- London Capital
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London Capital 
Main sponsor None League EBL Division 1 Established 1998 History North West
London Wolverines
1998-2004
London Capital
2004-presentArena Capital City Academy
(Capacity: 300)Location London, Greater London Head coach 
Milek JivensOwnership 
Brandon BethalColours Blue, Orange and White Website Uniforms 
Home
AwayLondon Capital, officially called PAWS London Capital in reference to their partnership with PAWS Foundation, is a basketball team based in London, England. They currently compete in the second-tier EBL Division 1, having been demoted from the British Basketball League in 2010.[1]
Contents
Franchise history
Early years
The franchise started out as the North West London Wolverines, and were immediately accepted into Division 3 of the National Basketball League in 1998, but only after withdrawals from the originally accepted 12 teams meant that a replacement was required. However, they quickly justified their inclusion, finishing that first season just behind Hull and North London, who were both promoted.
In 2000, they finished seventh (out of thirteen), and in the "clean-sheet" reorganisation of the League they were accepted into Division 2 (though this was still the third-ranked division, after the formation of the Conference), but once again only after withdrawals created extra vacancies. Finishing ninth in 2001, they continued their "skin of the teeth" progress by gaining promotion to the expanded Division 1 after Birmingham Aces dropped out.
The next season was one of consolidation, as they finished ninth, but they continued their steady progression, finishing third (behind Team Bath Romans on countback), and reaching the Championship Final, but just missing out on promotion. That promotion, though, was won in fine style the following year (2004), when they took the newly-renamed EBL Division 2 title, though they once again fell at the final hurdle in the Championship.
During that season they had begun to draw together the various stands of the club's development work, and their entry into Division 1 came as the PAWS London Capital after a partnership was agreed with local community support group PAWS Foundation.
Entry to the BBL
On May 10, 2007 it was announced that London Capital would become the latest addition to the British Basketball League's mass-expansion for the 2007-08 season,[2] as the 12th team to line-up after the newly formed Birmingham Panthers.
The new elite franchise wasted no time in preparing for life in the professional league and on June 28 announced that former Los Angeles Lakers star Steve Bucknall would be coaching the team for their rookie season in the BBL.[3] The former NBA star won a host an accolades and awards in the BBL, playing for Sunderland, Birmingham Bullets, Thames Valley Tigers, London Towers and Leicester Riders, with whom he retired with in 2006.
Following the announcement on September 5 that London United had withdrawn from the upcoming BBL season, London Capital were to be the capital city's sole representative in the top-tier league. A major coup during pre-season for the fledging franchise was the acquisition of North Carolina’s starting guard Wes Miller, who made his debut with an incredible 49-point haul against Milton Keynes Lions on September 22, 2007, Capital's first game in the top flight.
As a team, Capital recorded an unspectacular start to their rookie campaign, recording only 3 wins in their first 9 games, the first an 84-85 overtime away victory against giants Sheffield Sharks. In the BBL Cup, Capital delivered a huge blow to Plymouth Raiders, dumping the favourites out in the first round with a 74-83 win in Plymouth, before being knocked out themselves by Milton Keynes, 73-78.
Major changes in the roster during the Christmas period appeared to affect the team's on-court performance, especially the loss of Miller through retirement. As a result Capital were knocked-out of the BBL Trophy at the group stage, continued to languish near the foot of the table for most of the season and suffered through poor attendance, despite the signings of Czech international Jaromir Fohler and American Fred Williams.
On March 5, Capital announced a major sponsorship deal with sports manufacturer Kukri Sports and a 5-year partnership with marketing agency Blue Crush Communications. The season ended with an 9th place finish and a 12-21 record, commendable for any rookie franchise, finished above established teams such as Leicester and Cheshire Jets.
Capital’s sophomore season wouldn’t be as fruitful however, despite early promise with new coach Malik Jivens securing the signings of experienced Marcus Knight, formerly of Guildford Heat, Darren Mills from Leicester, and Ajou Deng coming later in the season. The season turned out to be a disaster though, with the roster seemingly becoming a revolving door and constant changes to the line-up ensured a lack of consistency and a disappointing 2-31 finish in last place. The team’s only two victories were at home to Guildford and Worcester Wolves, the latter effectively ending Wolves’ play-off hopes.
Return to the EBL
On May 18 2010, the Capital announced they would be withdrawing from the BBL and to enter the EBL Division 1, the second-tier of competition behind the BBL.[4]
Home arenas
- Capital City Academy (2004-present)
Season-by-season records
Season Div. Pos. Pld. W L Pts. Play Offs Trophy Cup North West London Wolverines 1998-1999 NBL 3 3rd 20 12 8 24 Semi-final - - 1999-2000 NBL 3 7th 24 9 15 18 Quarter-final - - 2000-2001 NBL 3 9th 24 9 15 18 DNQ - - 2001-2002 NBL 1 8th 22 7 15 14 Quarter-final - - 2002-2003 NBL 1 3rd 16 10 6 20 Runner-up - - 2003-2004 EBL 2 1st 20 19 1 38 Runner-up - - London Capital 2004-2005 EBL 1 9th 22 7 25 14 DNQ - - 2005-2006 EBL 1 11th 26 6 20 12 DNQ - - 2006-2007 EBL 1 5th 22 13 9 26 Semi-final - - 2007-2008 BBL 9th 33 12 21 24 DNQ 1st Round Quarter-final 2008-2009 BBL 12th 33 2 31 4 DNQ 1st Round Quarter-final 2009-2010 BBL 13th 36 3 33 6 DNQ 1st Round 1st Round 2010-2011 EBL 1 - - - - - - - - Notes:
- In 2001 the NBL was restructured so Division One became the third tier replacing Division Two.
- In 2003 the NBL was replaced by the EBL which reverted Division Two back to the third tier.
- DNQ denotes Did Not Qualify.
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 November 19, 2009
4 
Leon Nziye-Munango Guard 5 Santa Ataha Guard 7 Ryan Cadogan Guard 8 Darren Mills Forward/Guard 9 Milek Jivens Guard 10 Chiedozie Offiah Forward 11 Cesar DaSilva Guard 12 
Ibrahim Gariba Centre 13 Xavier Lutaaya Forward 14 
Tomas Janusauskas Centre 15 Giedrius Knyšas Forward/Centre 21 Charles Madike Forward 24 
Dian Ivanov Guard/Forward Notable former players
Kabiru Abu- Steve Bucknall
- Jeff Danchie
Ajou Deng
Jaromir Fohler- Gareth Laws
- Chi Lewis-Parry
- Corey McGee
- Wes Miller
- Lijah Perkins
- Lekan Popoola
See also
Notes
- ^ http://www.hoopsfix.com/2010/05/paws-london-capital-booted-out-of-the-bbl/
- ^ UKTVslam (2007). "Capital Gains". UKTVslam. http://www.uktvslam.tv/page/SlamLogin/BBLNews/0,,10023~1023524,00.html?. Retrieved 2007-05-10.
- ^ UKTVSlam (2007). "Buck's Back Baby". UKTVslam. http://www.uktvslam.tv/page/SlamLogin/BBLNews/0,,10023~1063935,00.html. Retrieved 2007-06-29.
- ^ http://www.hoopsfix.com/2010/05/paws-london-capital-booted-out-of-the-bbl/
External links
Categories:- Sports clubs established in 1998
- English basketball teams
- Basketball teams in London
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