# 1985–86 National Basketball League season

The 1985–86 Carlsberg National Basketball League season was the fourteenth season of the National Basketball League formed in 1972.
The league was sponsored by Carlsberg for the second consecutive year and the Kingston Kings completed a Play Off's & National Cup double but Manchester United won the League title.

## Team changes

The EBBA increased the first division to fifteen teams adding two clubs from the second division; the two new teams were Brunel Uxbridge & Camden Ducks and the Tyneside basketball club. One club dropped out because Doncaster Panthers suffered financial trouble and were disbanded during the previous summer. The gap in spending capability between certain teams seemed to be growing with the likes of Kingston, Manchester United and Portsmouth having much larger budgets than some of their competitors.

## Carlsberg League standings
### First Division

| Pos | Team | P | W | L | F | A | Pts |
| 1 | Sharp Manchester United | 28 | 25 | 3 | 2772 | 2464 | 50 |
| 2 | Team Polycell Kingston Kings | 28 | 24 | 4 | 3193 | 2902 | 48 |
| 3 | Portsmouth | 28 | 22 | 6 | 2721 | 2513 | 44 |
| 4 | Manchester Giants | 28 | 18 | 10 | 2565 | 2456 | 36 |
| 5 | London Docklands Crystal Palace * | 28 | 17 | 11 | 3237 | 3050 | 33 |
| 6 | Birmingham Bullets | 28 | 15 | 13 | 2759 | 2720 | 30 |
| 7 | Brunel Uxbridge & Camden Ducks | 28 | 14 | 14 | 2586 | 2629 | 28 |
| 8 | Walkers Crisps Leicester | 28 | 14 | 14 | 2907 | 2957 | 28 |
| 9 | Hemel Hempstead Watford Royals | 28 | 13 | 15 | 2864 | 2790 | 26 |
| 10 | Sperrings Solent Stars | 28 | 12 | 16 | 2595 | 2568 | 24 |
| 11 | Nissan Worthing Bears | 28 | 12 | 16 | 0000 | 0000 | 24 |
| 12 | Bracknell Pirates | 28 | 11 | 17 | 2907 | 2985 | 22 |
| 13 | QRS Sunderland | 28 | 8 | 20 | 2734 | 2967 | 16 |
| 14 | Home Spare Bolton & Bury Hawks | 28 | 3 | 25 | 2678 | 3018 | 6 |
| 15 | McEwan Tyneside | 28 | 2 | 26 | 2542 | 2884 | 4 |
One point deducted *

### Second Division

| Pos | Team | P | W | L | F | A | Pts |
| 1 | Calderdale Explorers | 22 | 18 | 4 | 2511 | 1963 | 36 |
| 2 | BPCC Derby Rams | 22 | 18 | 4 | 2204 | 1923 | 36 |
| 3 | Team Wakefields Nottingham | 22 | 18 | 4 | 2181 | 1954 | 36 |
| 4 | Brixton TopCats | 22 | 15 | 7 | 1960 | 1752 | 30 |
| 5 | CAD Tower Hamlets | 22 | 14 | 8 | 2043 | 1920 | 28 |
| 6 | ANC Liverpool | 22 | 12 | 10 | 2057 | 1962 | 24 |
| 7 | Oldham Ioanian Celtics | 22 | 11 | 11 | 2163 | 2090 | 22 |
| 8 | Plymouth Raiders | 22 | 11 | 11 | 2062 | 2051 | 22 |
| 9 | English Estates Cleveland | 22 | 6 | 16 | 2022 | 2219 | 12 |
| 10 | Team Telecom Colchester | 22 | 5 | 17 | 1918 | 2210 | 10 |
| 11 | Swindon Rakers | 22 | 4 | 18 | 1859 | 2185 | 8 |
| 12 | Peterborough Jets | 22 | 0 | 22 | 1623 | 2374 | 0 |

## Carlsberg playoffs
### Quarter-finals

| Team 1 | Team 2 | Score |
| Leicester | Manchester United | 2-1 |
| Kingston | Brunel Uxbridge & Camden | 2-0 |
| Manchester Giants | Crystal Palace | 1-2 |
| Birmingham Bullets | Portsmouth | 2-1 |

### Semi-finals

| venue & date | Team 1 | Team 2 | Score |
| March 21, Wembley Arena | Birmingham Bullets | Crystal Palace | |
| March 21, Wembley Arena | Kingston Kings | Leicester | |

### Third Place

| venue & date | Team 1 | Team 2 | Score |
| March 22, Wembley Arena | Crystal Palace | Leicester | 136-117 |

### Final

* 22 March 1986
| Kingston Kings | 114–97 | Birmingham Bullets |
| Pts: Danny Davis (MVP) 37, Steve Bontrager 30, Martin Clark 30 | | Pts: Dip Donaldson 31, Butch Hays 26, Tyrone Shoulders 22 |
* Wembley Arena Attendance: ? Kingston Coach Malcolm Chamberlain Birmingham Coach Art Ross/Colin Wood

## Prudential National Cup
### Second round

| Team 1 | Team 2 | Score |
| Walkers Crisps Leicester | QRS Sunderland | 105-113 |
| CAD Tower Hamlets | Portsmouth | 69-111 |
| McEwan Tyneside | Oldham Celtics | 111-98 |
| Calderdale Explorers | Sharp Manchester United | 70-97 |
| Sperrings Solent Stars | Happy Eater Bracknell Pirates | 111-97 |
| Nissan Worthing Bears | Plymouth Raiders | 107-85 |
| Home Spare Bolton & Bury Hawks | Manchester Giants | 76-95 |
| Team Polycell Kingston Kings | Hemel Hempstead & Watford Royals | 132-113 |

### Quarter-finals

| Team 1 | Team 2 | Score |
| McEwan Tyneside | Portsmouth | 76-98 |
| Nissan Worthing Bears | Manchester Giants | 87-82 |
| Sperrings Solent Stars | QRS Sunderland | 106-83 |
| Sharp Manchester United | Team Polycell Kingston Kings | 84-98 |

### Semi-finals

| Venue & Date | Team 1 | Team 2 | Score |
| Aston Villa Leisure Centre, Dec 15 | Sperrings Solent Stars | Nissan Worthing Bears | 101-83 |
| Aston Villa Leisure Centre, Dec 15 | Team Polycell Kingston Kings | Portsmouth | 92-75 |

### Final

* Live on Channel 4
* 13 January 1985
| Kingston Kings | 113–82 | Solent Stars |
| Pts: Steve Bontrager 33, Danny Davis (MVP) 28, Martin Clark 27, Andy Innell, Chrimes | | Pts: TJ Robinson 28, Bryan Skoech 15, Ron Whitehead 14, Ken Nottage |
* Royal Albert Hall, London Attendance: ? Kingston Coach Malcolm Chamberlain Solent Coach Steve Fitzsimons

## British Masters Cup final

* 9 April 1986
| Birmingham Bullets | 87–83 | Murray International Metals Edinburgh |
| Pts: Butch Hays 26, Tyrone Shoulders 22, Dip Donaldson 19, Neville Hopkins | | Pts: Sam Foggin 33, Stewart 14, Alton Byrd 13 |
* Gateshead Attendance: ? Birmingham Coach Art Ross/Colin Wood Edinburgh Coach ?