Netball Superleague

For other uses, see Netball Super League.

The Netball Super League is a top level netball league featuring teams from the United Kingdom. The league is organised by England Netball but features teams based in England, Wales and Scotland. The league was commenced playing at the 2005–06 season, replacing the Super Cup as the elite netball competition in England. From 2016-21 the league was sponsored by VitalityHealth and, as a result, it was known as the Vitality Netball Superleague. Since 2022 it has been known as the Netball Super League.

Netball Super League

First season	2005–06
No. of teams	8[1]
Country	United Kingdom
Most recent champion(s)	Loughborough Lightning (2nd title)
Most titles	Team Bath (5 titles)
TV partner(s)	Sky Sports
Related competitions	British Fast5 Netball All-Stars Championship Super Cup
Official website	www.netballsl.com

Historically the league's most successful teams are Team Bath, who have won five titles, and Saracens Mavericks, who have played in seven grand finals. In more recent times, Surrey Storm won successive titles in 2015 and 2016 and Wasps have played in three successive finals, winning two titles, between 2017 and 2019. In 2019 Manchester Thunder won their third title. Umpire Gary Burgess made history in 2018 by umpiring his 10th consecutive Netball Superleague final between Manchester Thunder and Surrey Storm. Loughborough Lightning won their first title in 2021, beating Team Bath, following this up with their second title in 2023.

Teams

Current teams (2025 onwards)

Team	Coach	Home venue/base	City	Debut season
Birmingham Panthers	Jo Trip		Birmingham	2025
Cardiff Dragons	Reinga Bloxham	Cardiff City House of Sport	Cardiff	2005–06
Leeds Rhinos	Liana Leota	Leeds Beckett University	Leeds	2021
London Mavericks		Wembley Arena	London	2005–06
London Pulse	Sam Bird	Copper Box Arena	London	2019
Loughborough Lightning	Vic Burgess	Loughborough University	Loughborough	2005–06
Manchester Thunder	Karen Greig	National Basketball Performance Centre	Manchester	2005–06
Nottingham Forest Netball	Chelsea Pitman[2]	Motorpoint Arena	Nottingham	2025

Notes

• ^1 Between 2001 and 2012, Manchester Thunder played as Northern Thunder.
• ^2 London Mavericks previously played as Saracens Mavericks, Galleria Mavericks, Hertfordshire Mavericks and benecosMavericks.
• ^3 Surrey Storm originally played as Brunel Hurricanes.
• ^4 Cardiff Dragons previously played as Celtic Dragons.

Former teams

Team	Region	Debut season	Final season
Glasgow Wildcats	Scotland	2008–09	2011
Leeds Carnegie/Yorkshire Jets	Yorkshire	2005–06	2016
Team Northumbria	North East England	2005–06	2018
Wasps Netball	Coventry, West Midlands	2017	2022
Surrey Storm	Guildford	2005–06	2024
Team Bath	Bath, South West	2005–06	2024
Severn Stars	Worcester	2017	2024
Strathclyde Sirens	Glasgow (Scotland)	2017	2024

Notes

• ^1 Between 2005–06 and 2011, Yorkshire Jets played as Leeds Carnegie.

