Livingston was a professional

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 that was based in

Livingston, Scotland Livingston ( sco, Leivinstoun, gd, Baile Dhunlèibhe) is the largest town in West Lothian, Scotland. Designated in 1962, it is the fourth post-war new town to be built in Scotland. Taking its name from a village of the same name incorporated ...

. The team was founded in 1977, under the name Edinburgh, by steel magnate David Murray, and was backed by a sponsorship from his company, Murray International Metals. Using the name Murray International or MIM Livingston, they went on to be one of the most successful clubs in Scottish basketball history, playing first in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, and then later moving to Livingston.

History

During the height of its success, Livingston were Scottish National League Champions seven times between 1979 and 1987. The club were founder members 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 ...

, a professional league established in 1987 by leading clubs 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. Playing out of the newly built 3,000-seat Forum Arena, Livingston were successful in their inaugural season and with an 81–72 victory over regular season champions

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

, were winners of the first Carlsberg League Championship Final. In 1988 Murray acquired

Rangers Football Club Rangers Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the Govan district of Glasgow which plays in the Scottish Premiership. Although not its official name, it is often referred to as Glasgow Rangers outside Scotland. The fou ...

and inherited plans to form a '

sporting club A sports club or sporting club, sometimes an athletics club or sports society or sports association, is a group of people formed for the purpose of playing sports. Sports clubs range from organisations whose members play together, unpaid, and ...

' as the previous owner had bought Carlsberg League club Kingston for £100,000 and moved them to

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 ...

. The

Glasgow Rangers Rangers Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the Govan district of Glasgow which plays in the Scottish Premiership. Although not its official name, it is often referred to as Glasgow Rangers outside Scotland. The fou ...

basketball team made their first appearance alongside Livingston in the 1988–89 season, becoming the league's second Scottish club. Rangers dominated the campaign, pipping Livingston to the regular season title and then beating them in the final of the Championship Play-offs, winning 89–86. Livingston also finished as runners-up in the NatWest League Trophy, losing 89–81 to

Bracknell Bracknell () is a large town and civil parish in Berkshire, England, the westernmost area within the Greater London Built-up Area, Greater London Urban Area and the administrative centre of the Bracknell Forest, Borough of Bracknell Forest. It l ...

in the Final. Despite the success of his two basketball teams, Murray was rumoured to have had a fall out with the basketball authorities in 1989 over a proposal to have both teams playing at The Forum Arena on alternate weekends, meaning a home game would be staged every week. The move was blocked and so Murray withdrew his financial support. The Rangers team was sold and moved back to

Kingston-upon-Thames Kingston upon Thames (hyphenated until 1965, colloquially known as Kingston) is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London, England. It is situated on the River Thames and southwest of Charing Cross. It is notable as ...

in 1989, whilst the Livingston club briefly returned to the Scottish League before becoming the Livingston Bulls.

Notable players

Bobby Archibald Robert Fleming Archibald (6 November 1894 – 27 November 1966) was a association football, footballer who played in the Football League for Barnsley F.C., Barnsley and Stoke City F.C., Stoke City. Archibald played for a number of Scottish clu ...

Alton Byrd Joseph Alton Byrd (born March 11, 1958) is an American-British former professional basketball player who is the Vice President of Business Operations for the Long Island Nets of the NBA G League. He grew up in the San Francisco area, where he wa ...

Alan Cunningham General (United Kingdom), General 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 ...

Vic Fleming Victor Anson "Vic" Fleming (born December 26, 1951) is an American judge, law professor, and writer residing in Little Rock, Arkansas. He was born in Jackson, Mississippi, and grew up in Greenville, Mississippi. He holds a B.A. in English from ...

Record in European competition

References

Defunct basketball teams in the United Kingdom Sport in West Lothian Defunct sports teams in Scotland Basketball teams in Scotland Sports teams in Edinburgh Livingston, West Lothian Former British Basketball League teams Basketball teams established in 1977 Basketball teams disestablished in 1991 1977 establishments in Scotland 1991 disestablishments in Scotland {{Scotland-sport-team-stub

History

Notable players

Record in European competition

See also

References