Leicester Riders

BBL team
color1 = #FFFFFF
color2 = #FF0000
name = Leicester Riders

imagesize = 200px
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
coach = flagicon|USA Rob Paternostro
ownership = PLC
colours = Red, White and Green
website = [http://www.leicesterriders.co.uk/ LeicesterRiders.co.uk]
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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.

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 [http://www.jelson.co.uk Jelson Homes] came together to save the club once again. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/leicestershire/6971807.stm]

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.

Home arenas

:Victory Hall (1967-1981):Granby Halls (1981-1999):Loughborough University (1999-2004):De Montfort University (2004-present)

eason-by-season records

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

Players

Current roster

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

"As of January 30 2008"

Notable former players

*flagicon|Barbados Andrew Alleyne
*flagicon|UK Karl Brown
*flagicon|UK Steve Bucknall

*flagicon|UK Mark Hawley
*flagicon|Wales Dave Jones
*flagicon|USA Steve McGlothin
*flagicon|USA Anthony McHenry
*flagicon|Trinidad and Tobago Shawn Myers
*flagicon|USA flagicon|UK Nate Reinking
*flagicon|USA flagicon|UK Billy Singleton
*flagicon|Canada Chris Webber

External links

* [http://www.leicesterriders.co.uk Official Leicester Riders website]
* [http://www.myspace.com/leicesterriders Leicester Riders on MySpace]
* [http://www.ridersballonline.com Riders Ball Online - Unofficial website]
* [http://www.jelson.co.uk Jelson Homes website]