Manchester Eagles
| Manchester Eagles | |
|---|---|
| League | British Basketball League |
| Established | 1975 |
| Folded | 1989 (merged and became Manchester Giants) |
| History |
Stockport Belgrade 1975–1981 Warrington Vikings 1981–1984 Manchester United 1985–1988 Manchester Eagles 1988–1989 |
| Location | Manchester, Greater Manchester |
Manchester Eagles, also Manchester United in the past, was a basketball team from Manchester, England. The club bought out by Manchester United after setlling down in Manchester following a series of relocations. The club several mergers, creating a complicated overlapping history with Manchester Giants, the last of which de facto ended its existence in 1989 and reinstated the Giants.
Stockport Belgrade were based at Peel Moat in Heaton Moor, they were created in 1975 and had, in Bill Beswick, one of the best coaches in the history of the sport in the UK.
After finishing second in Division 2 that inaugural season, Coach Beswick led Belgrade to promotion in 1977, compiling an impressive 18–2 record in the process, the best in franchise history. Amongst their US players they had Bob Martin, one of the best shooting guards ever to play in the league who once scored 52 points in a losing game against ATS Giants.
The next four years proved to be a period of consolidation for the team in the top division of British basketball with a first trip into Europe, in the Korac Cup, part of that learning curve.
But by the 1981–82 season, the Stockport club took the decision to move away from their fan base to the new Spectrum Arena in Warrington. During the 1982–83 season, Coach Beswick left the club, replaced on an interim basis by Craig Lynch, who was still prominent in the Budweiser League in the late 1990s as coach of the Newcastle Eagles. But it was the arrival of Joe Whelton at the start of the following season that proved the turning point in the team's history. With players like Jones, Wil Brown, Ed Bona, Steve Latham, Phil Brazil, Paul Gervais, David Lloyd; an assistant on the 1997–98 team – and Kevin Penny, the team finished third in the League and lost the Championship Final 70–64 to Solent.
Halfway through the following season, another major turning point occurred in the Vikings' eventful history when Manchester United bought the team. Coach Whelton also played a part in Manchester's sudden upturn in fortunes, making the shrewd signing of Colin Irish who was brilliant in the 1985 Championship Final win over Kingston, scoring 47 points in a 109–97 victory. Manchester United then took control of the other Manchester Club the Giants.
Players of the calibre of Tom Brown and Dave Gardner, who started the 1998–99 season as an assistant to Coach Nurse, were added to the roster for the start of the 1985–86 season in which a club record 23 straight wins helped Manchester United recover from a shaky start to storm to the National League title and the professional era.
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