page_title: Portsmouth F.C. (basketball)
section_title: Formation and 1984-85 season
hierarchical_section_title: Portsmouth F.C. (basketball) / Formation and 1984-85 season
caption_attribution_description: English: From left - Portsmouth FC Basketball Club players Colin Irish, Alan Cunningham (caretaker coach) and Dan Lloyd pictured during half-time of the British Masters quarter-final second leg match against Crystal Palace at the Mountbatten Centre in Portsmouth on March 26th 1986.
context_page_description: Portsmouth F.C. Basketball Club are a British professional basketball team based in Portsmouth, Hampshire, that played in the top league of UK basketball from 1985-88. They won the league championship in the 1986-87 and 1987-88 seasons and also reached four major cup finals, including those of all three main domestic knockout competitions in 1987-88.
  Virtually all home games were played at the Mountbatten Centre in Portsmouth, which had bleacher seating on either side plus a balcony around one end and one side. Part of the side balcony was reserved for directors and guests. Two matches in 1986-87 and two in 1984-85 were hosted by Havant Leisure Centre, one in 1984-85 by
  Fleming Park Leisure Centre in Eastleigh and one in 1984-85 by Winchester Recreation Centre.
context_section_description: The club was created when Portsmouth Football Club chairman John Deacon, having failed in a 9 January 1985 bid to buy Eastleigh-based Solent Stars, instead bought another top division club, Telford Turbos, on 16 January  and moved it to Portsmouth midway through the 1984-85 season.
  For an undisclosed sum, Deacon acquired a range of basketball equipment, nine players - Dave Treasure, Steve Nelson, Pat Morrison, Marty Headd (later replaced by Mike Owen), Ian Pollard, Lee Irwin, Dave Harris, Julian Taithe and Dale Shackleford- and the franchise of a club lying bottom of the table after losing all of its 13 league matches up until that point.
  With no relegation  planned from the top division that season, he did not plan an extensive revamp of the team, but he did recruit Danny Palmer as coach on 17 January.
  In the longer term the club, officially known as Portsmouth FC Basketball Club but simply 'Portsmouth' for promotional purposes, would have its office and players' base at Portsmouth FC's Fratton Park stadium, and use the Mountbatten Centre as its regular home court.
  But to begin with the players remained based in the Midlands and football club secretary Bill Davis was handed the responsibility of finding dates and venues for the team's eight remaining home games.
  Their first appearance under the Portsmouth FC banner was an away game on 19 January at Solent, who had gone to Telford earlier in the season and beaten them 123-87  in a match played in a former aircraft hangar.
  This time a near capacity crowd at Fleming Park saw Portsmouth open an 11-point lead in the first half. Solent came back to lead 50-48 at half-time but midway through the second half Portsmouth led 73-72, before a final burst from the home side gave them a 106-91 victory. Americans Headd (32 points) and Shackleford (24 points) top scored for Portsmouth, while 17-year-old Nelson began a Portsmouth career that would ultimately last as long as the club.
  A burst pipe which delayed work on the Mountbatten Centre's main sports hall floor meant Portsmouth were back at Fleming Park on 26 January, this time for a 'home' clash with league leaders Kingston Kings. Admission prices were set at £2.50 for adults and £1 for juniors.
  Portsmouth had to borrow Kingston's red kit as they only had a white strip available and league rules at the time insisted that away teams wore white. The court was less than half full of spectators and the match did little to create an atmosphere, with Portsmouth trailing 20-8 after five minutes and 51-34 at half-time before finally losing 115-72. Again the Americans led the scoring, Shackleford netting 31 points and Owen 22, with nobody else in double figures for Portsmouth.
  A 91-79 defeat at Doncaster Panthers followed before the team made their Mountbatten Centre debut against Hemel & Watford Royals on 10 February, with one side of the bleachers used. Portsmouth led 23-19 midway through the first half but trailed 56-38 by the interval and eventually lost 104-79. Shackleford and Owen hit 25 and 24 points respectively, while future Portsmouth star Mike Spaid scored 17 for Hemel.
  Bill Davis completed his fixture-fixing task on 12 February, giving Portsmouth four different venues for their first four home games by arranging for the Manchester United match to take place at Winchester Recreation Centre. Four days later Danny Palmer signed a two-year contract, with his coaching role to become full-time in April 1985.
  The trip to Leicester Riders on 16 February ended in a 109-85 loss, but Portsmouth's first appearance at Havant Leisure Centre the following day offered the chance to climb off the foot of the table, if they could beat Bolton & Bury Hawks - who had one win to their name, against the former Turbos - by more than their margin of defeat at Bolton.
  Again the match was played with seating on only one side of the court, and the initial part-time nature of Palmer's coaching role was illustrated by his absence from the arena as he was already committed to commentating on another game for Channel 4 television that day, but the players defi
caption: From left - Colin Irish, Alan Cunningham and Dan Lloyd during half-time versus Crystal Palace, 26 March 1986
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