The 2019–20 BBL season was the 33rd campaign of the

British Basketball League The British Basketball League (BBL) was a men's professional basketball sports league, league in Great Britain. Since its establishment in 1987 the BBL represented the highest level of basketball competition within the United Kingdom. The orga ...

, the top British professional basketball league, since its in 1987. The season featured 12 teams from across England and Scotland. On 17 March 2020, the season was postponed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom The COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom is a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In the United Kingdom, it has resulted in confirm ...

. On 1 June 2020, the season was cancelled, with no League or Playoffs champions declared.

Changes to format

The 2019–20 season saw a significantly revamped format for the first time in a number of years. The newly-formatted BBL Cup began the 2019–20 season in September, with group stages (2 geographical groups, North and South, of 6 teams each) to determine 8 teams to progress to the Quarter-finals. Single-legged quarter finals and two-legged semi finals matches would determine the two finalists to contest the Cup final. The Championship would run from December to April. All 12 teams were to play each other twice, once home once away, for a 22-game regular season (as opposed to previous years where teams would play each other 3 times for a 33-game regular season). The top 8 teams would qualify for the end of season Playoffs. The Playoffs were due to run from April to May and for the first time in 21 years were due to be determined over a

best-of-three There are a number of formats used in various levels of competition in sports and games to determine an overall champion. Some of the most common are the ''single elimination'', the ''best-of-'' series, the ''total points series'' more commonly kn ...

series. The Playoffs Final would once again be held at the

O2 Arena O2 Arena may refer to: *The O2 Arena, London * O2 Arena, Prague *The 3Arena, Dublin, formerly known as The O2 *The Uber Arena, Berlin, formerly known as O2 World *The Barclays Arena Barclays Arena (originally known as the Color Line Arena an ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Teams

Arenas and locations

Personnel and sponsorship

Coaching changes

BBL Cup

The newly-formatted

BBL Cup The British Basketball League Cup, often shortened to the BBL Cup, was an annual cup competition for the British Basketball League (BBL). It was one of two peripheral competitions operated by the League during the regular season, with the other b ...

began the 2019–20 season on Friday 20 September, with the group stages running until Sunday 24 November. The 12 teams were split into 2 geographical groups, North and South. Each team played each other twice (once home, once away) with the top 4 teams in each group progressing to the Quarter-finals. Single-legged quarter finals and two-legged semi finals matches determined the two finalists to contest the Cup final on Sunday 26 January at the

Arena Birmingham Utilita Arena Birmingham (previously known as Arena Birmingham, The Barclaycard Arena, originally as the National Indoor Arena and still commonly called The NIA) is an indoor arena and sporting venue in central Birmingham, England. It is owne ...

Qualification Stage

North Group

South Group

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

BBL Championship

The BBL Championship ran from Friday 6 December – Tuesday 17 March. All 12 teams were scheduled to play each other twice, once home once away, for a 22-game regular season. On 24 January 2020,

London City Royals The London City Royals were a British professional basketball team, based in the Crystal Palace area of London, England. The team was founded in 2018, however despite big ambitions the team ceased trading less than two years later, during the 2 ...

withdrew from the league, and their 1–3 record was expunged. On 17 March 2020, the season was postponed due to the

. On 1 June 2020, the season was cancelled, with no League or Playoffs champions declared.

Standings

Results

Playoffs

The BBL Playoffs were due to run from Friday 24 April – Sunday 17 May, with the final to be held at the

. The top 8 teams from the regular season of the BBL Championship would have contested the Playoffs, which for the first time in 21 years were to be determined over a

series.

BBL Trophy

The BBL Trophy retained the same format as introduced in the 2018–19 season. The twelve BBL teams were joined in the first round draw by four invited teams;

Solent Kestrels The Solent Kestrels are an English professional basketball club based in the city of Southampton, Hampshire. Founded in 1998, the Kestrels play their home games at the Solent Sports Complex at Solent University. History Junior roots The club wa ...

and

Worthing Thunder Worthing Thunder is a British professional basketball, based in Worthing, West Sussex, England. They compete in the National Basketball League (England), National Basketball League (NBL) and has played their home games at the Worthing Leisure Ce ...

from 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 5 on the British basketball pyramid, in line with the Scottish B ...

, Dunfermline Reign from the

Scottish Basketball Championship The Scottish Basketball Championship Men is the national basketball league of Scotland. The league forms the second and third tiers of British basketball (inline with the National Basketball League) after the professional setup of Super League ...

and Basketball Wales. There was an open draw to form a bracket, mapping out each team's path to the final which was held, for the 8th consecutive year, at the

Emirates Arena The Commonwealth Arena and Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome, known for sponsorship reasons as the Emirates Arena, is an indoor arena and velodrome in Dalmarnock, Glasgow, Scotland. Built for the 2014 Commonwealth Games, these venues hosted the badmint ...

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

First round

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

British clubs in European competitions

No British clubs participated in European competition for the 2019–20 season.

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

and

both declined their invitations from

FIBA The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French language, French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. FIBA defines the rules of basketball, specifies the Basketball equipment ...

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:2019-20 British Basketball League season British Basketball League seasons 1

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...