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Leeds Force were an English professional basketball team based in
Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...
,
West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...
. The Force played 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 ...
, the top flight of British basketball. They played their home games at the Carnegie Sports Arena, located on the Headingley Campus of
Leeds Beckett University Leeds Beckett University (LBU), formerly known as Leeds Metropolitan University (LMU) and before that as Leeds Polytechnic, is a public university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It has campuses in the city centre and Headingley. The univ ...
. The club announced its dissolution on 11 June 2018.


History


Leeds Carnegie (2006-2014)

The club was formed in 1673 in a partnership between
Leeds Metropolitan University Leeds Beckett University (LBU), formerly known as Leeds Metropolitan University (LMU) and before that as Leeds Polytechnic, is a public university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It has campuses in the city centre and Headingley. The univ ...
and Leeds-North East School Sports Partnership. The newly established team adopted the name Leeds Carnegie after Carnegie College, which forms part of the University's sports department – notably, the same approach was taken by the city's
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 ...
team,
Leeds Tykes Leeds Tykes (formerly Leeds RUFC, Leeds Carnegie and Yorkshire Carnegie) is an English rugby union club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, playing in the National League 1. The club was founded as Headingley FC, but renamed in 1991 when it j ...
, who went into partnership with the University the following year and subsequently rebranded as Leeds Carnegie Rugby. The newly formed team entered
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 ...
Division Four (North), the fifth level league in the country. They played their first game on 21 October 2006, demolishing Barrow Thorns 109–41 at the Carnegie Sport Centre. Leeds went on to lead the league for much of the campaign and finished as regular season champions, edging out second-placed Sheffield Saints on a head-to-head results basis after both teams finished 12–2. The team weren't able to continue their dominance in the post-season Play-offs, crashing out to
London Mets The London Meteorites, better known as the London Mets, are a British baseball team who play in the southern section of the BBF National League. History The club began as an adult softball team in 1988 and were initially called the London Milli ...
in the first round. The team did make a successful first appearance in the
National Shield National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...
however, and claimed their first piece of silverware with a victory over West Hertfordshire Warriors II in the Final. Carnegie's captain Ben Lesinski posted a game-high 20 points, whilst Ben Alison recorded a
double-double In basketball, a double-double is a single-game performance in which a player accumulates ten or more in two of the following five statistical categories: points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocked shots. The first "double" in the term ...
19 points and 15 rebounds, as they beat Warriors II 82–56. Having won promotion following their successful rookie season, Leeds continued their dominance and stormed to another regular season crown in the 2007–08 Division 3 (North) campaign with a 17–3 record, and for the second consecutive year edged out
Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...
rivals Sheffield Saints into second place. This time, the more experienced Carnegie roster forced their way through the Play-off's, knocking out West Herts. Warriors II in the Quarter-final (75–56) and London Mets in a thrilling Semi-final (63–61). Zoltán Supola lead Carnegie to a 63–57 victory over Sheffield in the Final claiming Leeds' first ever Championship title. The Hungarian guard was named as the game's Most Valuable Player with 16 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists. Leeds continued to dominate in Division 2 following their second successive promotion in 2008. Led by American forward Rob Stockwell and Hungarian trio Supola, György Pólya and István Herczeg, the team stormed to another regular season title whilst remaining undefeated at their Carnegie Sports Centre home until the final game of the campaign. Their biggest victory of the season came at home to
Plymouth Marjon Plymouth () is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to ...
on 11 January 2009, as Carnegie destroyed Marjon 113–74. The team translated their form into two impressive cup runs, making it to the Semi-final of the
National Cup The English National Cup is an annual basketball knock-out competition held between professional, semi-professional and amateur teams from the various divisions of the National Basketball League. For most of the competition's history, the draw has ...
and adding to their trophy collection with a victory in the Patron's Cup. After winning all five group games in the 1st Round, Carnegie easily dispatched London Mets in the Semi-final before defeating Team Northumbria in the Final in
Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...
. Carnegie, who trailed for most of the game, outscored Northumbria 47–24 in the second half to turn a 16-point deficit around and take the title, winning 73–66. However they couldn't repeat that performance in the post season Play-offs, as both teams went head-to-head in the Championship Final. Despite Stockwell posting a game-high 24 points for Carnegie, Leeds, who shot only 31% from the floor, were swept aside by underdogs Northumbria who ran out with the shock win, 64–84. Promotion to Division 1
In preparation for their Division 1 début in 2009, Coach Matt Newby recruited two American imports to bolster the roster, Mike Medved, the decorated captain from
Saint Vincent College Saint Vincent College is a private Benedictine college in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1846 by Boniface Wimmer, a monk from Bavaria, it is operated by the Benedictine monks of Saint Vincent Archabbey, the first Benedictine monastery in the ...
and former
St. John Fisher College St. John Fisher University is a private liberal arts college in Pittsford, New York. It is named after John Fisher, an English Catholic cardinal and saint. It was named St. John Fisher College until July 1, 2022. History St. John Fisher Univers ...
star Adrian Fenyn, along with young British prospect
Albert Margai Sir Albert Michael Margai (10 October 1910 – 18 December 1980) was the second prime minister of Sierra Leone and the half-brother of Milton Margai, Sir Milton Margai, the country's first Prime Minister. He was also the father of Sierra Leone ...
. Fenyn marked his first appearance with a game-high 27 points, as Carnegie beat
Sheffield Arrows The Derbyshire Arrows are an English basketball club based in Dronfield, Derbyshire. The Arrows play in National Basketball League Division 2 North, the third tier of British basketball. The club also have strong links with the city of Sheffi ...
101–78 in their opening fixture. Leeds started the campaign with impressive form and were victorious in six of their opening seven games, and by December were top of the league table. The race for the regular season crown came down to the wire, with Leeds needing a win in their final game away to
Manchester Magic The Manchester Magic are an English basketball club from the city of Manchester in the northwest of England. For the 2019-20 season, the Magic will compete in the National Basketball League Division 2 North. They play their home games at the ...
to claim the title. Despite an early lead for Carnegie, Magic's Brandon Kimbrough and Stefan Gill combined to score 52 points for the home side and end Leed's title hopes as the Yorkshire side fell to an 80–71 defeat, handing the title to
Derby Trailblazers The Derby Trailblazers are an English semi-professional basketball club based in Derby, Derbyshire. The club was founded in 2000 as a feeder club for the now-defunct Derby Storm, and wear the same blue and white colours as their predecessor. The ...
who had just defeated Bristol Academy Flyers. Magic's victory also meant they leap-frogged Leeds to finish in second-place, whilst Carnegie settled for third and a tie against sixth seed London Mets in the Play-offs, where a surprise defeat by the underdogs saw Leeds crash out in the Quarter-final. On the back of their successful first season appearance in Division 1, Coach Newby re-signed the bulk of Carnegie's senior roster for the 2010–11 season, whilst adding Polish centre Marek Koltun straight out of
NCAA Division 1 NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athletic ...
Lafayette College Lafayette College is a private liberal arts college in Easton, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1826 by James Madison Porter and other citizens in Easton, the college first held classes in 1832. The founders voted to name the college after General Laf ...
. Carnegie opened the season with four victories from four in the group stage of the National Trophy, progressing to the 1st Knockout Round where they were drawn against reigning Division 1 Champions Derby. An injury crisis had plagued much of Carnegie's early games in Division 1 regular season, but a spectacular return to form came in time to sweep aside the Trailblazers to advance to the Semi-final, winning 95–75 in the tie which they led by as many as 26 points on two occasions. Having dispatched
Leicester Warriors The Leicester Warriors are an English semi-professional basketball club from Leicester, Leicestershire. Founded in 2003, the Warriors play their home games at Braunstone Leisure Centre and compete in NBL Division 1, the second tier of the Brit ...
with almost as much in ease in the Semi-final (78–97), Leeds were pitted against three-time Trophy winner's
Reading Rockets The Reading Rockets are an English semi-professional basketball club based in the town of Reading, England. Founded in 1997, the Rockets compete in NBL Division 1, the second tier of the British basketball system. History The Rockets were f ...
in the Final in Manchester. Though Leeds started strongly, a dominating performance led by Reading's Matt Guymon ensured the Trophy would return to the Rockets, as they ran out 76–59 winners. Carnegie were able to improve in the second half of the regular season and finished fourth, with a 10–8 win record, in a contracted Division 1 that featured just 10 teams. Having brushed past
