Durham Wildcats

The Durham Wildcats are an English basketball club based in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham. The original incarnation were members of the British Basketball League, the top-level competition in the United Kingdom, and played their home games at the Newton Aycliffe Leisure Centre.

Durham Wildcats
LeagueNBL D3 North
Established2005 (2005)
HistoryDurham Wildcats
2005-2015
Reformed 2020-present
ArenaNewton Aycliffe LC
LocationCounty Durham
Team coloursBlue and White

Established in 2005, the club enjoyed a rapid rise through the English Basketball League system with two successive promotions in between 2008 and 2010, before applying to join the top-tier British Basketball League in 2011. The club completed four seasons in the BBL, but withdrew following the 2014-15 season.

The newly reformed Wildcats re-entered the English Basketball League in 2020.

Franchise history

In 2001 the merger of the Belmont Basketball Club and a group of U16 players from Belmont School resulted in a club that competed in the Durham County Local League playing with teams in the 1st and 3rd divisions.

In 2005 Wildcats were officially founded with a team that competed in the EBL Division 3 North for four seasons.

In the first two seasons Wildcats played their home games at Spennymoor Leisure Centre in County Durham. At the start of the 2007-2008 season the team moved to the Newton Aycliffe Leisure Centre, which is located in southern Durham.

In the 2008-2009 season the Wildcats won a highly competitive, and close-fought, EBL Division 3 North, gaining promotion to EBL Division 2.

On 28 February 2010 they won their first national silverware beating Westminster Warriors in the Patron's Cup Final (96-70), that was held at the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre. They went on to win the League title with 18-2 wins gaining promotion to EBL Division 1. On 25 April 2010 they beat Team Northumbria (70-67) in the Play-offs Final at the Amaechi Basketball Centre, completing the Division 2 Treble.

Wildcats' had a mixed 2010-2011 season in Division 1 and weren't able to emulate the success of the past few seasons. A mediocre 7-11 record gave them a 7th-place finish as well as only making it to the 3rd Round of the National Cup and Quarter-finals of the post-season Play-offs.

After weeks of rumours, it was officially announced on 26 May 2011 that the Wildcats would be the latest addition to the British Basketball League following the withdrawal of Worthing Thunder.[1]

On 17 July 2015 it was announced that the Wildcats would not be participating in the 2015-16 BBL season. The team had previously recruited players from Durham University, however players called up to the team on international student visas were found to be ineligible to play. The team is now seeking to re-structure and join the league at a later date.[2]

Home arenas
Spennymoor Leisure Centre (2005-2007 and 2009)
Newton Aycliffe Leisure Centre (2007-present)

Season-by-season records
Season Division Tier Regular Season Post-Season Trophy Cup Head Coach
Finish Played Wins Losses Points Win %
Durham Wildcats
2005–06 D3 Nor 4 6th 16 7 9 14 0.438 Did Not Qualify 2nd Round (NS) 2nd Round (NC) Dave Elderkin
2006–07 D3 Nor 4 4th 20 13 7 26 0.650 Quarter Finals 3rd Round (NS) 3rd Round (NC) Dave Elderkin
2007–08 D3 Nor 4 7th 20 11 9 22 0.550 Did Not Qualify Quarter Finals (NS) 1st Round (NC) Dave Elderkin
2008–09 D3 Nor 4 1st 22 18 4 36 0.818 Semi Finals 3rd Round (NS) 2nd Round (NC) Dave Elderkin
2009–10 D2 3 1st 20 18 2 36 0.900 Winners, beating Northumbria Winners (PC) Quarter Finals (NC) Dave Elderkin
2010–11 D1 2 7th 18 7 11 14 0.389 Quarter Finals 1st Round (NT) 3rd Round (NC) Dave Elderkin
Durham Wildcats
2011–12 BBL 1 11th 33 3 30 6 0.090 Did Not Qualify 1st Round (BT) 1st Round (BC) Dave Elderkin
2012–13 BBL 1 10th 33 10 26 20 0.303 Did Not Qualify 1st Round (BT) 1st Round (BC) Dave Elderkin
2013–14 BBL 1 8th 33 14 19 28 0.424 Quarter Finals, losing to Newcastle Eagles 1st Round (BT) Quarter Finals (BC) Lee Davie
2014–15 BBL 1 12th 36 8 28 16 0.286 Did Not Qualify 1st Round (BT) 1st Round (BC) Lee Davie

Trophies

Players

Final 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
6 F Sam Chambers
9 F Joel Madourie
11 PG Chris Jones
13 F Fran Urli
No. Pos. Nation Player
22 G Panos Mayindombe
32 G Ralph Bucci
33 G David Buchberger
44 C John Puk

References
  1. "Durham Wildcats join British Basketball League". BBC Sport. 26 May 2011.
  2. "Durham Wildcats withdraw from BBL for 2015-16". BBC Sport. 17 June 2015.
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