Bristol Flyers

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Bristol Flyers
Stephen Lansdown
Website	bristolflyers.co.uk
Home Away

The Bristol Flyers are a British professional basketball team based in the city of

Back in Division 1, Bristol were able to continue their successful form and went on an 11-game winning streak to finish in fourth place with 16–6 record (Second and third-placed Manchester and Leeds also finished 16–6 but were placed higher due to their head-to-head results with Flyers). They swept passed fifth seed Leicester Warriors in the post-season Play-offs but lost in the Semi-final to Derby, who ran out 76–65 winners, at the Final Four event at the Amaechi Basketball Centre in Manchester.

Summer 2010 saw a contraction of the number of teams in Division 1, going back to 10, and with the bulk of Flyers' roster returning for the new campaign, hopes of further success were high for the 2010–11 season. Starting the regular season campaign with a 9-game winning streak – including victories over fellow title-rivals Leeds, Manchester, Derby, and Reading – it wasn't until 5 February 2011 that Flyers experienced their first League defeat; a 51–80 loss at home to Leopards. The team also had another emphatic run in the National Cup in a bid to defend their title from the previous season, knocking out Birmingham Mets (59–104), Plymouth Marjon (53–92), Leeds (85–43) and Derby (69–93) on their way to their second successive appearance in the Final. They were not able to retain their crown however, instead coming up short to Brixton TopCats at the Final at Ponds Forge in Sheffield. An injury-hit Flyers team were defeated 77–63 by the underdogs.^[6] The team didn't lose momentum as they continued their excellent form in the regular season and stormed to their first Division 1 League title, finishing with a 15–3 win record. In the post-season Play-offs, the team narrowly defeated the eighth-placed seed Derby, 91–90, in the Quarter-final before being knocked out by Leeds in the Semi-final, in a tight 81–85 loss at the Amaechi Basketball Centre.

The team entered into the 2011–12 campaign with key American's Davis Browne and Doug McLaughlin-Williams re-signed for the third consecutive season along with Flyers mainstays Tyrone Treasure and Greg Streete, as well as the addition of former Worcester Wolves players Jordan Ranklin and Roy Owen. A strong start in the National Trophy saw Flyers top Pool 1 and progress to the Quarter-finals where they defeated Bradford Dragons, 59–50. They went on to beat London Leopards in the Semi-final (69–62) before being blown away by a dominant and forceful Derby side in the Final at Leicester's Braunstone Leisure Centre, losing 60–87.^[7] Another successful run in the National Cup saw Flyers record a third consecutive appearance in the Final where they faced London Leopards. Despite leading the whole game until the final two minutes, a disastrous fourth quarter – where Flyers conceded 26 points and scored just 13 – saw Bristol lose 64–63 and subsequently gift the title to London.^[8] In the regular season campaign, Flyers also finished as runner-up to London in the Division 1 title race, before being knocked out by Derby Trailblazers in the Semi-final of the Play-offs.

Flyers opened the 2012–13 season with a record attendance of 750 spectators watching a pre-season exhibition against Team USA Select at WISE Arena.

In Division 1 play, injuries to key starting five players Tyrone Treasure (out from November for 9 months) and Doug McLaughlin-Williams hindered any potential title bid. A three-game losing streak in early March further dented any title hopes but following a run of eight victories at the end of the regular season, the team had risen from rank-outsiders to finish in 2nd place for a second consecutive year – though several victories away from 1st placed Reading Rockets. In the post-season Play-offs, Bristol were drawn to play sixth seeded Worthing Thunder who finished their campaign with a 50% win percentage. Despite being favourites, Bristol fell to the visiting Thunder and were knocked out after a 71–76 defeat. Enrique Garcia and Doug McLaughlin-Williams both scored 14 points for the homes side, but it was Bud Johnson from the visitors that stole the show with 26 points.

Takeover and BBL move

On 17 June 2013, it was announced that the club had received financial backing from

Following a third place finish in the 2022/23 main season, it was announced that that Flyers would join the European North Basketball League from 2023/24.^[17]

Logos

• 
  Bristol Academy Flyers logo (2006–2014)
• 
  Bristol Flyers
  logo (2014–present)

Home arena

WISE Arena (2006–present)

As of the 6th of October 2022, the Bristol Flyers had plans approved to build their new arena (3,626 seats) near Ashton Gate stadium. ^[18]

Season-by-season records

Players

Current roster

Bristol Flyers roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Ht. Wt. Age G 1 Lucas, Te'Jon 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) 84 kg (185 lb) 25 – (1998-10-10)10 October 1998 G 2 Olison, Tevin 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 86 kg (190 lb) 25 – (1998-09-28)28 September 1998 G 3 Jacob, Trejon 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) 84 kg (185 lb) 25 – (1998-05-15)15 May 1998 PG 4 Samuels, Corey 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) 75 kg (165 lb) 23 – (2000-04-22)22 April 2000 G 9 Johnson, Kedrian 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) 81 kg (179 lb) 24 – (1999-09-09)9 September 1999 F 10 Thomas-Edwards, Raphell 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 115 kg (254 lb) 31 – (1993-03-05)5 March 1993 F/C 15 Smart, Callum 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) 98 kg (216 lb) 19 – (2004-10-28)28 October 2004 F 21 Smith, Leslee 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) 116 kg (256 lb) 33 – (1990-07-17)17 July 1990 PF 22 Graham-Bell, Rowell 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 97 kg (214 lb) 29 – (1994-08-08)8 August 1994 F 27 Cooper, Max 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 25 – (1998-07-07)7 July 1998 G 40 Landolfi, Pasquale 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 88 kg (194 lb) 23 – (2001-02-16)16 February 2001 F 42 Bradley, Levi 2.07 m (6 ft 9 in) 95 kg (209 lb) 27 – (1996-09-26)26 September 1996 C 55 Greene, Brad 2.10 m (6 ft 11 in) 124 kg (273 lb) 25 – (1998-05-20)20 May 1998	Head coach Andreas Kapoulas Assistant coach(es) Chris Bourne Nick Burns Legend (C) Team captain Injured Roster Updated: March 4, 2024

Notable former players

References

External links

• Official Bristol Flyers website
• Bristol Flyers on Facebook
• Bristol Flyers on Twitter