Manchester Magic
Basketball team
The Manchester Giants are an English basketball club from the city of Manchester in the northwest of England.
For the 2019-20 season, the Magic will compete in the National Basketball League Division 2 North. They play their home games at the Manchester Basketball Centre, which was part-funded by former NBA star John Amaechi. A sister team, the Manchester Mystics, compete in the top-tier Women's British Basketball League.
01History
The Magic were first established in 1997, originally as a reserve squad for the nearby Manchester Giants, entering the newly founded NBL Division 3 for the 1997/1998 season and winning immediate promotion as league runner-up and playoff champions. A change in direction from their one-time parent club saw the fledgling team become independent mid-way through their first season in Division Two, choosing the City of Manchester Attitude as their new name. A first league title was to follow at the end of the 1999/2000 season, with the club joining the top flight just as the national league was being restructured, forming the short-lived NBL Conference.
After rebranding as the Manchester Magic, the club enjoyed over a decade of success in the top tier of the English Basketball League, with the highlight being a triple title success in the 2007/2008 season, claiming the National Cup alongside the league and playoff titles. The team then took the shock decision to play in Division 3 for the 2011/12 season, in order "to forge a much closer link between the youngsters... and the men's team", in the words of club director Joe Forber. The club worked their way back up the English leagues in record time, winning Division 3 at the first attempt to earn a return to Division 2, and then gaining back-to-back promotions with a runner-up spot in Division 2 in the 2012/13 season.
Since returning to Division 1, the Magic have claimed both the National Cup and National Trophy in the 2014/15 season, alongside second-place finishes in both the league and the end-of-season playoffs.
02Club honours
- 2007, 2008, 2015, 2016
- 2015, 2016
EBL Division 1 League Champions
- 2008
EBL Division 1 Playoff Champions
- 2008, 2010
EBL Division 2 League Champions
- 2000
EBL Division 3 League Champions
- 2012
EBL Division 3 Playoff Champions
- 1998
03Season-by-season records
| Season | Division | Tier | Pos. | Played | Won | Lost | Points | Playoffs | National Cup | National Trophy | Patrons Cup | National Shield | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manchester Giants B | |||||||||||||
| 1997-98 | D3 | 4 | 2nd | 26 | 15 | 11 | 30 | Winners | 1st round | DNE | DNE | ||
| City of Manchester Attitude | |||||||||||||
| 1998-99 | D2 | 3 | 3rd | 24 | 18 | 6 | 36 | Semi-Final | 2nd round | DNE | DNE | ||
| 1999-00 | D2 | 3 | 1st | 24 | 20 | 4 | 40 | Runner-Up | 2nd round | DNE | DNE | ||
| Manchester Magic | |||||||||||||
| 2000-01 | Conf | 2 | 4th | 21 | 9 | 7 | 18 | Semi-Final | Quarter-Final | DNE | DNE | ||
| 2001-02 | Conf | 2 | 5th | 18 | 9 | 9 | 18 | Semi-Final | Semi-Final | DNE | DNE | ||
| 2002-03 | Conf | 2 | 5th | 22 | 12 | 10 | 24 | Semi-Final | 1st round | 1st round | DNE | DNE | |
| 2003-04 | D1 | 2 | 4th | 22 | 16 | 6 | 32 | Quarter-Final | Quarter-Final | 1st round | DNE | DNE | |
| 2004-05 | D1 | 2 | 6th | 22 | 12 | 10 | 24 | Quarter-Final | Quarter-Final | 1st round | DNE | DNE | |
| 2005-06 | D1 | 2 | 4th | 26 | 19 | 7 | 38 | Semi-Final | Quarter-Final | 1st round | DNE | DNE | |
| 2006-07 | D1 | 2 | 3rd | 22 | 17 | 5 | 34 | Runner-Up | Winners | Semi-Final | DNE | DNE | |
| 2007-08 | D1 | 2 | 1st | 18 | 16 | 2 | 32 | Winners | Winners | Semi-Final | DNE | DNE | |
| 2008-09 | D1 | 2 | 2nd | 18 | 15 | 3 | 30 | Runner-Up | Runner-Up | Runner-Up | DNE | DNE | |
| 2009-10 | D1 | 2 | 2nd | 22 | 16 | 6 | 32 | Winners | Runner-Up | Runner-Up | DNE | DNE | |
| 2010-11 | D1 | 2 | 6th | 18 | 7 | 11 | 14 | Quarter-Final | 3rd round | 1st round | DNE | DNE | |
| 2011-12 | D3 Nor | 4 | 1st | 22 | 19 | 3 | 38 | Runner-Up | 2nd round | DNE | DNE | Quarter-Final | |
| 2012-13 | D2 | 3 | 2nd | 22 | 15 | 7 | 30 | Runner-Up | 3rd round | DNE | 1st round | DNE | |
| 2013-14 | D1 | 2 | 5th | 26 | 16 | 10 | 32 | Quarter-Final | Semi-Final | Runner-Up | DNE | DNE | |
| 2014-15 | D1 | 2 | 2nd | 24 | 17 | 7 | 34 | Runner-Up | Winners | Winners | DNE | DNE | |
| 2015-16 | D1 | 2 | 1st | 26 | 23 | 3 | 46 | Winners | DNE | DNE | |||
| 2016-17 | D1 | 2 | 2nd | 26 | 21 | 5 | 42 | Winners | DNE | DNE | |||
| 2017-18 | D1 | 2 | 8th | 24 | 11 | 13 | 22 | Quarter-finals | DNE | DNE | |||
| 2018-19 | D1 | 2 | 14th | 26 | 2 | 24 | 4 | Did not qualify | DNE | DNE | |||
| 2019-20 | D2 Nor | 3 | 5th | 18 | 10 | 8 | 22 | Did not qualify | 3rd round | ||||
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Manchester Magic”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Manchester Magic logo.png by Unknown author, Fair use
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