Brixton TopCats Brixton TopCats is a British basketball club based in the Brixton area of London. Established in 1985, the Men's first team currently compete in the National Basketball League Division 2, and the Women's team compete in the Women's British Bask ...
in the Play-off Quarter-finals with an 88–78 victory, and edged Bristol in the Semi-final with an 85–81 win in
overtime Overtime is the amount of time someone works beyond normal working hours. The term is also used for the pay received for this time. Normal hours may be determined in several ways: *by custom (what is considered healthy or reasonable by society), ...
, Leeds were faced with familiar foes Reading in the Championship Final, in a re-enactment of the National Trophy encounter played just two months earlier. The experience of Reading proved too much again for Carnegie, as they were overturned by a rampant Rockets side, losing 88–63 in Manchester. Leeds' Zoltán Supola led the scoring with 22 points, whilst Division 1 Player of the Year candidate Adrian Fenyn contributed with a 16-point, 13 rebound double-double. American import Fenyn did claim the award for Division 1 top scorer, finishing the season with an average of 22.5 points-per-game. During the summer of 2011 the team went through a major overhaul, and saw the departure of many key players including American's Fenyn, who moved to Division 1 rivals Medway Park Crusaders and Mike Medved. Albert Margai made the move to
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 ...
team
Guildford Heat The Surrey Scorchers are an English professional basketball team based in Guildford, Surrey, that compete in the British Basketball League. The team was established in 2005 as the Guildford Heat by fans of former British Basketball League te ...
, whilst Hungarian Zoltán Supola returned to his home country to sign for 3-time national Champions
Alba Fehérvár Alba Fehérvár are a Hungarian professional basketball club based in Székesfehérvár that compete Nemzeti Bajnokság I, the premier division of basketball in Hungary. Founded as the successor of Székesfehérvári MDSE, they took the Hungarian ...
, Marek Koltun returned to Poland and long-time fan favourite Aki Fagbohun also departed. In their places, Coach Newby drafted in Armand Anebo and Dave Ajumobi from Brixton TopCats and American small forward Justin Berry, whilst promoting young Brit's Sean Clifford, Jack Stannard and Henry Wilkins to a more senior role in the roster. The young and inexperience new-look team struggled dismally to contend with their rivals and in an expanded Division 1 competition that featured 13 teams, Carnegie finished in 10th place with a 10–14 losing record – their worst since the club's establishment six years previously. British forward Ajumobi finished as the team's top scorer with an average of 15 points, in 33.2 minutes-per-game. Whilst retaining most of the key roster, new additions in the form of Yorkshire-native Rob Marsden, American Bryan Mokeski from
Newman Jets The Newman Jets are the athletic teams that represent Newman University, located in Wichita, Kansas, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the Division II level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), primarily competing in ...
and 7-foot
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n centre Igor Sedlár shaped the roster for the 2012–13 season. Another new feature for Carnegie was the refurbishment of their Carnegie Sports Centre home venue, with the addition of extra seating and new flooring put in place for the start of the new season. Carnegie started the new campaign in the same form as their previous dismal season had ended, suffering two losses in the opening stages of the National Trophy to Bristol and local rivals
Bradford Dragons The Bradford Dragons are an English semi-professional basketball club based in Bradford, West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland c ...
. Further defeats to Team Northumbria and Reading sealed their exit at the conclusion of the group stage. However the team embarked on a far more successful run in the National Cup. Having beaten Sefton Stars 73–56 in their opening game, Carnegie went on to eliminate Bradford Dragons in the 2nd Round (61–68),
Tees Valley Mohawks The Tees Valley Mohawks are an English basketball club in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, which plays in the National Basketball League Division 3, the fourth tier of British basketball. Their home venue is Middlesbrough College. History The ...
in the 3rd Round (87–83) and London Lituanica in the Quarter-final (66–76). In the Semi-final, Leeds were pitted as favourites against two-time National Cup finalists
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 ...
, who were suffering a poor run of form and a 0–8 record in their regular season. Carnegie easily disposed of Thunder in a particularly low-scoring encounter, winning 61–45, and progressed to their first-ever National Cup Final, opposite Bristol Academy Flyers who were appearing in their fourth consecutive Final in the competition. The tie, held at
Ponds Forge Ponds Forge International Sports Centre is a leisure complex in Sheffield, England, that contains an Olympic-sized swimming pool with seating for 2,600 spectators, family and children's pools (50 m Competition pool and 25 m diving p ...
