Essex & Herts Leopards
| Levett Essex Leopards | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| League | EBL Division 1 | ||
| Established | 1997 | ||
| History |
Ware Fire 1997-2000 Ware Rebels 2000-2004 Essex & Herts Leopards 2004-2006 London Leopards 2006-2012 Essex Leopards 2012-present |
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| Arena |
Brentwood Centre (Capacity: 1,200) |
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| Location | Brentwood, Essex | ||
| Team colours | Black and Blue | ||
| Main sponsor | Levett Consultancy Ltd | ||
| Head coach |
 Steve Ogunjimi
|
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| Website | LeopardsBasketball.co.uk | ||
| Uniforms | |||
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Essex Leopards is a British basketball team who competes in the English Basketball League Division 1. The team was established in 1997 as Ware Fire, but following the demise and eventual closure of the former British Basketball League franchise Essex Leopards in 2003, a supporters group known as 'Leopards Alive' merged with the Ware-based club and rebranded the team as Essex & Herts Leopards in 2004. The team was renamed again in 2006 to London Leopards and following a merge with Barking Abbey Basketball Academy in 2010, a BA prefix was added to reflect this. In 2012, the club was rebranded as Essex Leopards. From 2015 onward the Essex Leopards were rebranded as the Levett Essex Leopards after agreeing a long term sponsorship deal with Local Essex and London IT business Levett Consultancy Ltd.
For much of the 1990s the town of Ware in Hertfordshire was home to National League (NBL) basketball following the arrival of the original Rebels franchise, who moved from Watford in 1991. The Rebels team consistently finished in the top three of NBL Division 1 and were crowned Champions in 1997, after finishing two points ahead of Plymouth Raiders with an overall record of 21 wins and 5 losses. Following their most successful season, the team was uprooted and moved to Stevenage to become the Stevenage Rebels, though the success didn't follow and the franchise would eventually relocate again in 1999 to become Worthing Rebels.
Following the Rebels' move to Stevenage, a brand-new team, Ware Fire, was established and admitted to NBL Division 3 for the 1997-98 season. In their rookie season they finished 7th out of 11 teams with an amicable 9-17 record. A mild improvement to 6th place in the 1998-99 season was followed with a successful campaign in 1999-00, finishing in 4th place (16-8) and earning promotion to Division 2 (though with the "clean-sheet" League restructuring that followed that season, Division 2 became the third tier division). After destroying Birmingham University 117-71 in Play-off Quarter-finals, Ware were comfortably beaten in their first Semi-final appearance, losing 84-72 away to Division champions Doncaster Eagles.
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