of the players from the victorious YMCA team introduced the game to the Netherlands, i.e. A.M.V.J. Amsterdam in 1929. In his honour there still is to this day a tournament called after him, the Lew Lake tournament organized by the first Dutch basketball club, AMVJ Amsterdam, founded in January 1930. Still today Lew Lake is honoured in the Dutch basketball world as the first one to give basketball demonstrations and teach the game in Holland. AMVJ organized an international basketball tournament in March 1932, the first international games in the Netherlands. Teams from Belgium, Lille, Holland and CentYMCA took part. Centymca ended second after Olympique Lille. The game continued to develop in England and in 1936 a meeting was called at the London Central YMCA to form a Governing Body for the sport. The new Association, the Amateur Basket Ball Association of England and Wales (ABBA.) was established with Mr. Herbert Naylor, the National Physical Director of YMCA in England as chairman, Mr. J. A. Clay of Birmingham as Honorary Secretary and Mr. W. Browning as London Area Secretary. To run the Association England was divided into four areas: #
Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
and a radius of up to 100 miles #
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
and a radius of up to 100 miles #
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 ...
(including
Bournemouth Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the Southern ...
) and a radius of up to 100 miles #
Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...
and a radius of up to 100 miles A Divisional Secretary was appointed in each area. The game continued to spread in England as it was doing worldwide. Prior to 1936 basketball had been included in the Far Eastern Olympics held in Japan each year. Many new faces appeared in Basketball in England. Mr. George Williams of London presented a cup to the ABBA, as Senior Championship Cup and the first tournament for the cup was staged in Birmingham on 6 June 1936. The finalists in this Knockout Championship Tournament were Hoylake YMCA and London Polytechnic. The former winning the 1st Championships of England and Wales by 32 points to 21 points. Greater interest was taken in Basketball because of the incentive of the Championships and many more teams affiliated to ABBA the following year. The standard of play also improved and on 19 March 1938,
Hoylake Hoylake is a coast, seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. It is at the north west of the Wirral Peninsula, near West Kirby and where the River Dee, Wales, River Dee meets the Irish Sea. Historic counties of En ...
YMCA (the 1937 winners) were opposed by
Latter Day Saints The Latter Day Saint movement (also called the LDS movement, LDS restorationist movement, or Smith–Rigdon movement) is the collection of independent church groups that trace their origins to a Christian Restorationist movement founded by Jo ...
. This game won by Hoylake YMCA was the first game to be broadcast on
radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...
with a running commentary being given during the final. The George Williams Trophy played for by the teams in this competition is still used today for EB's premier Championship Competition. Hoylake YMCA in October 1937 represented England in the Tournament at a Paris Competition - the first International team to play for England. During 1937, Basketball had increased in popularity, not only with senior players, but also with the younger members. Junior games were played extensively and in 1938 ABBA organised on similar lines to the Senior Championships a National Junior Championship of England and Wales. Plaistow YMCA presented the ABBA with a Challenge Cup. On 9 April 1938 the first Junior Championship Final was held in Birmingham between
Ton Pentre Ton Pentre () is a village in the Rhondda Valley in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. Historically part of Glamorgan, Ton Pentre, a former industrial coal mining village, is a district of the community of Pentre. The old district of ...
(
Rhondda Valley Rhondda , or the Rhondda Valley ( cy, Cwm Rhondda ), is a former coalmining area in South Wales, historically in the county of Glamorgan. It takes its name from the River Rhondda, and embraces two valleys – the larger Rhondda Fawr valley ...
) Boys' Club and London Polytechnic with the Welsh Club winning the first tournament. On the 18th, 19th, and 20 April 1938 basketball was included along with the European Roller
Speed Skating Speed skating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors racing, race each other in travelling a certain distance on Ice skate, skates. Types of speed skating are long track speed skating, short track speed skating, and marath ...
Championships the Semi Finals and Finals of the Basketball Championship of England and Wales. In the Final, the Catford Saints beat Rochdale Greys 61 points to 47 points. The standard of play in this Championship showed considerable improvement. On the day following the Championship Finals Catford Saints represented England in the first International match ever held in Britain. The game against Germany was won by England by 40 points to 35 points. On 22/23 October 1938 a composite England International Team competed in the International Basketball Tournament at the Sports Palace in Berlin. The team with Mr. W. Browning as Coach and Mr. J. Clay as Manager included three Birmingham players - F. Cole, C. Hunt and A. J. Lee, four London players - F. Gibson. R. Bradley, A. Hants, M. Ashton. and also F. Allen (Rochdale) and G. McMinn (Manchester). This was the first time a composite International Team had travelled abroad and this in itself showed the development of English Basketball. Birmingham and London Area supplied the majority of those International players in keeping with the level of the development of Basketball in England. ABBA of England and Wales, had, gone all out to attract the public, with success. Basketball was now being played extensively in most areas of England and Wales and the public seemed to be interested. In February 1939 a London National League was started involving 6 teams playing in a League Competition at Haringey Arena.


World War II

English Basketball
was progressing very well indeed and by including "Catford Saints" as the English team (1939 Championship Winners) in the
Liège Liège ( , , ; wa, Lîdje ; nl, Luik ; german: Lüttich ) is a major city and municipality of Wallonia and the capital of the Belgian province of Liège. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east of Belgium, not far from b ...
Festival that year, the ABBA once more made England's position in European Basketball felt. It is unfortunate for the progress of Basketball that World War II started in the latter part of 1939. A Championship Final was held in April 1940 with the Birmingham Athletic Institute (BAI) beating London Central YMCA in this final. Due to the war there was no Championship for the next six years and thus Birmingham retained the Trophy for that period. The War, although stemming the development of the actual number of clubs in Britain, did have a good effect upon the game. The
Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...
adopted the game and a number of Army teams were started. The Army influenced the other services and Inter-Service Tournaments were started. Many novices at basketball were introduced to a better class of play and coaching in the services. With the fall of the European Countries, many service personnel from these countries came to Britain, included in the Polish and French services contained some very keen basketball players, these people helped in the development of the game in the Forces. In 1942/43, with the arrival of American forces, a further impetus to the growth of the game was given and their influence on the game in Britain continued for many years after the War.


Present

Basketball struggles to get funding, but there are still two leagues (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 ...
and 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 ...
). The latter covers divisions 2, 3, and 4. There are also several amateur local leagues across the UK.


References


External links


League website
{{Basketball in Europe by country