The Worthing Thunder are an English professional basketball team based in

Worthing Worthing () is a seaside town in West Sussex, England, at the foot of the South Downs, west of Brighton, and east of Chichester. With a population of 111,400 and an area of , the borough is the second largest component of the Brighton and Ho ...

West Sussex West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ...

. The Thunder compete in the National Basketball League (NBL). Founded in 1999 as the Worthing Rebels after the Worthing Bears had relocated to Brighton, the Thunder changed to there current name in 2000. The club plays its home games at the Worthing Leisure Centre.

Franchise history

The early years

Basketball has been played in the town of Worthing since 1984, when Worthing Bears called the Worthing Leisure Centre home (the Thunderdome). In 1999, to build on their popularity and boost commercial revenue the Bears decided to relocate to the nearby city of Brighton, where the franchise had originally started. Disappointed local Bears fans, looking for a new team to follow, quickly snapped up the franchise of struggling Stevenage and in 1999, soon after the Bears had moved out, Worthing Thunder was born. An excellent debut season, playing as the Worthing Rebels, saw them finish runners up in the National Basketball League Division 1, with a 21–3 record, compared to champions Teesside Mohawks' 22–2 record, as well as reaching the National Trophy final, losing 81–78 to Teesside at the

Sheffield Arena Sheffield Arena, known for sponsorship purposes as Utilita Arena Sheffield, is a multi-purpose arena located in Sheffield, England. It is situated near Meadowhall and lies between Sheffield city centre and Rotherham town centre. Opened in 1991 ...

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire a ...

. The following year, 2001, saw the Thunder finish again as runners-up in the renamed NBL Conference (16–5) as well as the Playoff final, both times losing out to

Plymouth Raiders The Plymouth Raiders was a professional basketball team based in Plymouth, England. The team competed in the British Basketball League, the country's premier basketball competition. The club was founded in 1983 through a merger between two lo ...

. Worthing's first silverware came in 2004 in the form of the National Trophy, a competition they had finished runners up for the two years previous (2002 and 2003). The 86–72 win against the Sutton Pumas at the

University of Worcester , motto_lang = la , mottoeng = ''Aspire to Inspire'' , established = 1946 – Worcester Emergency Teacher Training College 1948 – Worcester Teacher Training College 1976 – Worcester College of Higher Education 1997 – ...

capped off a less than memorable league campaign, where the team finished 5th in the new

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 ...

Conference (15–7). The 2004–2005 season saw mild improvement on the league standings, finishing 4th with a less favourable 13–9 record, but the Southerners did reach the National Trophy final for the fourth time in five years, losing out this time to league winners Sheffield Arrows 83–76. However it was the 2005–2006 season that would see Worthing's biggest triumph to date, crowned as EBL Division 1 winners with a 23–3 record. The Championship playoffs were beyond reach though as the Thunder succumbed to second place Reading Rockets in the showpiece final at

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

's National Indoor Arena, losing by 4 points 103–99. The feats of 2005–2006 were surpassed in the following season when as well as defending their league title with a 21–1 record, Thunder reached both the National Cup and National Trophy finals, losing the former to Manchester Magic and the latter to Reading Rockets. Some element of revenge was gained at the end of the season however, when Worthing defeated Manchester Magic at Newcastle's

Metro Radio Arena The Utilita Arena Newcastle (formerly the Newcastle Arena, Telewest Arena and Metro Radio Arena) is a large indoor arena in the city of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Owned and operated by ASM Global and sponsored by Utilita Energy, it hosts mu ...

to claim their first ever play-off Championship title with a 102–94 victory. On 6 February 2008, it was officially announced that the club would be exchanging hands to a new-look board of directors in a bid to step up to the elite

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 ...

, for the 2008–2009 season. This came just months after the club declined an invitation to compete in the BBL for the 2007–2008 season, a decision which angered some fans and prompted a rival bid for the area franchise from the Brighton Cougars, which eventually failed. Thunder ended the 2007–2008 rather disappointingly compared to their usually high standards, finishing the League campaign in 3rd place behind rivals Manchester and Reading. After losing not only the National Cup Final 104–89 to Manchester, but also the National Trophy in an 84–68 demolition by Reading, the last chance of silverware was squandered as they fell at the first hurdle in the post-season Play-offs. However, after years of entertaining the idea of returning top-flight basketball to Worthing, the club felt the time was then right and the decision was made to make the move to the British Basketball League, officially being accepted in May 2008.

Rebrand

On June 5th 2022 Thunder rebranded there logo from the old version and changed the colour scheme from orange and black to navy blue and grey.

Step-up to BBL

Though Coach Gary Smith retained the bulk of Thunder's Division One roster, players such as Dan Wardrope ( Guildford Heat) and Lijah Perkins ( London Capital) were brought in to give the team much needed top-flight experience. Thunder's campaign tipped-off ironically against an old foe in Plymouth Raiders, who also made the jump from the EBL several years earlier. The game ended in a disappointing 80–104 defeat for Worthing, and it wasn't until the third game, a road trip to Cheshire Jets, that Thunder grabbed their first win in the BBL with a 91–97 victory. Their season was a mixed one overall, and even though they managed to compete with the big-boys – including a 109–99 victory at home to

Scottish Rocks The Caledonia Gladiators are a professional basketball club in Glasgow, Scotland. The Gladiators compete in the British Basketball League, the top tier of British basketball. Since 2012, the team have played their home games at the Emirates Ar ...

and an 85–88 away win at

Sheffield Sharks The Sheffield Sharks, currently known as "B.Braun Sheffield Sharks" for sponsorship reasons, are a professional basketball team from the city of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The Sharks play in the British Basketball League and play thei ...

– Worthing finished one-place above bottom London with a 10–23 record.

Home arenas

:Worthing Leisure Centre (1999–present) : Durrington High School (2020-2021)

Honours

League

* EBL Division One Winners: 2005/06 & 2006/07 2 * NBL Conference Runners Up: 2000/01 1 * NBL Division One Runners Up: 1999/00 1

Playoffs

* EBL Division One Playoff Winners: 2006/07 1 * EBL Division One Playoff Runners Up: 2005/06 1 * NBL Conference Playoff Runners Up: 2000/01 1

Trophy

* National Trophy Winners: 2003/04 1 * National Trophy Runners Up: 1999/00, 2001/02, 2002/03, 2004/05, 2006/07 & 2007/08 6

Cup

* National Cup Runners up: 2006/07, & 2007/08 2

Players

Current roster

Notable former players

{{Columns-list, colwidth=280px, * {{flagicon, UK Cameron Hildreth * {{flagicon, USA Zaire Taylor * {{flagicon, UK Daniel Hildreth *{{flagicon, UK Luke Nelson *{{flagicon, Lithuania Evaldas Zabas *{{flagicon, Cayman Islands Jorge Ebanks

Season-by-season records

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BBL Trophy The British Basketball League Trophy, often shortened to the BBL Trophy, 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 peripher ...

, alongside the National Trophy. *From 2008–2011 Worthing competed in the

, the country's top tier league.

Junior Team

Worthing Thunder Junior teams have produced many NCAA Division 1 basketball players including Luke Nelson, Cameron Hildreth, Hosana Kitenege, and Blaize Sagna.

Notes

{{Reflist

External links

Official Worthing Thunder website
{{English Basketball League Basketball teams established in 1999 Basketball teams in England Worthing Sport in West Sussex 1999 establishments in England