London Towers
| London Towers | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 |
|||
| League |
British Basketball League and EBL Division 3 |
||
| Established | 1984 | ||
| Folded | 2009 | ||
| History |
Tower Hamlets 1984-1989 London Docklands 1989-1991 London Towers 1991-2009 |
||
| Location | London, Greater London | ||
| Team colours | Yellow, Black and White | ||
| Ownership |
 Costi Zombanakis |
||
| Uniforms | |||
|
|||
London Towers was a professional basketball team based in London, England. They enjoyed some success in the 1990s, collecting 3 titles in the British Basketball League (BBL) as well as regularly competing in European competitions such as the Euroleague and EuroCup. They contested a fierce rivalry with fellow London team Greater London Leopards for much of this spell. After several years of decline with financial difficulties and venue issues, owner Costi Zombanakis pulled the first team from the BBL in the summer of 2006, and although the team continued in the regional English Basketball League, the London Towers brand folded in 2009.
Established as Tower Hamlets, in the borough of the same name, the London-based team entered NBL Division 2 in 1984. By 1989 they finished eleventh, out of the eleven teams in the league and were due to be relegated. However, the Carlsberg League Division 1 was suffering a membership crisis at the time and was about to be reduced to just seven teams. With the newly built Docklands Arena available as a possible venue not too far from the team's base, the Tower Hamlets franchise was admitted to country's top professional league as London's representatives, rebranded as London Docklands for the 1989-90 season.
The following season the Docklands team left the giant arena as they, in common with other basketball teams at the time, struggled with the cost of a big arena rent. They returned "home" to Tower Hamlets and the Newham Leisure Centre, although their first two seasons yielded just three League victories.
It was 1991 when the franchise which came to sit astride British basketball finally gained its most well-known label. Renamed London Towers, but still playing at Newham the club's fortunes turned around in the 1991-92 season, as they finished fourth, and a move to the Sobell Sports Centre in Islington saw them finish third in 1993. In 1994 they moved to Wembley Arena, and it was there that they enjoyed their best seasons, winning five titles in two seasons, from 1995 to 1997.
...
Wikipedia