Pleasance Basketball Club | |
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League | SBC Division 2 |
Established | 1947 |
History |
Pleasance Basketball Club 1947-present |
Arena | Forrester High School & Oriam |
Location | Edinburgh, Scotland |
Team colours | Black, Red & White |
Website | Official website |
Pleasance Basketball Club are a basketball club based in Edinburgh, Scotland .
The club was the founded in 1947, one of the very first basketball clubs formed in Scotland. Led by club stalwart Jock Kerr Hunter, and along with Heriot's, Polonia and Redford, they formed the East of Scotland Basketball Association, and the Amateur Basketball Association of Scotland.
Five Pleasance players (Ray Campbell, Jimmy Carter, Jock Fisher, George Hill and Grant Hutchison) were in the first Scotland international squad in face England in 1947, and seven players would represent Scotland at the European Championships in Paris in 1951.
Pleasance would win the first two Scottish Cups, defeating Aberdeen University at the Kelvin Hall in Glasgow in 1947, and defeating Jordanhill at Princes Street Gardens in Edinburgh in 1948.
During the 1970s the club competed regularly in the second division of the Lothian League. The club took the step up to the first division when the league matches moved to a central venue in Edinburgh. Gradually better players were attracted to join the club, and this culminated in the winning of the Lothian Cup in 1990, defeating the fancied Edinburgh University side.
In the intervening years Pleasance have been a strong Lothian League side, regularly finishing in the top 3 positions. After a few seasons of struggling by their own standards, the team bounced back by winning the Lothian League in the 2015-16 season.
Pleasance 1st team entered Division 2 of the Scottish National League for the 2016/2017 season and won the division and playoffs in their first year. They will now play the 2017/18 season in National League 1. Pleasance will have 4 teams playing in the 2017/18 season: Pleasance - National League 1 Pleasance - Lothian Division 1 Pleasance Pace - Lothian Division 2 Pleasance 47s - Lothian Division 2