Skip to main content

Mersey Tigers: Eleven Words

For the majority of fans of sport there is nothing better than watching your team compete at the highest level, going to the ground, arena, hearing the crowd roar as they see that buzzer beating shot, that last minute goal, the home run that wins the game.

For one team in British basketball they are looking at a season having gone backwards with little response.

It has been 57 days (at time of writing) since the Mersey Tigers departed the British Basketball League with no proper statement from the division.

There were however 11 words which will haunt the Mersey Tigers fans, club and players alike which ended their spell in British basketball's top tier:


"Follow a Review, the Mersey Tigers have had their franchise withdrawn."


Fans of the team have been faced with the now very real prospect of not having a local team in the BBL for the 2013/14 season.

The team failed to win a single game in the 2012/13 BBL season but no official reason has yet been given.

The club also put out a short statement in response to the expulsion of Liverpool's biggest basketball team:

“We were disappointed that the BBL today announced the withdrawal of the Mersey Tigers franchise.
“We would like to thank our fans for standing by us and hope you understand that, whilst we are in the process of reviewing our options, we will not be making any further comment.”

We spoke to an anonymous fan who was keen to show his/her displeasure at the fact they had found out in such a manner.

They said: "From the viewpoint of the fans, we are upset that the team are out [of the league], they gave no explanation - 11 word - and the club have said nothing either."

"The thing is no one knows why the franchise was removed, there are two trains of thought - 1) We didn't win a game; this wasn't acceptable, 2) The Tigers owe money from the old owners but the club are still liable."

"The other thing is the timing, it came as a bit of a shock and a bit out of the blue - we are pretty sure the Tigers were preparing for the next season."

"The BBL made the decision they should explain it, we've paid a lot of money over the years both for the Tigers and BBL games"

"It's very sad not having a BBL team in our local area, the nearest one is 30 miles away, by the time it was announced it was too late for the Tigers to enter another league."

Here are a selection of Tweets from people in regards to the removal of the Tigers:








Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Worcester Wolves Coach praises British basketball legend Sullivan

Worcester Wolves head coach Paul James has praised former GB captain Drew Sullivan following his retirement from the game. Sullivan - who made over 100 appearances for his country - announced his decision earlier this year. He led a team to victory one more time yesterday with London beating the World 89-84 in his testimonial. Paul James coach of the Worcester Wolves, has come up against Sullivan as a coach a number of times over the years and says he has a lasting legacy on the British game. James said: "I think he has been phenomenal for the British game, the ultimate professional. I haven't really had the pleasure to work with Drew, but to see the way he handled himself on and off the court, you could see he was very serious about his basketball and his success has happened because of that. "He's won many championships and for sure he has been a real leader on and off the court, for anybody that has worked with him. "It's sad to see such a...
Post a Comment
Read more

BBP: Surrey United: "One of our strengths is United's past"

Surrey United - previously Surrey Heat - have gone through multiple changes this summer, including a change of owner, name, coach and various players. The 2012/13 season was largely a success with the team finishing in fourth place and getting to the play-off semi-finals. Now a new man is in charge; Jack Majewski, who was part of London United's BBL exploits which are confined to recent history. He is keen to dispel any fears that Surrey's stay in the BBL may be shortened by the takeover and thinks the future can be bright. He said: "I don't believe in a program which isn't run on integrity and financial transparency and at London United we were misled that the borough would pump money into basketball and we are paid for our mistakes." "The main difference between then and now will be stability, we will use local young players and we can use Surrey Sports Park and Surrey University as a base, so players can come in for three years." ...
1 comment
Read more

Kendal Johnson wants to ball in the BBL

Kendal Johnson is an American who wants to play in England in a busy week where he is likely to find out where he will be playing and when. Johnson is the cousin of NBA star Marcus Camby and is looking to be a player/coach in the British Basketball League or English Basketball League. He admits he doesn't know too much about the current state of British basketball but has heard good things. He said: 'I've always wanted to go to England but I don't know a lot about the basketball league, I have a friend at the Worcester Wolves and he has told me there is lot's of positives.' 'I've played basketball since I was little obviously having Marcus Camby as a cousin I was always in that sort of environment.' Johnson revealed he had been in talks with various BBL and EBL clubs and is hoping a move can be agreed in the coming days. He also thinks that it is important to get young people involved in sport. He added: 'One thing I would like to ...
Post a Comment
Read more