Everything about Everton Tigers totally explained
Tony Garbelotto
| ownership =
Bill Kenwright
| colours = Blue, White and Yellow
| website =
EvertonFC.com/Tigers
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The
Everton Tigers are a professional
basketball team based in the city of
Liverpool, in
England. Established in 2007 as a start-up franchise of the
British Basketball League, the country's elite competition, the Tigers have began competition at the start of the
2007-08 season.
The club is part of the
Everton Football Club organisation and is an amalgam of the Toxteth Tigers community youth programme, which started in 1968. The team's head coach is
Tony Garbelotto, a former assistant coach to the
England national team.
Franchise history
The Everton Tigers was officially presented as the 13th member of the British Basketball League on
June 19,
2007, after a professional basketball franchise was awarded to the city of
Liverpool by the league following fears that the North-west region's only representative,
Chester Jets, would fold due to financial burdens.
The club is part
Bill Kenwright's
Everton FC organisation, who became the fifth
football club in the history of British basketball to field a basketball team, following in the footsteps of
Manchester United,
Glasgow Rangers,
Portsmouth and
Newcastle United (Now
Newcastle Eagles).
Based around the community work of Everton and existing community basketball club Toxteth Tigers, the new club have specifically targeted youth development as one of the main goal's, while the BBL senior team will be headed by England Assistant Coach
Tony Garbelotto.
On
August 17, it was announced that Tigers would be using the
Greenbank Sports Academy in Sefton Park as their home venue which holds a capacity for 600 spectators. However, according to various articles in the media it's believed that the long-term ambition of the club is to occupy the 10,600-seat capacity
Liverpool Echo Arena, which was completed in early
2008.
After months of speculation in the rumour mill prior to the season opening, Everton boasted several high-profile signings including that of
Chris Haslam,
Calvin Davis and BBL veteran
Delme Herriman. The players were officially presented in front of 40,000 fans at
Goodison Park on
September 20, during the half-time of the football team's
UEFA Cup home game against
FC Metalist Kharkiv. The assembled squad played their first ever game on
September 29, 2007, an exhibition match away to neighbouring
Manchester Magic. Despite trailing for most of the match, with Magic leading 71-62 in the final two minutes, Tigers salvaged the match and pulled together a 14-0 run, storming to a 71-76 victory.
Tigers' inaugural league campaign tipped-off with an away defeat to
Plymouth Raiders on
October 6. Despite early domination from the Tigers, they consistently lost the lead throughout the game and lost 82-73, with
Chris Haslam and
Tony Robertson both posting 21 points each. The Tigers' first home game, on
October 12, also ended in defeat, with visiting fellow rookies
London Capital running out 58-69 winners at Greenbank. The clubs' first main sponsor for the 2007/08 season was announced the following week, the press release stating that locally-based Bibby Maritime Ltd, the world's leading provider of floating accommodation, had agreed a deal to partner the first team and their development teams with sponsorship.
An impressive start to the season for the rookie franchise was buoyed in December, when former Coach Mooney pulled off a major coup with the signing of
Great Britain international
Richard Midgley from
Newcastle Eagles. Liverpool's interest in it's new local basketball team developed significantly as the season progressed, and with this in mind, the club moved the local derby home game against
Cheshire Jets from their usual Greenbank home to the brand-new Echo Arena, selling out the entire 7,500-seat capacity venue within days of tickets going on sale. The match would also be the first time the Tigers would feature in a live televised broadcast, through the league's recent partnership with
Setanta Sports.
Home arenas
» Greenbank Sports Academy (2007-present)
Echo Arena (2008)
Players
Current roster
The numbers are established according to the official website of Britain's top professional league, the BBL (www.bbl.org.uk).
As of February 27 2008
Further Information
Get more info on 'Everton Tigers'.
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