Forestville Eagles

Basketball team in Wayville, South Australia
   PresidentMilan DjurasevichChampionships8 (1974, 1990, 2003, 2006, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2019) (M)
9 (1972, 1973, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2019) (W)WebsiteForestvilleEagles.asn.au

Forestville Eagles is a NBL1 Central club based in Adelaide, South Australia. The club fields both a men's and women's team. The club is a division of the overarching Forestville Eagles Basketball Club (FEBC), the major administrative basketball organisation in the region. The Eagles play their home games at Wayville Sports Centre.

Club history

Early years

The early remnants of the Eagles stems back to 1953,[1] when the FEBC was established as West Torrens. 1957 saw the formation of the South Australian State League with both a men's and women's competition. West Torrens, trading as the Eagles, entered a team into both competitions. By 1958 and 1959, West Torrens were in back-to-back men's grand finals; both resulted in losses to North Adelaide.[2] The women's team also made grand finals in 1958, 1959 and 1960, all resulting in losses.[3]

In 1972, the women's team collected the club's first ever championship, before defending their title in 1973. They went on to finish runners-up in 1975 and 1976.[3] The West Torrens men made three more grand finals in 1970, 1974 and 1979, with 1974 seeing the Eagles collect their first ever men's championship.[2]

NBL

Following their grand final appearance in 1979, the West Torrens Eagles entered the National Basketball League (NBL) in 1980. The team changed names in 1981 to the Forestville Eagles,[4] but success did not follow; they won just 12 games over two seasons, and as a result, they returned to the SA State League in 1982.

Return to State League

Upon returning to the State League, Forestville made the 1982 grand final, where they lost to West Adelaide.[2] After further grand final defeats in 1987 and 1989, Forestville claimed their second men's title in 1990 with a 94–88 win over South Adelaide in the championship decider.[2]

The women's team claimed their first title under the Forestville moniker in 2001, before winning two more titles in 2003 and 2005.[3] The men also claimed championships in 2003 and 2006. Between 2009 and 2011, the women claimed a three-peat,[3] before the men claimed their own three-peat between 2011 and 2013.[2] In 2019, both teams were crowned Premier League champions.[5][6][7][8] In 2023, the men's team lost in the NBL1 Central grand final to the West Adelaide Bearcats.[9]

NBL Season by season

NBL champions League champions Runners-up Finals berth
Season Tier League Regular season Post-season Head coach
Finish Played Wins Losses Win %
West Torrens Eagles
1980 1 NBL 11th 22 6 16 .273 Did not qualify Alan Hughes
Forestville Eagles
1981 1 NBL 12th 22 6 16 .273 Did not qualify Albert Leslie
Reg Biddings
Regular season record 44 12 32 .273 0 regular season champions
Finals record 0 0 0 .000 0 NBL championships

As of the end of the 1981 season

References

  1. ^ "Honour board". ForestvilleEagles.asn.au. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Men's Premiers". SportsTG.com. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
  3. ^ a b c d "Women's Premiers". SportsTG.com. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
  4. ^ Uluc, Olgun (16 October 2015). "The NBL's defunct franchises: Sydney Astronauts, Launceston Casino City, Singapore Slingers, and more". FoxSports.com.au. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
  5. ^ Vartuli, Kieren (18 August 2019). "EAGLES EDGE OUT SABRES IN A 3-PT GRAND FINAL THRILLER". SportsTG.com. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
  6. ^ Vartuli, Kieren (18 August 2019). "FORESTVILLE CROWNED CHAMPIONS AFTER MIRACULOUS COMEBACK". SportsTG.com. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
  7. ^ "Results for 2019 Premier League Men – Grand Final". SportsTG.com. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  8. ^ "Results for 2019 Premier League Women – Grand Final". SportsTG.com. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  9. ^ Prentice, Tristan (13 August 2023). "NBL1 CENTRAL RECAP | MEN'S GRAND FINAL 2023". NBL1.com.au. Archived from the original on 13 August 2023. Retrieved 13 August 2023.

External links

  • FEBC's official website
  • v
  • t
  • e
NBL1 Central
  • Central Districts Lions
  • Eastern Mavericks
  • Forestville Eagles
  • North Adelaide Rockets
  • Norwood Flames
  • South Adelaide Panthers
  • Southern Tigers
  • Sturt Sabres
  • West Adelaide Bearcats
  • Woodville Warriors
  • v
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Defunct National Basketball League teams