The Essex Leopards, or just Leopards as they were more commonly known, was a British

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 ...

team competing in 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 ...

. Established in 1994, the Leopards franchise was one of the most successful teams of the 1990s, dominating the domestic scene with local rivals

London Towers London Towers were a professional basketball team based in London, England. They enjoyed considerable success in the 1990s and early 2000s, collecting 3 titles in the British Basketball League (BBL) as well as regularly competing in European c ...

. Originally playing out of the

London Arena The London Arena (also known as London Docklands Arena) was an indoor arena and exhibition centre in Millwall, close to Cubitt Town area of Poplar, on the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England which was inaugurated in 1989 and demolished for h ...

as Leopards and later Greater London Leopards, the team was moved to Brentwood in 1999, and in 2002 the name was changed to the Essex Leopards. For financial reasons the team decided to "sit out" the 2003–04 season of the

BBL A barrel is one of several units of volume applied in various contexts; there are dry barrels, fluid barrels (such as the U.K. beer barrel and U.S. beer barrel), oil barrels, and so forth. For historical reasons the volumes of some barrel units ...

and while every effort was made to find a buyer for the franchise, the Leopards soon folded completely.

Season-by-season records

New team

This was not the end though, as in 2004 a merger took place between Ware Rebels and Leopards Alive (an organisation of supporters of the defunct Greater London Leopards), and renamed as the Essex & Herts Leopards. In 2006, the team was renamed again to London Leopards, and currently play in EBL Division 1, the league below the

References

Basketball teams established in 1994 Basketball teams disestablished in 2003 Defunct basketball teams in the United Kingdom Basketball teams in London Former British Basketball League teams 1994 establishments in England 1994 disestablishments in England Brentwood (Essex town) Sport in Essex {{London-sport-stub

Season-by-season records

New team

See also

References