Sheffield Sharks

The Sheffield Sharks, currently known as "B.Braun Sheffield Sharks" for sponsorship reasons, are a professional basketball team from the city of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The Sharks play in the British Basketball League and play their home fixtures at Ponds Forge. They are one of the most successful teams in the history of British basketball, second only to Newcastle Eagles, and dominated the domestic scene throughout the 1990s and early 2000s.

Sheffield Sharks
LeagueBBL
Established1991 (1991)
HistorySheffield Forgers
(1991–1994)
Sheffield Sharks
(1994–present)
ArenaPonds Forge
Capacity1,000
LocationSheffield, South Yorkshire
Team colours              
Main sponsorB. Braun Medical
Head coachAtiba Lyons
WebsiteOfficial website

Franchise history

History as "Forgers"

The franchise was established in 1991 when the team, then called the Sheffield Forgers in reference to the city's history as a major steel producer, were admitted to National Basketball League Division 2. After two seasons competing in the division, with an overall 26–16 record, the Forgers were crowned Champions in 1993 and promoted to NBL Division 1.

The 1993–1994 season would prove to be another successful one for the Forgers having reached the National Trophy final where they beat Plymouth Raiders 62–60 on "home" territory at the Sheffield Arena. Their stay in the First Division did not last long, and although they finished in 4th position with a 10–8 record, the Forgers were admitted to the professional top-tier British Basketball League to replace the withdrawing Guildford Kings.

Rename to Sharks

The successful franchise was purchased by the Chrysalis Group in 1994 and rebranded as Sheffield Sharks. On court, the team dominated the league in its rookie season, and with a 29–7 league record, marched on to take the BBL League Championship and National Cup with an incredible 89–66 victory in the final against Thames Valley Tigers. However the Tigers got their revenge over the Sharks with a nail-biting 74–69 win in the BBL Trophy final. The Sharks also missed out on the Play-off final following a 72–84 loss to Worthing Bears in the Final Four, despite this the Sheffield team still enjoyed a phenomenal debut season.

European leagues

In 1995, the 1995 McDonald's Championship came to London and the Sharks were entered as the host team, mixing with the elite of world basketball including the NBA's Houston Rockets, Spanish League giants Real Madrid and Bologna of the Italian League amongst others. Sheffield finished the series 0–2, following defeats to Real Madrid and Maccabi Tel Aviv.

Sharks' adventure continued into Europe in the following season (1995–96) when they competed in the prestigious Euroleague. After knocking out Luxembourg-based team Residence Helmsange in the Qualifying round, the Sharks were then eliminated in the First Round by Real Madrid after a 57–67 defeat in Sheffield and a 75–78 defeat in Madrid. As a result of losing, Sheffield were then placed in the Third Round of the less glamorous European Cup, where they were subsequently knocked out by Belgian League club Oostende Basket, thus ending their European adventure.

On the domestic scene, the Sharks could not repeat the highs of their previous season, finishing as Runners-up in the League Championship (30–6) to London Towers, and losing the final of the National Cup 58–70 also to the dominating Towers. Their Play-off dreams were also shattered in the Semi-final's by eventual winners Birmingham Bullets, whom they lost to 68–82.

Golden Era

The Sharks again reached the BBL Cup final in 1996 and 1997, finishing second then third in the Championship, and their next piece of silverware was the 1998 BBL Trophy. They claimed their second BBL Cup and Championship double in 1999, with Terrell Myers picked as League MVP, before successfully defending the Cup in 2000 after reaching their fifth Cup final in six years. It was during the most successful period of the clubs’ history that owners Chrysalis Group decided to sell off their majority stake.[1][2] After running into off-court financial difficulties and on the brink of a wind-up order from the BBL, the franchise was acquired by Montgomery Leisure Services Ltd in 2001,[3] the same year that a first Play-off final appearance was secured in after topping the Championship. However it was Leicester Riders who triumphed 84–75, and the Sharks were beaten again in the play-off final the following year, 93–82 by Cheshire Jets. The Sharks claimed their third Championship in five years in 2003 and although they failed to reach the play-off final, they got there the following year after a second-placed league finish. It was the Sharks' third play-off final in four years and a case of third time lucky as they beat Cheshire 86–74.

Modern era

In the 2009–2010 season, Sheffield won the BBL Cup for the first time in six years beating the Cheshire Jets 89–86. During the 2010–2011 season, they successfully defended their cup victory by beating the Mersey Tigers 93–66 and also made it to the final of the Play Offs but were beaten out by Mersey Tigers 79–74. In the 2012–2013 season, the Sharks won the BBL Trophy for the first time in 15 years beating the Leicester Riders 71–69. In the 2015–2016 season, Sheffield made it to the Play Off final for the first time in five years. This time however, for the first time in 12 years the Sharks in the Final of the Play-offs on 8 May 2016, beat Leicester Riders 84–77.[4]

Home arenas
Sheffield Arena (1994–2004)
Ponds Forge (2004–2006)
English Institute of Sport, Sheffield (2006–2019)
Ponds Forge (2019–present)

