Cheshire Phoenix

The Cheshire Phoenix are an English professional basketball team based in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire. Founded in 1984, they are members of the Super League Basketball and play their home games at the Cheshire Oaks Arena. From 1993 until 2015 the team was based in Chester, where they enjoyed their most success. Under previous ownership, the team was known as Cheshire Jets, but due to financial difficulties the franchise was withdrawn from the League in November 2012 and reformed as the Phoenix. The team's head coach is Ben Thomas.

Cheshire Phoenix
League	SLB
Established	1984; 40 years ago (1984)
History	Ellesmere Port Jets (1984–1988) Chester Jets (1988–2007) Cheshire Jets (2007–2012) Cheshire Phoenix (2012–present)
Arena	Cheshire Oaks Arena
Capacity	1,400
Location	Ellesmere Port, Cheshire
Head coach	Ben Thomas
Championships	2 BBL Championship 1 BBL Playoffs 2 BBL Cup 6 BBL Trophy
Website	CheshirePhoenix.com
Home Away

The Phoenix have won two BBL championships, one BBL playoffs, two BBL Cups, and six BBL Trophies. Home games of the Phoenix are played in the Cheshire Oaks Arena, which holds capacity for a maximum of 1,400 people.

Franchise history

Origin

The team was first formed from the ruins of the Ellesmere Port team, the St Saviour's in 1984. The team was initially named after their sponsors 'Motocraft Centre Ellesmere Port'. However, after the loss of their sponsor, they renamed themselves Ellesmere Port Jets.

The Jets were admitted to NBL Division 2 in 1986 and finished last in their first season, with just a single victory. Edging up to seventh in 1987–88, they then changed their name to Cheshire Jets, though still continuing to play in Ellesmere Port. They continued a steady mid-table development until, in 1991, they won the divisional title despite suffering five defeats. The same year, the Jets moved up into the BBL joining in with Britain's elite basketball teams. Later however, the arena in Ellesmere Port became unsuitable, and so in 1993 the Jets were forced to move to Chester, and into the Northgate Arena. The move was reflected in another name change to the Chester Jets.

The real turning point for the Jets came in 1996, when the application of the Bosman ruling to basketball resulted in the departure of many of the top English players to European clubs, and the BBL changed its eligibility rule to entitle teams to use five non-national players.

Trans-Atlantic recruitment by coach and co-owner Mike Burton resulted in a team which finished fifth in the League table in 1997. Subsequent seasons have seen their best-ever performances in 2002 (Northern Conference Champions) and 2003 (3rd in the re-unified League), and a string of successes in the BBL trophy (4-times winners, from 2001 to 2004), culminating in the League Championship in 2005.

On 7 April 2007, prior to the Jets' season finale at home to Guildford Heat, an 81–102 defeat, club owner and head coach Mike Burton announced that he would be retiring from the franchise at the end of the 2006–07 season. Burton's announcement, after 19 years at the helm, raised serious doubts of the clubs' future,^[1] with mounting debts and lack of financial backing. Shortly after the announcement, fans formed a committee to help save the club and received the backing of players including former Jet James Hamilton.^[2] Following a sponsorship deal agreed during the summer of 2007 with local firm BiG Storage to save the club and preserve their future, the Jets was renamed as the BiG Storage Cheshire Jets to cover the wider demographic of Cheshire county in line with BiG Storage's market coverage. When BiG Storage terminated the sponsorship, the managing director of the company arranged a successor sponsor; Cheshire West and Chester Council.

The club was plunged into chaos in November 2012 when, after only 7 games into the season, the British Basketball League withdrew the club's franchise from owner Haydn Cook after he notified them that he was going to cancel the players contracts and cancelled all future fixtures.

A statement from the BBL said: "The BBL have withdrawn the Cheshire franchise from its operating company with immediate effect.

"The decision follows an urgent review of the franchise following notification from the club that they were unable to fulfil their fixture this weekend. The BBL is currently exploring a number of options to ensure the continuation of the franchise. It is anticipated there will be a further announcement in the coming days." (Cheshire Chronicle)^{[permanent dead link‍]}

The club had until the end of November to find £50,000 to preserve its status in top-flight basketball. Local businesses were found to donate money and become sponsors, thus saving the club and fulfilling its fixture list as planned.

