# 1984–85 National Basketball League season

The 1984–85 Carlsberg National Basketball League season was the thirteenth season of the National Basketball League formed in 1972. The league was sponsored by Carlsberg and the Kingston Kings completed a League & Cup double but Manchester United won the newly extended Play Off's.

## Team changes

The EBBA increased the first division to fourteen teams which resulted in a 26-match schedule which was warmly welcomed after the 36-match schedule of the previous season. Of the 13 existing teams, Brighton switched to Worthing and with new sponsors would be known as the Nissan Worthing Bears and Hemel Hempstead merged with the second division outfit Watford Royals to form Hemel & Watford Royals. The new fourteenth team was Telford Turbos who secured a new sponsor called Screen Stars.
It was evident that as the season progressed many clubs had been spending beyond their means in recent years and were duly struggling to balance the books. The Solent Stars applied for voluntary liquidation in December 1984 despite leading the league and terminated the contract of their coach Jim Kelly and leading players to save money. An extraordinary season continued in January 1985 when just a few days before the National Cup final Manchester United F.C. bought the FSO Cars Liverpool & Warrington club, renaming them for the final and relocating to Stretford. The drama continued as Portsmouth F.C. attempted to takeover Solent Stars before a former Stars player TJ Robinson headed a consortium to save the club. Portsmouth F.C. then bought Telford Turbos (also in liquidation) and moved the team to Portsmouth.

## Carlsberg League standings
### First Division

| Pos | Team | P | W | L | F | A | Pts |
| 1 | Kingcraft Kingston Kings | 26 | 24 | 2 | 2930 | 2640 | 48 |
| 2 | Manchester United + | 26 | 19 | 7 | 2330 | 2077 | 36 |
| 3 | Cottrills Manchester Giants | 26 | 18 | 8 | 2377 | 2235 | 36 |
| 4 | Solent Stars | 26 | 17 | 9 | 2464 | 2307 | 34 |
| 5 | Nissan Worthing Bears | 26 | 17 | 9 | 2456 | 2328 | 34 |
| 6 | Walkers Crisps Leicester | 26 | 15 | 11 | 2542 | 2454 | 30 |
| 7 | Poundstretcher Hemel Watford Royals | 26 | 15 | 11 | 2390 | 2261 | 30 |
| 8 | Bracknell Pirates | 26 | 15 | 11 | 2366 | 2450 | 24 |
| 9 | Sunderland Maestros | 26 | 12 | 14 | 2410 | 2405 | 24 |
| 10 | Blue Nun Crystal Palace Supersonics | 26 | 12 | 14 | 2378 | 2433 | 24 |
| 11 | John Carr Doncaster Panthers | 26 | 10 | 16 | 2352 | 2449 | 20 |
| 12 | Davenports Birmingham | 26 | 6 | 20 | 2245 | 2451 | 12 |
| 13 | Portsmouth + | 26 | 1 | 25 | 2166 | 2556 | 2 |
| 14 | Home Spare Bolton Bees | 26 | 1 | 25 | 2422 | 2782 | 2 |
Team changed name mid-season +

### Second Division

| Pos | Team | P | W | L | F | A | Pts |
| 1 | McEwan Tyneside | 22 | 18 | 4 | 1954 | 1666 | 36 |
| 2 | Uxbridge Ducks | 22 | 18 | 4 | 1804 | 1519 | 36 |
| 3 | Calderdale Explorers | 22 | 17 | 5 | 1955 | 1726 | 34 |
| 4 | John Eld Derby Turbos | 22 | 16 | 6 | 1907 | 1730 | 32 |
| 5 | CAD Tower Hamlets | 22 | 14 | 8 | 1786 | 1712 | 28 |
| 6 | ANC Liverpool | 22 | 12 | 10 | 1780 | 1746 | 24 |
| 7 | Swindon Rakers | 22 | 10 | 12 | 1768 | 1821 | 20 |
| 8 | Glucodin Plymouth Raiders | 22 | 9 | 13 | 1905 | 1896 | 18 |
| 9 | Team Telecom Colchester | 22 | 7 | 15 | 1786 | 1911 | 14 |
| 10 | Camden & Hampstead | 22 | 5 | 17 | 1757 | 1969 | 10 |
| 11 | Team Wakefields Nottingham | 22 | 3 | 19 | 1729 | 2012 | 6 |
| 12 | Sandwell Mail | 22 | 3 | 19 | 1620 | 2043 | 6 |

## Carlsberg playoffs
### Quarter-finals

| Team 1 | Team 2 | Score |
| Kingston Kings | Bracknell Pirates | 2-0 |
| Manchester United | Hemel Watford Royals | 2-0 |
| Manchester Giants | Leicester | 1-2 |
| Solent Stars | Worthing Bears | 1-2 |

### Semi-finals

| venue & date | Team 1 | Team 2 | Score |
| March 30, Wembley Arena | Manchester United | Worthing Bears | 90-84 |
| March 30, Wembley Arena | Kingston Kings | Leicester | 118-112 |

### Third Place

| venue & date | Team 1 | Team 2 | Score |
| March 31, Wembley Arena | Worthing Bears | Leicester | 99-89 |

### Final

* 31 March 1985
| Manchester United | 109–97 | Kingston Kings |
| Pts: Colin Irish 47, Ed Bona 24, Will Brown 14 | | Pts: Steve Bontrager 28, Johnson 25, Clark 14, Doug Lloyd 12, Davis 10 |
* Wembley Arena Attendance: 9,000 Manchester Coach Joe Whelton Kingston Coach Steve Bontrager

## Kellogg's National Cup
### Second round

| Team 1 | Team 2 | Score |
| Swindon Rakers | Sperrings Solent Stars | 86-117 |
| Cottrills Manchester Giants | Sandwell Mail | 127-81 |
| John Carr Doncaster Panthers | Telford Turbos | 84-81 |
| Crystal Palace Supersonics | Camden | 93-77 |
| LSO Cars Warrington & Liverpool | McEwan Tyneside | 84-70 |
| Glucodin Plymouth Raiders | Nissan Worthing Bears | 89-108 |
| Home Spare Bolton Bees | Walkers Crisps Leicester | 105-116 |
| Kingcraft Kingston Kings | Hemel Hempstead & Watford Royals | 85-84 |

### Quarter-finals

| Team 1 | Team 2 | Score |
| LSO Cars Warrington & Liverpool | Sperrings Solent Stars | |
| Nissan Worthing Bears | John Carr Doncaster Panthers | 78-80 |
| Crystal Palace Supersonics | Kingcraft Kingston Kings | 84-93 |
| Cottrills Manchester Giants | Walkers Crisps Leicester | 105-98 |

### Semi-finals

| Leg | Team 1 | Team 2 | Score |
| First Leg | LSO Cars Warrington & Liverpool | John Carr Doncaster Panthers | 82-80 |
| Second Leg | John Carr Doncaster Panthers | LSO Cars Warrington & Liverpool | 78-95 |
| First Leg | Cottrills Manchester Giants | Kingcraft Kingston Kings | 97-98 |
| Second Leg | Kingcraft Kingston Kings | Cottrills Manchester Giants | 107-93 |

### Final

* Live on Channel 4
* 6 January 1985
| Kingston Kings | 103–98 aet | Manchester United |
| Pts: Steve Bontrager 37, Martin Clark 26, Danny Davis 16, Doug Lloyd 12, Andy Innell | | Pts: Colin Irish 28, Ed Bona 28, Will Brown 17, David Lloyd 14, Kevin Penny |
* Royal Albert Hall, London Attendance: ? Kingston Coach Steve Bontrager Manchester Coach Joe Whelton