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 502 Team Polycell Kingston Kings 28 24 4 3193 2902 483 Portsmouth 28 22 6 2721 2513 444 Manchester Giants 28 18 10 2565 2456 365 London Docklands Crystal Palace * 28 17 11 3237 3050 336 Birmingham Bullets 28 15 13 2759 2720 307 Brunel Uxbridge & Camden Ducks 28 14 14 2586 2629 288 Walkers Crisps Leicester 28 14 14 2907 2957 289 Hemel Hempstead Watford Royals 28 13 15 2864 2790 2610 Sperrings Solent Stars 28 12 16 2595 2568 2411 Nissan Worthing Bears 28 12 16 0000 0000 2412 Bracknell Pirates 28 11 17 2907 2985 2213 QRS Sunderland 28 8 20 2734 2967 1614 Home Spare Bolton & Bury Hawks 28 3 25 2678 3018 615 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 362 BPCC Derby Rams 22 18 4 2204 1923 363 Team Wakefields Nottingham 22 18 4 2181 1954 364 Brixton TopCats 22 15 7 1960 1752 305 CAD Tower Hamlets 22 14 8 2043 1920 286 ANC Liverpool 22 12 10 2057 1962 247 Oldham Ioanian Celtics 22 11 11 2163 2090 228 Plymouth Raiders 22 11 11 2062 2051 229 English Estates Cleveland 22 6 16 2022 2219 1210 Team Telecom Colchester 22 5 17 1918 2210 1011 Swindon Rakers 22 4 18 1859 2185 812 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
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
British Masters Cup final
References
See also Basketball in England British Basketball League English Basketball League List of English National Basketball League seasons