National Basketball League (England)
British basketball league / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The National Basketball League, or NBL for short, is a league competition representing semi-professional and amateur basketball clubs from England and Wales. It forms levels 2 to 4 on the British basketball pyramid, in line with the Scottish Basketball Championship, sitting directly below the top tier British Basketball League.
Current season, competition or edition:![]() | |
Sport | Basketball |
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Founded | 1972; 52 years ago (1972) |
No. of teams | 105 |
Country | ![]() ![]() |
Continent | FIBA Europe |
Most recent champion(s) | Derby Trailblazers (2nd title) |
Level on pyramid | 2–4 |
Domestic cup(s) | National Cup |
Official website | Official website |
For the 2021-22 season, the league will have teams split across three levels:[1]
- Division 1 (14 teams)
- Division 2 (24 teams across 2 regions)
- Division 3 (67 teams across 7 regional leagues)
The league also runs the English Women's Basketball League, with Division 1 and Division 2 North and South, and a junior structure with over 630 teams competing in Under-18s, Under-16s, Under-14s and Under-12s leagues.[2]
There is no promotion and relegation between the National League and the British Basketball League (BBL), which operates a franchise system. Despite this, several teams have been successful in making the step up from the National League to the BBL in recent years, most notably the Plymouth Raiders and the Bristol Flyers.