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Writer's pictureMāris Noviks

The field is set, the pieces are moving: welcome, Newcastle Eagles!




The most successful British basketball club of all time will continue to play in the European North Basketball league.


The Eagles are looking to build on the success of their debut season having reached ENBL playoffs in March this year.


Head coach Marc Steutel’s Eagles were tied against the Bakken Bears after 80 minutes of play, 173-173.


Tyneside boys erased a 20 points deficit in the second half to tie the series but eventually lost in overtime, 92-96, on aggregate 179-188.


Rickey McGill registered eight steals in the game, repeating his own ENBL record, and was named the 2024 ENBL Most Valuable Player.


A former Iona Gael point guard and the 2019 MAAC championship Most Outstanding Player joined the Eagles in summer of 2023.


Rickey McGill recently signed a contract with Dziki Warszawa and may meet the Eagles again.


Last season was the Eagles first European experience in 33 years – they faced Thessaloniki PAOK from Greece in the 1990-1991 European Cup Winner`s Cup, then as the Sunderland Saints.


The franchise was founded in 1973 in Newcastle upon Tyne’s neighbouring city of Sunderland.


Sunderland made back-to-back appearances in the British Basketball League`s final in 1990 and 1991, falling twice against the Guildford Kings.


Following a move to Tyneside and becoming the Newcastle Eagles, the club won its first honour with the BBL Trophy in 2005 under legendary former head coach Fab Flournoy, now assistant coach at the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers.


That victory tipped-off Newcastle’s two decades of silverware success as they added a first BBL Championship title to the in-season Trophy win, when they defeated the Chester Jets in the 2005 title game, 78-75.


They registered the third three-peat in BBL history in 2007, after two consecutive successes against the Scottish Rocks – now known as the Caledonia Gladiators – in a game held in the Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle.


The Eagles have added four more BBL titles in 2009, 2012, 2015 and, most recently, in 2021.


Their trophy case includes six BBL Cups, won in 2006, 2012, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2021.


There is another in-season competition, known as the BBL Trophy, that the Eagles have lifted seven times.


They posted two consecutive wins in 2005-2006 and 2009-2010, followed by another three triumphs in 2012, 2015 and 2020.


Newcastle won a sweep of all four British competitions three times in their history.


The total of 27 trophies put the Eagles right at the top of the honours list for our sport in the UK.


Newcastle captain Darius Defoe recently celebrated 20 seasons at the club where he became the most-decorated player in the history of British basketball having played for the Eagles in all their years of success.


The Eagles play at the Vertu Motors Arena which opened its doors in January 2019 and has a 2,800 capacity for the basketball games.


Marc Steutel is also the head coach of the Great Britain’s men’s national team who played their last seven EuroBasket and World Cup Qualifier home games on Newcastle’s court.


A solid home market, a growing club scene and proximity to major European markets make the UK an attractive European basketball destination.


Location also plays a part – the Baltic Sea and the North Sea region has been sometimes called as the Northern Mediterranean – an area with strong maritime and trade traditions.


Today’s announcement makes it back-to-back seasons for two clubs from the UK as the Eagles join fellow British club Bristol Flyers in the 2024-2025 ENBL.


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