| Birmingham Bullets | ||||
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| League(s) | British Basketball League | |||
| Established | 1974 | |||
| Folded | 2006 | |||
| History | Coventry 1974-1980 Team Fiat 1980-1982 Birmingham Bullets 1982-2006 |
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| Location | Birmingham, West Midlands | |||
| Ownership | Craig Bown | |||
| Colours | Red, White and Black | |||
| Uniforms | ||||
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The Birmingham Bullets is a basketball team from Birmingham, who competed in the British Basketball League (BBL). The club resigned from the BBL league in the summer of 2006 and soon after went into liquidation, and currently no-longer exist as a basketball franchise.
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Birmingham Bullets came to an end in 2006. An attempt by Team Birmingham to claim their history was generally ignored, and the name "Bullets" was never registered by them with England Basketball. The club struggled in Division Four, and in their two year existence they only won one game - a walkover against MK Lions II. They finished joint bottom of the midlands division in 2010/11, failing to fulfill four of their 14 games, and are not included in the published constitution for 2011/12.
With Worcester Wolves stepping up to replace the Birmingham franchise in the BBL in 2006,[1] many former Bullets fans have adopted the Wolves as their new team, but basketball's future in the Midlands took a turn for the better early in 2007. The British Basketball Association, a proposed professional league set to rival the BBL, announced Birmingham Athletics as their second franchise for the 2007-08 season,[2] on February 19, while a month later on March 23, the BBL announced that a new franchise had been awarded to Birmingham,[3] also for the 2007-08 season, called Birmingham Panthers. The Panthers only lasted for one season before folding, and there is currently no team from Birmingham in the top two levels of basketball in England.
Team Birmingham have opened a regional headquarters at Northwood Stadium in Stoke-on-Trent. Northwood Stadium is the only athletics centre in the area which is certified by the International Amateur Athletics Federation and is the home of Stoke Athletics Club. The centre also has a large sports hall with, 6 badminton courts, four full sized basketball courts, three 5-a-side football pitches, three squash courts and the facility for many other sports. Also based at Northwood is the full time training program for gap year students and full time players.
Housed within the new, £60 million campus at Knutton Lane the Academy offers facilities, including a 4-court Sports Hall, Dance Studio and Fitness Suite for all its players. Other features include a 250-seat auditorium, a large learning resources centre, a skills and technology centre and a suite of conference and seminar facilities. Players attending the Academy will enrol on a full time, non-sports related course, train for sixteen hours on court, six hours in the Fitness Suite on strength and conditioning per week. The players will also be available to play in the BCS and ESSBA competitions during the week and Senior Mens National League at weekends.
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