History

Season	Key events
2005	Brunel Hurricanes, Celtic Dragons, Galleria Mavericks, Leeds Carnegie, Loughborough Lightning, Northern Thunder, Team Bath and Team Northumbria become founder members of the new Netball Superleague.[3]
2005–06	With a squad that included Pamela Cookey, Rachel Dunn, Stacey Francis, Jess Garland, Tamsin Greenway and Geva Mentor, Team Bath win the inaugural Netball Superleague title.[4][5][6] Team Bath subsequently dominate the early seasons of the league, winning further Superleague titles in 2006–07, 2008–09, 2009–10 and 2013.[7][8][9][10]
2007–08	After playing and losing in the first two grand finals, the Mavericks win their first Superleague title.[11][12]
2008–09	Glasgow Wildcats become the first team from Scotland to join the league.[13][14] However they only play in the league for three seasons and withdraw following the 2011 season.[15]
2009–10	Brunel Hurricanes end their partnership with Brunel University and relocate to the University of Surrey to become Surrey Storm.[16][17]
2012	Northern Thunder win their first Superleague title.[18] They subsequently change their name to Manchester Thunder before the 2013 season.[19]
2015	After making four grand final appearances in five years, Surrey Storm win their first Superleague title.[17][20][21]
2016	Surrey Storm retain the Superleague title.[22][23] Yorkshire Jets, formerly Leeds Carnegie, play their final Superleague season.[24]
2017	Three new franchises Severn Stars, Scottish Sirens and Wasps make their Superleague debuts.[24][25][26] Wasps go on to win the Grand Final in their debut season.[27]
2018	Wasps retain the Superleague title [28] Team Northumbria play their final Superleague season.[29]
2019	London Pulse make their Superleague debut.[29][30][31] Manchester Thunder win their third Superleague title.[32][33] Leeds Rhinos are announced as a new franchise team for 2021.[34]
2020/2021	Following disruptions to the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, England Netball took the "difficult decision" to suspend the league until 2021. This followed consultation with the league's board as well as all 10 teams and stakeholders.[35] The 2021 season was staged over a shortened period and behind closed doors at select venues. Loughborough Lightning win their first Superleague title.
2022	Manchester Thunder win their fourth title. Wasps Netball play their final Superleague season.
2024	Surrey Storm, Team Bath Netball, Severn Stars and Strathclyde Sirens play their final Superleague season

Grand Finals

Season	Winners	Score	Runners Up	Venue
2005–06[4]	Team Bath	43–35	Galleria Mavericks	Guildford Spectrum
2006–07[7]	Team Bath (2)	53–45	Galleria Mavericks	Guildford Spectrum
2007–08[11][12]	Galleria Mavericks	43–39	Loughborough Lightning	K2 Leisure Centre
2008–09[36][8]	Team Bath (3)	54–46	Galleria Mavericks	Coventry Skydome
2009–10[9]	Team Bath (4)	51–44	Hertfordshire Mavericks	Trent FM Arena
2011[37][38]	Hertfordshire Mavericks (2)	57–46	Surrey Storm	Herts Sports Village
2012[18][17]	Northern Thunder	57–55	Surrey Storm	SportHouse
2013[10][39][40]	Team Bath (5)	62–56	Celtic Dragons	University of Worcester Arena
2014[41]	Manchester Thunder (2)	49–48	Surrey Storm	University of Worcester Arena
2015[42][21]	Surrey Storm	56–39	Hertfordshire Mavericks	Copper Box Arena
2016[22][23]	Surrey Storm (2)	55–53	Manchester Thunder	Copper Box Arena
2017[27][43]	Wasps	55–51	Loughborough Lightning	Barclaycard Arena
2018[28][44][45]	Wasps (2)	55–51	Loughborough Lightning	Copper Box Arena
2019[32][33]	Manchester Thunder (3)	57–52	Wasps	Copper Box Arena
2021[46]	Loughborough Lightning	49–32	Team Bath	Copper Box Arena
2022	Manchester Thunder (4)	60–53	Loughborough Lightning	Copper Box Arena
2023	Loughborough Lightning (2)	57–48	London Pulse	Copper Box Arena
2024	Loughborough Lightning (3)	70-54	Manchester Thunder	Resorts World Arena

Source:^[47]

Winners

Winners	Seasons	Titles
Team Bath	2005–06, 2006–07, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2013	5
Manchester Thunder	2012, 2014, 2019, 2022	4
Loughborough Lightning	2021, 2023, 2024	3
Mavericks	2007–08, 2011	2
Surrey Storm	2015, 2016	2
Wasps	2017, 2018	2

Sponsorship

Sponsors	Seasons
Figleaves[3]	2005–06
The Co-operative Group[11][48][49]	2007–2010
Fiat Group Automobiles[38][50]	2011–2012
Zeo [51]	2014
VitalityHealth[22][52]	2016–2021

Television

Sky Sports are the Netball Superleague's official broadcast partner and they broadcast live matches throughout the season.^[53][54][55] In November 2016 England Netball and Sky Sports signed a four-year deal which saw every live match made available to all Sky TV customers on Sky Sports Mix.^[56][57] A "multi-year deal" was reached in 2021, which expanded Sky's coverage to allow for all matches to be either televised on Sky Sports or streamed via YouTube.^[58]

References

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