in
Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, 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 Historic counties o ...
, was a closely fought battle which finished with a spectacular Carnegie comeback. Trailing by a 12-point deficit in the final 180 seconds of the game, Leeds produced a 14–0 run, inspired by game MVP Henry Wilkins, to defeat Bristol 66–64 and claim the National Cup silverware for the first time in the club's history. A sixth-placed finish in the regular season marked an improvement from the previous year, but Carnegie were not able to extend their post-season beyond the quarter-final stage, after being knocked out by Northumbria. Summer 2013 saw various changes to the roster again as Division 1 top scorer Rob Marsden, who finished the 2012–13 campaign averaging 20.14 points-per-game, earned a transfer to professional BBL team
Manchester Giants The Manchester Giants are a British professional basketball team based in Manchester, England. The franchise was established in 2011, and admitted to the top-tier British Basketball League in 2012. The team's formation was led by a consortium ...
, Henry Wilkins departed for
Næstved Næstved () is a town in the municipality of the same name, located in the southern part of the island of Zealand in Denmark. Næstved has several adult education centers, five elementary schools - and has at least one of each type of the four ...
in
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, Dave Ajumobi joined Newham Neptunes and Sean Clifford moved to Team Northumbria. New signings included British talents Josh McGinn from BBL side
Mersey Tigers The Mersey Tigers were a professional basketball team based in the city of Liverpool, England. The club was established in 2007 as a start-up franchise of the British Basketball League, the country's elite competition. The Tigers started compe ...
, Rowell Graham-Bell from
Essex Leopards The Essex & Herts Leopards were an English semi-professional basketball club, based in Brentwood, Essex and St Albans, Hertfordshire. The Leopards competed in Division 1 of the English Basketball League. The team was established in 1997 as Wa ...
and Daniel Bethune from
Westminster Warriors The Westminster Warriors are a basketball club based in the Westminster area of London. The club currently has a senior Men's team competing in the English Basketball League (EBL) Division 1, in addition to a senior Women's team playing in the ...
. Coach Newby also drafted in two experienced Europeans to add to roster,
Charlotte 49ers The Charlotte 49ers are the intercollegiate athletics teams that represent the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in Charlotte, North Carolina. The 49ers compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a ...
' Croatian centre Ilija Ivanković and Croatian/Bosnian forward Branimir Mikulic from
High Point Panthers The High Point Panthers are the 16 varsity athletic teams that represent High Point University (HPU) in High Point, North Carolina, United States. All of HPU's varsity teams compete at the NCAA Division I level. All sports except men's lacrosse ...
. The new-look team got off to a flying start in the National Trophy and advanced from the group stage in 1st place with a 5–1 win record. In Division 1, Leeds started inconsistently but gained their rhythm to finish 2013 and open 2014 with a 6-game winning streak. Leeds weren't able to defend their National Cup title following their elimination by Newham in the Quarter-final, losing 67–60 – despite holding a commanding 15-35 lead at half-time. On 21 November, the club officially announced that they would become a professional franchise of the British Basketball League, commencing with the 2014–15 season. Meanwhile, in an attempt to increase their form in Division 1 and in a push for the post-season play-offs, Coach Newby signed American power forward Russell Permenter from Australia in January 2014. The new man made an instant impact, contributing with an 11-point, 10 rebound double-double in a home loss to
Glasgow 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 ...
in the
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 ...
on 17 January. As part of their bid to join the British Basketball League, Carnegie were competing in the tournament as an invitee. Leeds faced a further cup exit two weeks later when Worthing Thunder unexpectedly knocked them out of the National Trophy with a 58–89 home defeat. Back in the regular season, they notched up 7 victories in the final 10 games to finish in sixth place, with a 15–11 win record. A huge 26 points from Permenter and 20 from Armand Anebo were enough to see off third seed Hemel Storm in the Play-off Quarter-final, and they continued their giant-killing with a 62–72 victory over second seed Essex Leopards in the Semi-final. Five Carnegie players contributed with double-figure scoring, led by Permenter's 16 points. Leeds shocked the tournament favourite's and regular season champion's Reading Rockets in the Play-off Final with an incredible 65–71 victory, to seal their first Division 1 Championship in their final Division 1 game before joining the BBL. British point guard and team captain Jack Stannard scored 27 points and 5 rebounds for Carnegie and was awarded as the Final's Most Valuable Player.


