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BRIGHTON BEARS |
| LEAGUE RECORD: | ||||||
| BBL/NBL1: | 1981-1986; 1990-2006 | P. 695 | W. 358 | L. 337 | Champions, 1993; 2004 | |
| NBL Div. 1: | 1978-1981; 1987-1990 | P. 108 | W. 83 | L. 25 | Champions, 1988 | |
| HONOURS: | |||
| B.B.L. League Champions: | 1993.; 2004 | ||
| NBL Div. 1 Champions: | 1988. | ||
| Championship Winners: | 1993; 1994; 1995. | ||
| NBL Div. 1 Championship Winners: | 1988. | ||
| BBL Cup Winners: | 2005. | ||
| National Cup Winners: | 1994; 2003. | ||
| National Cup Finalists: | 1993. | ||
| League Cup Finalists: | 1996. | ||
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VENUES:
THE
BRIGHTON CENTRE, Kings Road, Brighton. A23, to Brighton. Follow signs for Town Centre. The Centre is at the bottom of West Street, on the Sea Front. That's all it says in the handbook, but if you can't find the sea front, well, when your wipers can't clear the windscreen, you've gone too far!
THE
TRIANGLE; Triangle Road, Burgess Hill. A23, to turn off for Burgess Hill (A2300) at Hickstead. Follow brown Tourist Information signs. Across one roundabout; at second roundabout take second exit (straight on, ignoring A273) into Triangle Way. Turn left at mini-roundabout into Triangle car park. |
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FACILITIES: Don't know. I've not been since they moved from Worthing. |
Brighton Bears entered the National League, Division 2, way back in 1978.
They gradually consolidated, until promoted (from 2nd in Div. 2) in 1981.
In 1984, having outgrown their original venue in Brighton, they moved to Worthing, becoming the Worthing Bears.
In the fraught mid-80s, the Club recognised that financial pressures meant that they could not guarantee to complete the 1986-7 season, and they withdrew from league, thus avoiding the bankruptcy and extinction that afflicted many clubs at the time.
A year later they were back, into Division 2, and they won the Division, undefeated, and the play-off Championship, in their first season back.
The BBL, however, was going through a period of flux. Having expanded to 15 teams, many were uncompetitive season after season, while the top teams were either very wealthy or close to bankruptcy. This was the year in which back-to-back title winners Portsmouth pulled out, as did Calderdale Explorers, while Birmingham Bullets chose to drop down into Division 2, and the Bears chose to decline promotion.
In 1990, with the BBL at its lowest ebb, with just eight teams, the bears finished as runners-up in Division 2, and they accepted promotion as part of the re-expansion of the BBL, which now had a more stable, and realistic, programme.
The early '90s proved to be Worthing's glory years, as they won the League and Championship "double" in 1993, but lost the Cup Final. They went on to complete a hat-trick of Championship successes, with victories in 1994 and '95, and in 1994 they won the Cup in their second consecutive Final.
A lean spell followed, and the team finished in the bottom three in 1997 and 1998, in last place in 1999, and at the foot of the Southern Conference in three consecutive seasons, from 2000 to 2002, despite returning to play in Brighton, from 1999.
New owner/coach Nick Nurse helped to revive the club in the 2002-3 season, and they finished second in the re-united unitary BBL, and lifted the National Cup for the second time, and in the following year they found themselves back on top of the League once again.
In 2003-4 they also embarked on a successful venture into European competition, proving competitive against experienced Euro opposition, and were back in Europe for 2004-5, but pulled out a few days before their first game, after a promised sponsor changed their mind.
In the 2006 close-season, after another turbulent season, and months of rumours, the Bears opted to "Sit out for a year".
2006-7 Roster:
Names in red have departed.
| PLAYER | Height | |||
| Lewis GRANT | ||||
| Danny HILDRETH | Guard | 6' 0" | Returns after spells at Derby and Worthing, 2005 | |
| Steven PARILLON | Forward | 6' 5" | With Worthing and Reading, 2004-5. Headed for Belgium Div 2, but signed for Bears, Sept. '05 | |
| Demaija STEWART | Forward | Joins from Birmingham, 2005. Ex-Rocks, and Dumbova, Hungary. | ||
| Jerry WILLIAMS | Forward | 6' 5" | USA; ex-Sharks, Rocks and Towers. Joined Bears Nov. '05 | |
| Martin YABSLEY | Forward |
6' 9" |
From Birmingham, 2005 | |
| Andrew ALLEYNE | Forward/Centre |
6’ 8” |
Barbados. From Milton Keynes, 2004. To Leicester, 2006. | |
| Ronnie BAKER | Guard | 5’ 10” | England Int. With Towers, Jan-May '04. Joined Bears in Jan '05. To Lions, Oct. '06 | |
| Terrance McGEE | Guard | Des Moines Heat in IBL, 2004-5. Rocks, 2003-4. To Riders, 2006. | ||
| Lijah PERKINS | Forward | 6' 8" | Ex-Bullets and Teesside. From Forssan Koripojat, Finland, 2005. To Rocks, Jan 06 | |
| Dennis RODMAN | Forward | Ex- Chicago Bulls. Signed, Jan 06, on a 1 to 3 game deal. | ||
| Yorick WILLIAMS | Guard/Forward | From Leopards in 2003; to Bullets, 2005. Returned to Brighton Nov 05. Back to Bullets, Jan 06 | ||
| Dennis CARR | Power Forward | 6' 7" | USA. Joined 2005 | |
| Corey JACKSON | Forward | 6' 8" | From Teesside, 2005 | |
| Colin TABB | Guard | USA | ||
| Joe PERERA | Point guard | English; from Illinois Inst. of Tech. Departed Summer '05. To West Herts Jan. 06 | ||
| Nick NURSE | Coach | |||
| Phil WAGHORN | Ass Coach |