Steve Wallbridge assesses the rise of London’s basketball team…
The London Lions were established in 1977 as the Hemel Lakers. They experienced a turbulent start to life. In 1993, Vince Macaulay, a former player in the British Basketball league, took over the club, running it out of the Dacorum Leisure Centre.
From 1993, when Macaulay took over, to 2000, the club suffered many upheavals, struggling to find a long-term home for the club. Between ’93 and ’97, the club re-homed twice and renamed themselves three times.
Following the refurbishment of the Dacorum Leisure Centre, the club was forced to move to Watford, where they played out of the Watford Leisure Centre and changed their names, first to the Hemel & Watford Royals, and then to the Watford Royals.
This new home didn’t last long, though, and in 1997 the club had to move again, this time to the Bletchley Leisure Centre in Milton Keynes where they became known as the Milton Keynes Lions.
Macaulay began hiring higher quality staff and players and, as a result, the club started gaining more credibility. Tony Windless, Eric Burks and Nigel Lloyd were among those who joined the ranks.
It was not until 2007 that the club would claim its first ever title. 2007 also saw the team win the BBL Cup at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, defeating the Newcastle Eagles, as well as reaching the Play-off Finals where they lost to Guildford Heat.
The team’s problems finding a home resurfaced, though, and by 2009 the Lions were homeless once again following Bletchley Leisure Centre being knocked down in order to build a new one.
Unbelievably, the team then set up in the centre of the Milton Keynes shopping centre, but when the centre decided they needed to carpet the open space, the Lions consequently lost their court.
The club hung in there, as it had many times before, and bought a disused warehouse. It was converted into a playing court and a training court and also housed the junior teams. The club finally had a home and its games were shown live on Sky.
Unfortunately, this newfound security was short lived, as the Lions suffered two very poor seasons, failing to make the play-offs for two years running. The club were informed that the landlords had sold the land and the council had approved planning for a furniture store, meaning the club had to leave.
In 2012, the year of the London Olympics, Macaulay had failed to find a new home for the club and, as a result, the team had to pull out of Milton Keynes and withdraw from the league.
It looked like the end of the road for Macaulay, but he was able to persuade London that basketball, in an Olympic venue, was what was needed in order to build on the Olympic legacy.
The London Lions were finally born, first playing out of Crystal Palace National Sports Centre, and then moving to the Copper Box Arena in August of 2013, with their future now looking secure and prosperous.
They have built success on their new permanent home and in 2015 have reached the semi-finals of the BBL Play-Offs.