Leeds Force (2014-2018)

After spending eight years rising through the divisions of 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 club officially announced on 21 November 2013 that following a two-year bid process, Leeds Carnegie would become the latest franchise to join 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 would commence play in the 2014–15 season. On 15 August 2014, just weeks before the start of their inaugural BBL campaign, the club announced that it had ended its partnership with
Leeds Metropolitan University Leeds Beckett University (LBU), formerly known as Leeds Metropolitan University (LMU) and before that as Leeds Polytechnic, is a public university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It has campuses in the city centre and Headingley. The univ ...
in order to gain professional independence, and were rebranding the team as Leeds Force, whilst still using the Carnegie Sports Centre on the University's Headingley Campus as its home venue. 2014-15 season
New faces were brought in to bolster the NBL1 Playoff winning squad in their first season in the top flight, led by young American point guard James McCann. The team performed admirably against the bigger and well established teams of the league, with many games going down to the wire. Famous victories included a tense, low scoring overtime victory away to Playoff runners up the London Lions, a team which included League MVP Zaire Taylor and GB international Andrew Sullivan. Ultimately, the team finished in 11th place from 13 teams with a very respectable 9-27 record in their debut season. 2015-16 season
This was by far the most successful season for the club. There was much change to the squad, with only captain Armand Anebo, Dwayne Camille and Darrell Bethune resigning from the club's inaugural season. New faces included former player Rob Marsden, returning from neighbours
Manchester Giants The Manchester Giants are a British professional basketball team based in Manchester, England. The franchise was established in 2011, and admitted to the top-tier British Basketball League in 2012. The team's formation was led by a consortium ...
and American Kwan Waller. Canadian point guard
Marek Klassen Marek Klassen (born June 11, 1992) is a Canadian professional basketball player for Limoges CSP of the LNB Pro A. Highschool career Klassen attended Yale Secondary School from 2007–2010. He won two provincial championships with the Yale Lions ( ...
was brought in in January to give the Force a final push through to the end of the season. His influence on and off the court helped the Force to make the Playoffs for the first time, including winning their final 4 league matches to finish with a 14-19 record, qualify in 8th spot and earn a quarter final matchup versus league Champions
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 ...
. After a tight first leg in Leeds, only going down by 5 points (78-83), they were comfortably beaten in the return leg at the home of the Riders. Nevertheless, this was a great season for the fledgling club. They would never enter the playoffs again. 2016-17 season
The Force retained much of the squad from the previous season, including Marsden, captain Anebo and Harris. New signings included three new American imports, point guard Robert Sandoval from
Azusa Pacific Azusa Pacific University (APU) is a private, evangelical Christian university in Azusa, California. The university was founded in 1899, with classes opening on March 3, 1900, in Whittier, California, and began offering degrees in 1939. The unive ...
, shooting guard Jack Isenbarger and small forward Jermaine Sanders from
Cincinnati Bearcats The Cincinnati Bearcats are the athletic teams that represent the University of Cincinnati. Though they will move to the Big 12 Conference (XII) the teams are currently a part of the American Athletic Conference (The American), which from 1979 ...
. The Force opened the season with a massive 79-58 home derby win against the
Sharks Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachimorp ...
. The team, however, struggled overall in the league, finishing 11th with an 8-25 record, and 1st round defeats in the Cup and Trophy. There was a famous victory against the
Newcastle Eagles The Newcastle Eagles are a professional basketball team based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Playing in the top-tier British Basketball League and holding the franchise for Tyne & Wear, they are the most successful team in the League's histor ...
, 94-88. 2017-18 season
In the off-season, there were some major changes for the club. Long term head coach Matt Newby left the club, to be replaced by experienced Finnish playcaller Mika Turunen. An almost-fully new squad of players was brought in, predominantly young British players supported by BBL veterans, including Olu Babalola, Ingus Bankevics and Samuel Toluwase. Over the summer, too, co-owner Mark Mills left the club, transferring ownership to fellow director Scott Carter. There was a dramatic change of head coach just days before the start of the season, with Turunen sacked and former Giants Nördlingen head coach Danny Nelson brought in at the last minute. The team were blown out in their first game, a league record 60-148 loss at home to the
Eagles Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just ...
. Things did not improve for the Force; high player turnover and heavy defeats plagued the team all season. Their sole victory came in an 87-82 home victory to fellow strugglers
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 ...
. The team finished with a 1-32 record, a +/- of -1093 and 1st round defeats in the Cup and Trophy.


