1990–91 British Basketball League season

The 1990–91 BBL season was the 4th season of the British Basketball League (known as the Carlsberg League for sponsorship reasons) since its establishment in 1987. The season featured a total of nine teams, playing 24 games each. Following a new £1.3 million sponsorship deal with Carlsberg, the sport was unified once more as three divisions of the Carlsberg League were created.
Solent Stars dropped out of the top tier and would play their basketball in Division Four.^[1] Hemel Hempstead Royals and Worthing Bears returned to top tier action and the Bracknell Tigers became the Thames Valley Tigers.

1990–91 BBL season
League	British Basketball League
Sport	Basketball
Number of teams	9
Roll of Honour
BBL champions	Kingston
Play Off's champions	Kingston
National Cup champions	Sunderland
BBL Trophy champions	Kingston

Kingston claimed the Division One title and Play-off crown,^[2] as well as the League Trophy, earning their coach Kevin Cadle and star player Alton Byrd the award's for Coach and Player of the Year respectively. Sunderland claimed the National Cup preventing another Kingston clean sweep.

Carlsberg League Division One (Tier 1)

Final standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	%	Pts
1	Kingston	24	23	1	0.958	46
2	Sunderland Saints	24	18	6	0.750	36
3	Thames Valley Tigers	24	14	10	0.583	28
4	Leicester City Riders	24	14	10	0.583	28
5	Derby Rams	24	12	12	0.500	24
6	Manchester Giants	24	12	12	0.500	24
7	Worthing Bears	24	10	14	0.417	20
8	Hemel Royals	24	4	20	0.167	8
9	London Docklands	24	1	23	0.042	2

	= League winners
	= Qualified for the play-offs

Playoffs

Quarter-finals

(1) Kingston vs. (8) Hemel Royals

Hemel Royals

78–112

Kingston

Kingston	111–87	Hemel Royals
Kingston win series, 2–0

(2) Sunderland Saints vs. (7) Worthing Bears

Worthing Bears

104–107

Sunderland Saints

Sunderland Saints	123–119 (OT)	Worthing Bears
Sunderland win series, 2–0

(3) Thames Valley Tigers vs. (6) Manchester Giants

Manchester Giants

83–82

Thames Valley Tigers

Thames Valley Tigers

76–75

Manchester Giants

Thames Valley Tigers	84–82	Manchester Giants
Thames Valley win series, 2–1

(4) Leicester City Riders vs. (5) Derby Rams

Derby Rams

92–109

Leicester City Riders

Leicester City Riders	79–75	Derby Rams
Leicester win series, 2–0

Semi-finals

Kingston

85–62

Leicester City Riders

National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham

Sunderland Saints

99–89

Thames Valley Tigers

National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham

Final

BBC 1

13 April 1991

Kingston	94–72	Sunderland Saints
Pts: Alton Byrd (MVP) 22, Alan Cunningham 22, Martin Clark 17		Pts: Russ Saunders 19, Scott Paterson 18, Steve Bucknall 15

National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham Attendance: ? Kingston coach Kevin Cadle Sunderand coach Dave Elderkin

National League Division 2 (Tier 2)

Final standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	%	Pts
1	Cheshire Jets	22	17	5	0.773	34
2	Bury Lobos	22	16	6	0.727	32
3	Broxbourne	22	16	6	0.727	32
4	Watford Rebels	22	14	8	0.636	28
5	Oldham Celtics	22	13	9	0.591	26
6	Doncaster Eagles	22	11	11	0.500	22
7	Middlesbrough	22	11	11	0.500	22
8	Birmingham Bullets	22	10	12	0.455	20
9	Brixton TopCats	22	10	12	0.455	20
10	Coventry Flyers	22	6	16	0.273	12
11	Manchester Giants B	22	4	18	0.182	8
12	Plymouth Raiders	22	4	18	0.182	8

= League winners

National League Division 3 (Tier 3)