On 28 January 2024, the Phoenix won their sixth BBL Trophy following an upset win over the favored London Lions in the final.^[3]

Home arenas

Ellesmere Port Leisure Centre (1984–1993)

Northgate Arena (1993–2015)

Cheshire Oaks Arena (2015–present)

Logos

• 
  2012–2020
• 
  2020–present

Season-by-season records

Seasons 1986-2012

Season	Division	Tier	Regular Season						Post-Season	Trophy	Cup	Head Coach
			Finish	Played	Wins	Losses	Points	Win %
Ellesmere Port Jets
1986–87	NBL2	2	10th	18	1	17	2	0.056	Did not qualify		1st round (NC)
1987–88	NBL1	2	7th	18	7	11	14	0.389	Did not qualify		2nd round (NC)
Cheshire Jets
1988–89	NBL1	2	8th	20	6	14	12	0.300	Did not qualify		2nd round (NC)
1989–90	NBL1	2	6th	22	10	12	20	0.455	Quarter-finals		Quarter-finals (NC)	Mike Burton
1990–91	NBL1	2	1st	22	17	5	34	0.773	Quarter-finals		Quarter-finals (NC)	Mike Burton
1991–92	BBL	1	11th	30	2	28	4	0.067	Did not qualify	1st round (BT)	3rd round (NC)	Mike Burton
1992–93	BBL	1	10th	33	10	23	20	0.303	Did not qualify	1st round (BT)	Quarter-finals (NC)	Mike Burton
Chester Jets
1993–94	BBL	1	11th	36	11	25	22	0.306	Did not qualify	1st round (BT)	Quarter-finals (NC)	Mike Burton
1994–95	BBL	1	12th	36	6	30	12	0.167	Did not qualify	1st round (BT)	Quarter-finals (NC)	Mike Burton
1995–96	BBL	1	12th	36	8	28	16	0.222	Did not qualify	Quarter-finals (BT)	4th round (NC)	Mike Burton
1996–97	BBL	1	5th	36	24	12	48	0.667	Semi-finals	Runners-Up (BT)	4th round (NC)	Mike Burton
1997–98	BBL	1	10th	36	15	21	30	0.417	Did not qualify	1st round (BT)	4th round (NC)	Mike Burton
1998–99	BBL	1	11th	36	10	26	20	0.278	Did not qualify	Quarter-finals (BT)	Quarter-finals (NC)	Mike Burton
1999–00	BBL N	1	4th	36	17	19	34	0.472	Quarter-finals	Quarter-finals (BT)	1st round (NC)	Robbie Peers
2000–01	BBL N	1	2nd	36	25	11	50	0.694	Quarter-finals	Winners, beating Newcastle, 92–81	1st round (NC)	Robbie Peers
2001–02	BBL N	1	1st	32	24	8	48	0.750	Winners, beating Sheffield, 93–82	Winners, beating MK, 90–89	Winners, beating Birmingham, 112–105	Robbie Peers
2002–03	BBL	1	3rd	40	28	12	56	0.700	Quarter-finals	Winners, beating London, 84–82	Runners-Up (NC)	Robbie Peers
2003–04	BBL	1	5th	36	22	14	44	0.611	Runners-Up	Winners, beating Brighton, 68–66	1st round (NC)	Paul Smith
2004–05	BBL	1	1st	40	32	8	64	0.800	Runners-Up	Semi-finals (BT)	Semi-finals (BC)	Paul Smith
2005–06	BBL	1	7th	40	17	23	34	0.425	Quarter-finals	1st round (BT)	Semi-finals (BC)	Billy Singleton
2006–07	BBL	1	9th	36	10	26	20	0.278	Did not qualify	Quarter-finals (BT)	1st round (BC)	Billy Singleton
Cheshire Jets
2007–08	BBL	1	11th	33	9	24	18	0.273	Did not qualify	Semi-finals (BT)	Quarter-finals (BC)	TJ Walker Paul Smith
2008–09	BBL	1	8th	33	15	18	30	0.455	Quarter-finals	1st round (BT)	Quarter-finals (BC)	Paul Smith
2009–10	BBL	1	4th	36	22	14	44	0.611	Quarter-finals	Runners-Up (BT)	Runners-Up (BC)	Paul Smith
2010–11	BBL	1	4th	33	20	13	40	0.606	Semi-finals	1st round (BT)	Semi-finals (BC)	Paul Smith
2011–12	BBL	1	6th	30	13	17	26	0.433	Semi-finals	1st round (BT)	Quarter-finals (BC)	John Lavery

