Boroughmuir Blaze Basketball Club is a basketball club based in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland.
History Boroughmuir (1961-2004) The club was founded in 1961 with an initial nucleus of players from Edinburgh's Boroughmuir High School. The club's heyday came in the late 1960s when players like Tony Wilson, Mel Capaldi, John Tunnah, Brian Carmichael and Bill McInnes went on to form the backbone of the Scotland national basketball team. A highlight of this period came in 1967 when Boroughmuir became the first British team to participate in a European cup competition. They were drawn against the mighty Real Madrid and played their home tie at Murrayfield Ice Rink before a crowd of nearly 1,000.
Blaze (2004-present) The Blaze moniker was introduced in 2004 and in recent years the club has rejuvenated its development program with the club now having over 100 members with teams at every age group from Under 12 through to Over 50s. The club's growth is reflected by entry in the U16 National League since 2005/06 and the U18 National League from 2006/07. The Senior Men's team re-entered the National League in 2011 after 3 years away, and won their first National League title in 38 years, and completed the league-playoffs double, in 2016. In season 2022/23 Blaze senior men won the domestic treble - league, cup and post season play-offs.
Bill McInnes Bill McInnes enjoyed a distinguished playing career with Boroughmuir in Edinburgh; he was a member of the team which dominated domestically in Scotland the 1960s and 1970s, and were British Rose Bowl champions in 1972. He also played on Boroughmuir teams that entered the FIBA European Champions Cup and FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup on five occasions in that time. He represented both Scotland and Great Britain on 176 occasions, starting all his 28 competitive GB games, and finishing as the leading scorer in eight of them. He was the leading scorer in the 1968 European Pre-Olympic event with 119 points in seven games. He was the second top scorer in 3 other Olympic qualifying events, finishing with 354 points, for a 12.6ppg average. Off the court, Bill was a founder member of Boroughmuir. Bill coached at all levels and was secretary to the club since 1961. He later served as Chair of the British Basketball Federation, was a member of the National Olympic Committee, Chair of the British Masters Basketball Association and was a director with Basketball Scotland, which he previously chaired from 1990 to 2008. He was awarded the FIBA Order of Merit posthumously after his death in 2017.
Season-by-season records Prior to the 1997–98 season, Boroughmuir competed in every National League season since its formation in 1969, winning 9 of their 10 league titles to date consecutively (1969–70, 1970–71, 1971–72, 1972–73, 1973–74, 1974–75, 1975–76, 1976–77, 1977–78). Seasons 1997-2008 Season Div. Pos. Pld. W L Pts. Play Offs Scottish Cup Boroughmuir1997–1998SNBL7th2461830 1998–1999SNBL8th2772034 1999–2000SNBL10th1821620Did not qualify 2000–2001SNBL8th 2001–2002SNBL8th1761123 2002–2003SNBL8th1841422 2003–2004SNBL7th1881026 2004–2005SNBL8th Boroughmuir Blaze2005–2006SNBL Semi-finals2006–2007SNBL4th1610626 Semi-finals2007–2008SNBL8th1621418
SeasonDivisionTierRegular SeasonPost-SeasonScottish Cup Finish Played Wins Losses Points Win % Boroughmuir Blaze2011-12SNBL27th18711250.389Quarter-finalsSemi-finals2012-13SNBL26th18810260.444Quarter-finalsSemi-finals2013-14SNBL24th18108280.556Quarter-finalsQuarter-finals2014-15SNBL22nd22175390.773Runners UpQuarter-finals2015–16SBC Div 121st18153330.833WinnersQuarter-finals2016–17SBC Div 123rd18144320.778Runners UpRunners Up2017–18SBC Div 124th18135310.722Semi-finalsRunners Up2018–19SBC Div 125th18117290.611Quarter-finalsQuarter-finals2019–20SBC Div 124th16106260.625Quarter-finalsWinners2020–21SBC D12No season2021–22SBC D124th16115270.688Semi-finalsQuarter-finals2022–23SBC D121st20182560.900WinnersWinners2023–24SBC D122nd21183360.957Semi-finalsSemi-finals
Record in European competition
SeasonCompetitionRoundOpponentHomeAwayAggregate1967-68FIBA European Champions CupFirst round Real Madrid69-108126-43112-2341968-69FIBA European Cup Winners' CupFirst round Anderlecht75-109103-52127-2121969-70FIBA European Champions CupFirst round Racing Mechelen84-123144-120204-2671970-71FIBA European Cup Winners' CupFirst round Juventud77-92106-64141-1981973-74FIBA European Champions CupFirst round Haarlem74-129126-70144-2551976-77FIBA European Cup Winners' CupFirst round Njarðvík87-6677-78165-143Round of 16 Juventud66-111126-64130-237
References
External links Blaze page at cragsedinburgh.com