Season-by-season records
Season Division Tier Regular Season Post-Season Trophy Cup Head Coach
Finish Played Wins Losses Points Win %
Sheffield Forgers
1991–92 NBL3 3 5th 22 11 11 22 0.500
1992–93 NBL3 3 1st 20 15 5 30 0.750
1993–94 NBL1 2 4th 18 10 8 20 0.556
Sheffield Sharks
1994–95 BBL 1 1st 36 29 7 58 0.806 Semi Final Runner-Up Winners, beating Thames Valley Jim Brandon
1995–96 BBL 1 2nd 36 30 6 60 0.833 Semi Final Semi Final Runner-Up Jim Brandon
1996–97 BBL 1 3rd 36 26 10 52 0.722 Semi Final Semi Final Runner-Up Jim Brandon
1997–98 BBL 1 4th 36 25 11 50 0.694 Quarter Final Winners, beating Towers Quarter Final Chris Finch
1998–99 BBL 1 1st 36 31 5 62 0.861 Semi Final Semi Final Winners, beating Leopards Chris Finch
1999–00 BBL N 1 2nd 36 29 7 58 0.806 Quarter Final Semi Final Winners, beating Manchester Chris Finch
2000–01 BBL N 1 1st 36 27 9 54 0.750 Runner-Up Semi Final 1st Round Chris Finch
2001–02 BBL N 1 2nd 32 21 11 42 0.656 Runner-Up Quarter Final Semi Final Chris Finch
2002–03 BBL 1 1st 40 33 7 66 0.825 Semi Final 1st Round 1st Round Chris Finch
2003–04 BBL 1 2nd 36 26 10 52 0.722 Winners, beating Chester 1st Round Winners, beating Scottish Peter Scantlebury
2004–05 BBL 1 4th 40 26 14 52 0.650 Semi Final 1st Round Quarter Final Peter Scantlebury
2005–06 BBL 1 3rd 40 26 14 52 0.650 Semi Final 1st Round Quarter Final Peter Scantlebury
2006–07 BBL 1 2nd 36 28 8 56 0.778 Semi Final Semi Final Semi Final Peter Scantlebury
2007–08 BBL 1 6th 33 17 16 34 0.515 Quarter Final 1st Round Quarter Final Peter Scantlebury
2008–09 BBL 1 6th 33 16 17 32 0.485 Quarter Final 1st Round Quarter Final Atiba Lyons
2009–10 BBL 1 2nd 36 30 6 60 0.833 Semi Final 1st Round Winners, beating Cheshire Atiba Lyons
2010–11 BBL 1 3rd 33 24 9 48 0.727 Runner-Up 1st Round Winners, beating Mersey Atiba Lyons
2011–12 BBL 1 7th 30 13 17 26 0.433 Quarter Final Semi Final Quarter Final Atiba Lyons
2012–13 BBL 1 7th 33 17 16 34 0.515 Quarter Finals Winners, beating Leicester Semi Finals Atiba Lyons
2013–14 BBL 1 2nd 33 27 6 54 0.818 Semi Finals Semi Finals Semi Finals Atiba Lyons
2014–15 BBL 1 7th 36 19 17 38 0.528 Semi Finals Quarter Finals Semi Finals Atiba Lyons
2015–16 BBL 1 3rd 33 20 13 40 0.606 Winners, beating Leicester Semi Finals Quarter Finals Atiba Lyons
2016–17 BBL 1 4th 33 20 13 40 0.606 Quarter Finals 1st Round Quarter Finals Atiba Lyons
2017–18 BBL 1 8th 33 18 15 36 0.545 Quarter Finals Runner Up Semi Finals Atiba Lyons
2018–19 BBL 1 6th 33 17 16 34 0.515 Semi Finals 1st Round 1st Round Atiba Lyons
2019–20 BBL 1 Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic Quarter Finals Quarter Finals Atiba Lyons
2020–21 BBL 1 Atiba Lyons

Notes:

  • Until 1993 Division Three operated as the third tier league, behind Division Two and Division One (the BBL).
  • In 1993 the NBL restructured Division Two as Division One, operating as the second tier league.
  • From 1999–2002 the BBL operated a Conference system. Sheffield competed in the Northern Conference.

Trophies

League
  • NBL Division 2 Winners: 1992/93 1
  • BBL Winners: 1994/95, 1998/99, & 2002/03 3
  • BBL Northern Conference Winners: 2000/01 1
  • BBL Runners Up: 1995/96, 2003/04, & 2009/10, 2013/14 4
  • BBL Northern Conference Runners Up: 1999/00, & 2001/02 2

Playoffs

Cup
  • National Cup Winners: 1994/95, 1998/99, & 1999/00 3
  • BBL Cup Winners: 2003/04, 2009/10 & 2010/11 3
  • National Cup Runners Up: 1995/96, & 1996/97 2

Trophy
  • BBL Trophy Winners: 1993/1994, 1997/1998, & 2012/13 3
  • BBL Trophy Runners Up: 1994/95, 2017/18 2

Players

Current roster

Note: Flags indicate national team, as has been defined under FIBA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIBA nationality.

No. Position Player
0 G Nick Lewis
4 PG Nathaniel Montgomery
6 G Connor Cashaw
8 G/F Bouna Ndiaye
10 SF Marko Backovic
12 PG Edgar McKnight
No. Pos. Nation Player
14 F Josh Chubb
15 F Michael Tuck
25 C Bennett Koch
28 G Edward Brownell
30 F Rob Marsden

Notable former players

Ownership
  • Steve Shore
  • Yuri Matischen
  • Sarah Backovic
  • Karen Child
  • John Timms
  • Atiba Lyons
gollark: I have a highly accursed bridge which lets a CC computer feed that via websocket link, and then a bunch of in game devices broadcasting to that over modems.
gollark: This is just the Prometheus/Grafana setup I use for server monitoring.
gollark: The older data might be more interesting, I think the interesting chunks might have been unloaded because no activity.
gollark: Rads/s, log scale.
gollark: We got those, but it took a while as they need tons of chemistry to make.

See also

References
  1. "www.answers.com/topic/chrysalis-group-plc". Retrieved 20 November 2009.
  2. "www.sharks-bbraun.com/index.html". Retrieved 20 November 2009.
  3. "Sharks back in business". BBC News. 27 June 2001.
  4. "Play-Off Final: Riders 77–84 Sharks". BBL.org.uk. 8 May 2016. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
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