Category: Kerry Basketball Clubs

St. Vincent’s Killarney | Men’s National Basketball League Team 1979-1987

Men’s National Basketball League Team 1979-1987

Home Court:

Colours:

Honours: NBL Division 1 Champions 1979-80 / NBL Division 1 Top 4 Winners 1979-80

Career Record (W-L-T): Total: / Regular Season:

History: Became the first Irish Basketball Club to pay American imports to play in 1979, which was against the rules of the Amateur Basketball Association of Ireland, but when the Association saw how many fans it was bringing in, they changed the rules allowing two paid imports per National League team, changing the name of the organisation to the Irish Basketball Association to reflect this. This decision by St. Vincent’s and the IBA ushered in the Golden Era of Irish Basketball which lasted until 1991.

They won the League that season (1979-80) as well as the Top 4 Playoffs, and competed at or near the top for the next four seasons, reaching the top four playoffs each year from 1979-80 to 1983-84 and winning the League and Playoffs again in 1981-82. In 1984-85 they were relegated finishing second last in Division 1. Their last season in the National League was in 1986-87 where they finished joint last in Division 2.

They have an important place in Irish Basketball history, and set the standard for all Killarney and Kerry Basketball teams to follow.

Name Changes: St. Vincent’s Killarney 1979-1981, Gleneagle Killarney 1981-1987 (Sponsored by Gleneagle Hotel)

Year-by-Year Record

v

Year Regular Season Post-Season International
  Lge P W L Pts P W L Pos P W L
1979-80 NBL D1 18 16 2 32 2 2 0 1st/W      
1980-81 NBL D1 18 12 6 24 2 1 1 2nd/F      
1982-83 NBL D1 16 10 6 20 1 0 1 3rd/SF      
1983-84 NBL D1 18 11 7 22 2 1 1 4th/F      
1984-85 NBL D1 18 4 14 8 0 0 0 9th/R      
1985-86                        
1986-87 NBL D2 16 3 13 6 0 0 0 8th      

NBL D1 = National Basketball Division 1 / NBL D2 = National Basketball League Division 2 / Pos = Final Position / W = Top Four Playoff Winners / F = Top Four Finalists / SF = Top Four Semi-Finalists / R = Relegated

References:

Bibliography

[1] Shannon, Kieran (2009) “Hanging from the Rafters: The story of Neptune and the Golden Age of Irish Basketball” Appendix Section 1: The Irish Men’s Game: The Complete Records: National League Tables and Top Four semi-finals and Finals. Pp. 516-527.

Magazine Articles

[2] (1984) “National League 1983-84”. IBA Official Basketball Magazine. October 1984.

[3] (1985) “Final Standings”. IBA Official Basketball Magazine. Autumn 1985.

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Denis Culhane

About this document

Researched, compiled and written by Enda Mulcahy for the

Eirball | Irish, North American & World Sports Archive

Last Updated: 24 September 2019

(c) Copyright Enda Mulcahy and Eirball 2019

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