Cheshire Phoenix

Cheshire Phoenix
League	British Basketball League
Established	1984
History	Ellesmere Port Jets 1984–1988 Cheshire Jets 1988–1993 Chester Jets 1993–2007 Cheshire Jets 2007–2012 Cheshire Phoenix 2012–present
Arena	Northgate Arena (Capacity: 1,000)
Location	Chester, Cheshire
Team colours	Blue, White and Orange
Head coach	John Lavery
Website	CheshirePhoenix.co.uk
Uniforms
Home Away

The Cheshire Phoenix is a professional basketball team based in Chester, United Kingdom. They are members of the British Basketball League and play their home games at the Northgate Arena. Under previous ownership, the team was known as Cheshire Jets, but due to financial difficulties the franchise was withdrawn from the League in November 2012 and was replaced by the Phoenix.

Franchise history

Origin

The team was first formed from the ruins of the Ellesmere Port team, the St Saviours in 1984. The team was initially named after their sponsors 'Motocraft Centre Ellesmere Port'. However, after the loss of their sponsor, they renamed themselves Ellesmere Port Jets.

The Jets were admitted to NBL Division 2 in 1986 and finished last in their first season, with just a single victory. Edging up to seventh in 1987–88, they then changed their name to Cheshire Jets, though still continuing to play in Ellesmere Port. They continued a steady mid-table development until, in 1991, they won the divisional title despite suffering five defeats. The same year, the Jets moved up into the BBL joining in with Britain's elite basketball teams. Later however, the arena in Ellesmere Port became unsuitable, and so in 1993 the Jets were forced to move to Chester, and into the Northgate Arena. The move was reflected in another name change to what is now the Chester Jets.

The real turning point for the Jets came in 1996, when the application of the Bosman ruling to basketball resulted in the departure of many of the top English players to European clubs, and the BBL changed its eligibility rule to entitle teams to use five non-national players.

Trans-Atlantic recruitment by coach and co-owner Mike Burton resulted in a team which finished fifth in the League table in 1997. Subsequent seasons have seen their best-ever performances in 2002 (Northern Conference Champions) and 2003 (3rd in the re-unified League), and a string of successes in the BBL trophy (4-times winners, from 2001 to 2004), culminating in the League Championship in 2005.

On 7 April 2007, prior to the Jets' season finale at home to Guildford Heat, an 81–102 defeat, club owner and head coach Mike Burton announced that he would be retiring from the franchise at the end of the 2006–07 season. Burton's announcement, after 19 years at the helm, raised serious doubts of the clubs' future,^[1] with mounting debts and lack of financial backing. Shortly after the announcement, fans formed a committee to help save the club and received the backing of players including former Jet James Hamilton.^[2] Following a sponsorship deal agreed during the summer of 2007 with local firm BiG Storage to save the club and preserve their future, the Jets was renamed as the BiG Storage Cheshire Jets to cover the wider demographic of Cheshire county in line with BiG Storage's market covereage. When BiG Storage terminated the sponsorship, the managing director of the company arranged a successor sponsor; Cheshire West and Chester Council.

The club was plunged into chaos in November 2012 when, after only 7 games into the season, the British Basketball League withdrew the club's franchise from owner Haydn Cook after he notified them that he was going to cancel the players contracts and cancelled all future fixtures.

A statement from the BBL said: "The BBL have withdrawn the Cheshire franchise from its operating company with immediate effect.

"The decision follows an urgent review of the franchise following notification from the club that they were unable to fulfil their fixture this weekend. The BBL is currently exploring a number of options to ensure the continuation of the franchise. It is anticipated there will be a further announcement in the coming days." (Cheshire Chronicle)

The club had until the end of November to find £50,000 to preserve its status in top-flight basketball. Local businesses were found to donate money and become sponsors, thus saving the club and fulfilling its fixture list as planned.

Return to Ellesmere Port?

The Jets have expressed an interest in moving back to Ellesmere Port if plans to build a new £10.8m leisure centre in the town to replace the ageing EPIC centre get the go-ahead. The centre, which would be due for completion by 2015, would offer seating for 1,500 spectators, an increase on the 1,000-capacity Northgate Arena.^[3]

Home arenas

Ellesmere Port Leisure Centre (1984–1993)

Northgate Arena (1993–present)

Season-by-season records

Notes:

• From 1999 to 2002 the BBL operated a Conference system. Chester competed in the Northern Conference.
• DNQ denotes Did Not Qualify

Trophies

League

• NBL Division One Winners: 1990–91 1
• BBL Championship Winners: 2001–02, & 2004–05 2
• BBL Championship Runners Up: 2000–01 1

Playoffs

• BBL Championship Play Off Winners: 2001–02 1
• BBL Championship Play Off Runners Up: 2003–04, & 2004–05 2

Trophy

• BBL Trophy Winners: 2000–01, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2003–04 4
• BBL Trophy Runners Up: 1996–97, 2009–10 2

Cup

• National Cup Winners: 2001–02 1
• National Cup Runners Up: 2000–01, 2009–10 2

Players

Current roster

Cheshire Phoenix roster v t e
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Ht. 1.0 !PG 4 United States ! Middleton, Reggie (C) 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 1.5 !G 9 United Kingdom ! Bailey, Devan 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 1.0 !PG 12 United Kingdom ! Smith, Jordan 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 4.0 !F 13 United Kingdom ! Duppa, Alan 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 4.0 !F 15 United States ! Moses, Victor 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 1.5 !G 20 United Kingdom ! Lavery, Sam 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 2.5 !G/F 21 United States ! Coleman, Dominique 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 4.0 !F 22 United Kingdom ! Gallagher, Ryan 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 1.5 !G 33 United Kingdom ! Miller, Daniel 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 4.0 !F 41 Latvia ! Rozinsh, Richard 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 6.0 !C 44 Lithuania ! Visockis, Donatas 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	Head coach John Lavery Assistant coach(es) Mike Burton Andrew Green Robbie Peers Legend (C) Team captain Injured Roster Updated: 10th December 2013

Notable former players

• Pero Cameron
• Todd Cauthorn
• Correy Childs
• Greg Francis
• Dave Gardner
• Kenny Gregory
• Delme Herriman
• John McCord
• Louis McCullough
• Greg Meldrum
• Loren Meyer
• Tony Rampton
• John Simpson
• Billy Singleton
• Alto Virgil
• TJ Walker

Retired numbers

• 11 Dave Gardner, C, 1990–1995, 1997–1998 & 1999–2003

See also

• Basketball in England
• British Basketball League

References

External links

• Official Cheshire Phoenix website
• Cheshire Phoenix on Twitter
• Cheshire Phoenix news from the Chester Chronicle