Final standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	%	Pts
1	Greenwich	22	21	1	0.955	42
2	Barnsley Generals	22	17	5	0.772	34
3	Cardiff Buccaneers	22	16	6	0.727	32
4	Chiltern Fastbreak	22	14	8	0.636	28
5	Cheshire Bulls	22	11	11	0.500	22
6	Kirklees Leos	22	10	12	0.455	20
7	Leicester Falcons	22	10	12	0.455	20
8	North London College	22	10	12	0.455	20
9	Swindon Rakers	22	8	14	0.364	16
10	Calderdale Explorers	22	7	15	0.318	14
11	Birmingham Bullets B	22	6	16	0.273	12
12	Fylde Coasters	22	2	20	0.091	4

= League winners

Coca-Cola National Cup

Second round

Cheshire Jets

82–50

Calderdale Explorers

Birmingham Bullets

66–80

Cadbury Boost Kingston

Doncaster Eagles

84–68

Brixton Topcats

Telford

90–109

Sunderland Saints

Leicester City Riders

89–72

Solent Stars

Stentofon Worthing Bears

80–77

Kodak Hemel Royals

Watford Rebels

89–124

Thames Valley Tigers

Manchester Giants

107–73

London Docklands

Quarter-finals

Cheshire Jets

85–103

Leicester City Riders

Doncaster Eagles

65–111

Cadbury Boost Kingston

Sunderland Saints

84–82

Manchester Giants

Stentofon Worthing Bears

94–104

Thames Valley Tigers

Semi-finals

2 March 1991

Leicester City Riders

94–91 (ot)

Thames Valley Tigers

London Arena

2 March 1991

Sunderland Saints

88–81

Cadbury Boost Kingston

London Arena

Final

3 March 1991[3]

Sunderland Saints	88–81	Leicester City Riders
Pts: Russ Saunders 23, Scott Paterson 21, Clyde Vaughan 15, Peter Scantlebury 15, Steve Bucknall (MVP) 12		Pts: Gene Waldron 26, Dan Meagher 16, Dip Donaldson 15, Karl Brown 12

London Arena Attendance: ? Sunderland Coach Dave Elderkin Leicester Coach ?

NatWest Trophy

Group stage

North Group

Team	Pts	Pld	W	L	Percent
1.Manchester Giants	8	4	4	0	1.000
2.Leicester City Riders	4	4	2	2	0.500
3.Sunderland Saints	4	4	2	2	0.500
4.Derby Rams	4	4	2	2	0.500
5.Hemel Royals	0	4	0	4	0.000

South Group

Team	Pts	Pld	W	L	Percent
1.Kingston	12	6	6	0	1.000
2.Thames Valley Tigers	8	6	4	2	0.667
3.Worthing Bears	2	6	1	5	0.166
4.London Docklands	2	6	1	5	0.166

Semi-finals

Manchester Giants vs. Leicester City Riders

Leicester City Riders

91–91

Manchester Giants

Manchester Giants	89–82	Leicester City Riders
Manchester win on aggregate, 180–173

Kingston vs. Thames Valley Tigers

Thames Valley Tigers

81–86

Kingston

Kingston	111–98	Thames Valley Tigers
Kingston win on aggregate, 197–179

Final

2 December 1990[4]

Kingston	69–59	Manchester Giants
Pts: Alan Cunningham (MVP) 24, Alton Byrd 12, Trevor Gordon 12, Martin Clark 10, Martin Henlan		Pts: Kevin Penny 15, Kris Kearney 12, Mike Obaseki

Royal Albert Hall, London Attendance: ? Kingston coach Kevin Cadle Manchester coach Jeff Jones

Seasonal awards

• Most Valuable Player: Alton Byrd (Kingston)
• Coach of the Year: Kevin Cadle (Kingston)
• All-Star Team:
  • Steve Bucknall (Sunderland Saints)
  • Alton Byrd (Kingston)
  • Martin Clark (Kingston)
  • Alan Cunningham (Kingston)
  • Kris Kearney (Manchester Giants)
  • Ernest Lee (Derby Rams)
  • Dan Meagher (Leicester City Riders)
  • Dale Roberts (Thames Valley Tigers)
  • Russ Saunders (Sunderland Saints)
  • Clyde Vaughan (Sunderland Saints)