Leicester Riders

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Leicester Riders

Main Sponsor

Jelson Homes
DMU

League

British Basketball League

Established

1967

History

Loughborough All-Stars
1967-1981
Leicester All-Stars
1981-1986
Leicester City Riders
1986-1997
Leicester Riders
1997-present

Arena

De Montfort University
(Capacity: 800)

Location

Leicester, Leicestershire

Head Coach

Martin Ford

Ownership

PLC

Colours

Red, White and Green

Website

LeicesterRiders.co.uk

Uniforms



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The Leicester Riders, officially known as the Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders for sponsorship reasons, is a British professional basketball team that play in the British Basketball League (BBL). They are the oldest operating basketball team in the country, though recently they have hit hard times financially and faced liquidation several times during 2007 before fans and local businesses stepped in to save the club.

1 Franchise history
2 Home arenas
3 Season-by-season records
4 Players
- 4.1 Current roster
- 4.2 Notable former players
5 External links

[edit] Franchise history

Founded on 26th April 1967 and then known as the Loughborough All Stars, the Leicester Riders are the oldest club in British basketball.

They were founder members of the National Basketball League in 1972 and the BBL in 1987.

The club moved from Loughborough to Leicester in 1981 before moving back to play at Loughborough University in 1997, barely a stone's throw from Victory Hall where the club played its first game.

In 2004 the Riders agreed a sponsorship deal with De Montfort University and moved back to Leicester to Granby Halls site just north of Welford Road Stadium. After this was demolished, they now play their games at the DMU's John Sanford Sports Centre.

In February 2007, the Riders encountered several financial difficulties, which resulted in the team's players and coaches not being paid. Facing the prospect of liquidation half way through the 2006-2007 season, former director of the team, Mike Steptoe, and the supporters club formed a consortium which raised funded enough money to keep the side running.

The clubs future was looking brighter, however, during the close-season following the loss of a major cash-injection, the club were again thrown into financial chaos in August 2007. Given only three weeks to raise the necessary funds to compete for the upcoming 2007-08 season, fans of the club and local business Jelson Homes came together to save the club once again. [1]

Part of the sponsorship deal with Jelson Homes was to ensure the future of the club by investing in a 'basketball in the community' scheme, providing the youth of Leicester with basketball coaching programmes.

[edit] Home arenas

Victory Hall (1967-1981)

Granby Halls (1981-1999)

Loughborough University (1999-2004)

De Montfort University (2004-present)

[edit] Season-by-season records

Season	Div.	Pos.	Pld.	W	L	Pts.	Play Offs	Trophy	Cup
Loughborough All-Stars
1972-1973	NBL	4th	10	5	5	15	N/A	N/A	1st Round
1973-1974	NBL	6th	14	5	9	19	N/A	N/A	-
1974-1975	NBL	7th	18	8	10	26	N/A	N/A	-
1975-1976	NBL 1	6th	18	6	12	24	N/A	N/A	Quarter-final
1976-1977	NBL 1	6th	18	8	10	26	N/A	N/A	Quarter-final
1977-1978	NBL 1	-	-	-	-	-	N/A	N/A	Quarter-final
Leicester City Riders
1987-1988	BBL	9th	28	14	14	28	DNQ	1st Round	Semi-final
1988-1989	BBL	4h	20	14	6	28	Semi-final	Semi-final	2nd Round
1989-1990	BBL	6th	28	7	21	14	DNQ	1st Round	2nd Round
1990-1991	BBL	4th	24	14	10	28	Semi-final	Semi-final	Runner-up
1991-1992	BBL	6th	30	14	16	28	Quarter-final	Runner-up	Semi-final
1992-1993	BBL	8th	33	12	21	24	Quarter-final	Semi-final	Semi-final
1993-1994	BBL	7th	36	20	16	40	Quarter-final	Semi-final	Quarter-final
1994-1995	BBL	11th	36	8	28	16	DNQ	1st Round	Quarter-final
1995-1996	BBL	9th	36	11	25	22	DNQ	1st Round	4th Round
1996-1997	BBL	8th	36	15	21	30	Quarter-final	Semi-final	Quarter-final
Leicester Riders
1997-1998	BBL	9th	36	15	21	30	DNQ	Quarter-final	Runner-up
1998-1999	BBL	12th	36	9	27	18	DNQ	Semi-final	1st Round
1999-2000	BBL N	7th	36	10	26	20	DNQ	1st Round	Quarter-final
2000-2001	BBL N	4th	36	17	19	34	Winners	1st Round	Winners
2001-2002	BBL N	5th	32	11	21	22	DNQ	1st Round	1st Round
2002-2003	BBL	11th	40	3	37	6	DNQ	1st Round	1st Round
2003-2004	BBL	9th	36	5	31	10	DNQ	1st Round	Quarter Final
2004-2005	BBL	10th	40	11	29	22	DNQ	1st Round	1st Round
2005-2006	BBL	6th	40	18	22	36	Quarter-final	Runner-up	1st Round
2006-2007	BBL	7th	36	13	23	22	Quarter-final	Semi-final	Quarter-final

Notes:

From 1999-2002 the BBL operated a Conference system. Leicester competed in the Northern Conference.
DNQ denotes Did Not Qualify.

[edit] Players

[edit] Current roster

The numbers are established according to the official websites of the team (www.leicesterriders.co.uk) and Britain's top professional league, the BBL (www.bbl.org.uk).

As of January 30, 2008

5	Steve Vear	Point Guard
6	James Cornell	Guard
7	Simon Jobe	Guard
8	Darren Mills	Forward
9	Russell Jordan	Guard
10	Emile Hopkins	Forward
11	Joshua Lipsey	Point Guard
12	Roderick Wellington	Guard/Small Forward
13	Mindaugas Janiška	Point Guard
14	Matthew Curtis	Guard
15	Barry Lamble	Centre
21	Carlos White	Forward
23	Terrence Woodyard	Guard/Forward
24	Joel Burns	Guard
25	Chad McKnight	Power Forward