Season	Division	Tier	Regular Season						Post-Season	Trophy	Cup	Head Coach
			Finish	Played	Wins	Losses	Points	Win %
Cheshire Phoenix
2012–13	BBL	1	11th	33	10	23	20	0.303	Did not qualify	Semi-finals (BT)	1st round (BC)	Matthew Lloyd
2013–14	BBL	1	5th	33	18	15	36	0.545	Quarter-finals	Semi-finals (BT)	1st round (BC)	John Lavery
2014–15	BBL	1	4th	36	26	10	52	0.722	Semi-finals	1st round (BT)	Quarter-finals (BC)	John Coffino
2015–16	BBL	1	7th	33	16	17	32	0.485	Semi-finals	Quarter-finals (BT)	Semi-finals (BC)	John Lavery
2016–17	BBL	1	10th	33	11	22	22	0.333	Did not qualify	Semi-finals (BT)	Quarter-finals (BC)	Colin O'Reilly Ben Thomas
2017–18	BBL	1	9th	33	15	18	30	0.455	Did not qualify	Quarter-finals (BT)	Winners, beating Worcester, 99–88	Ben Thomas
2018–19	BBL	1	7th	33	17	16	34	0.515	Quarter-finals	Quarter-finals (BT)	Quarter-finals (BC)	Ben Thomas
2019–20	BBL	1	Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic							Semi-finals (BT)	Quarter-finals (BC)	Ben Thomas
2020–21	BBL	1	7th	30	14	16	28	0.467	Quarter-finals	Quarter-finals (BT)	Pool Stage (BC)	Ben Thomas
2021–22	BBL	1	6th	27	13	14	26	0.481	Quarter-finals	Winners, beating London (BT)	Quarter-finals (BC)	Ben Thomas
2022–23	BBL	1	5th	36	19	17	38	0.528	Semi-finals	Runners-Up (BT)	Quarter-finals (BC)	Ben Thomas
2023–24	BBL	1	2nd	36	23	13	46	0.639		Winners, beating London (BT)		Ben Thomas

Notes:

• From 1999 to 2002 the BBL operated a Conference system.
• DNQ denotes Did not qualify.
• NYP denotes Not Yet Played.

Trophies

League

• NBL Division One Winners: 1990–91 1
• BBL Championship Winners: 2001–02, & 2004–05 2
• BBL Championship Runners Up: 2000–01 1

Playoffs

• BBL Championship Play Off Winners: 2001–02 1
• BBL Championship Play Off Runners Up: 2003–04, & 2004–05 2

Trophy

• BBL Trophy Winners: 2000–01, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2021–22, 2023–24 6
• BBL Trophy Runners Up: 1996–97, 2009–10, 2022–23 3

Cup

• National Cup Winners: 2001–02, 2017–18 2
• National Cup Runners Up: 2000–01, 2009–10 2

Players

Current roster

Note: Flags indicate national team, as has been defined under FIBA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIBA nationality.

No. Pos. Nat. Player 1 SG  USA Cameron Christon 3 G  USA Laquincy Rideau 5 PG  GBR Greg Wild 6 F  GBR Jack Hudson 10 PF  GBR David Ulph 14 G  USA Maceo Jack 20 F  USA Elijah Stephens 23 G  USA Ethan Chargois 52 G  USA Cam Holden

Notable players

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationalities not displayed.

Criteria
To appear in this section a player must have either: Set a club record or won an individual award while at the club Played at least one official international match for their national team at any time Played at least one official NBA match at any time.

• Dave Gardner
• Delme Herriman
• John Simpson
• Paul Sturgess
• Alto Virgil
• Elvisi Dusha
• Julius Hodge
• Adrien Sturt
• Simeon Naydenov
• Greg Meldrum
• Greg Francis
• Jorge Ebanks
• Joshua Fox
• Jason Killeen
• Colin O'Reilly
• Pero Cameron
• Tony Rampton
• Todd Cauthorn
• Correy Childs
• Martyn Gayle
• Kenny Gregory
• James Hamilton
• John McCord
• Louis McCullough
• Loren Meyer
• Billy Singleton
• TJ Walker
• Demond Watt
• Jordan Williams

Retired numbers

Cheshire Phoenix retired numbers
No.	Nat.	Player	Position	Tenure
11		Dave Gardner	C	1990–1995, 1997–1998 & 1999–2003

FIBA Hall of Famers

Cheshire Phoenix Hall of Famers
Players
No.	Nat.	Name	Position	Tenure	Inducted
13		Pero Cameron	G	1999–2003	2017[4]

See also

• Cheshire portal

• Basketball in England
• British Basketball League

References

1. Richard Taylor (7 April 2007). "Jets' future in doubt after Burton quits". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 7 April 2007.
2. "Let's get on with it, says club legend Hamilton". Chester Chronicle. 2007. Retrieved 19 May 2007.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
3. Gains, Bradley (28 January 2024). "Cheshire Phoenix stun London Lions to recapture BBL Trophy title". Hoopsfix.com. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
4. "FIBA.basketball". Retrieved 20 August 2019.

External links

• Official website