Plymouth Raiders
| Plymouth Raiders | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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| League | British Basketball League | ||
| Established | 1983 | ||
| History |
Plymouth Raiders 1983–present |
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| Arena |
Plymouth Pavilions (Capacity: 1,500) |
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| Location | Plymouth, Devon | ||
| Team colours | Green, White and Black | ||
| Main sponsor | Plymouth University | ||
| Head coach |
 Daryl Corletto
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| Website | PlymouthRaiders.com | ||
| Uniforms | |||
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Plymouth Raiders is a professional basketball team based in Plymouth, England. Known as the Plymouth University Raiders due to a sponsorship contract with Plymouth University, the team compete in the British Basketball League - the country's top basketball competition - and play their home games at the Plymouth Pavilions.
The club was founded in 1983 through a merger between two local basketball clubs and went on to be the longest serving and most successful team in Division 1 of the EBL National League. Between 1996 and 2004, Plymouth Raiders won six different competitions, including three National Basketball League Play-off titles and the National Cup in 2004. After years of dominating the lower leagues, in 2004 the Raiders switched to the franchise-based British Basketball League to pit themselves against the country's elite teams. To date their only success in the top-tier competition came in 2007, with a victorious run in the BBL Trophy, though the team has reached a further three Trophy and BBL Cup Final's since.
Along with the professional senior team competing in the British Basketball League, the club also operates a feeder team, Plymouth Raiders II, who compete in Division 3 South of the English Basketball League, as well as the Plymouth Raiders Academy which was established in 2012.
Plymouth Raiders' origins can be traced back to the mid-1970s with the original National League team Plymouth Panasonic, coached by future Raiders co-founder Frank Pocock, who entered national competition for the first and only time in 1979. Panasonic achieved a respectable 7th-place finish in Division Two before withdrawing during the close season due to a lack of finances, after which they were renamed Plymouth Kanaries and entered into the regional leagues in 1980. Deciding to have another attempt at establishing a National League club, Pocock along with local basketball figures Bob Karruck, Keith Mollard and businessman Les Palmer (of the Wrigley's company) formed a consortium in 1983 and merged the Kanaries with local rivals Plympton to form a new club. A sponsorship deal was arranged with pharmaceutical producer Glucodin and the team adopted their brand colours of red and yellow for their inaugural season in National League Division 2. Raiders played their first game on 1 October 1983 at the Mayflower Centre, losing by one point, 75–76 to the visiting Merseyside Mustangs. After an inconsistent start to the campaign, coach Graham Nicholls stepped down from his position and was replaced by his assistant Karruck who led the team to lowly 10th-placed finished in their rookie season.
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