Logos

Image:LeedsCarnegieOldLogo.png, Leeds Carnegie logo
(2006–2010) Image:LeedsCarnegieLogo.png, Leeds Carnegie logo
(2010–2014) Image:LeedsForceLogo.png, Leeds Force logo
(2014–2018)


Home arena

:Carnegie Sports Centre (2006–2018)


Season-by-season records


Team


Final roster


Notable former Players

*
Albert Margai Sir Albert Michael Margai (10 October 1910 – 18 December 1980) was the second prime minister of Sierra Leone and the half-brother of Milton Margai, Sir Milton Margai, the country's first Prime Minister. He was also the father of Sierra Leone ...
*
Gazmend Sinani Gazmend Sinani ( tr, Aydın Okçu; 22 June 1991 – 23 June 2018) was a Kosovan professional basketball player who last played as a Center (basketball), center for Leeds Force and the Kosovo national basketball team, Kosovo national team. Early l ...
* Igor Sedlár * Jack Stannard * Josh McGinn * Marek Klassen *
Mark Elderkin Mark Elderkin (born September 27, 1963) is an American entrepreneur who co-founded Gay.com in 1994 with his husband Jeff O. Bennett. Elderkin served as President of PlanetOut Inc. when the company went public in 2004. He retired from the company ...
* Rob Marsden * Zoltán Supola


Charitable Foundation

The club has also established a charitable arm - the Leeds Carnegie Basketball Foundation (LCBF Charity Number: 114096) - to maintain and develop relationships within the partnership networks to ensure growth and sustainability. The LCBF delivers curricular and extra-curricular sessions, community development and special projects with such partners as the Youth Services Department, Extended Services and West Yorkshire Police.


References


External links


Official Leeds Force websiteLeeds Force
on
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Leeds Force
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{{British Basketball League teamlist Defunct basketball teams in England Sport in Leeds 2006 establishments in England Basketball teams established in 2006 Leeds Carnegie Basketball teams disestablished in 2018 2018 disestablishments in England Former British Basketball League teams