Forestville Eagles
| Forestville Eagles | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Leagues | NBL1 Central |
| Founded | 1957 |
| History | SA State League: West Torrens Eagles 1957–1979 NBL: West Torrens Eagles 1980 Forestville Eagles 1981 NBL1 Central: Forestville Eagles 1982–present |
| Arena | Wayville Sports Centre |
| Location | Wayville, South Australia |
| Team colors | Blue & yellow |
| President | Milan Djurasevich |
| Championships | 8 (1974, 1990, 2003, 2006, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2019) (M) 9 (1972, 1973, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2019) (W) |
| Website | ForestvilleEagles.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[edit]
Early years[edit]
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[edit]
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[edit]
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[edit]
| 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[edit]
- ^ "Honour board". ForestvilleEagles.asn.au. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
- ^ a b c d e "Men's Premiers". SportsTG.com. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
- ^ a b c d "Women's Premiers". SportsTG.com. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Vartuli, Kieren (18 August 2019). "EAGLES EDGE OUT SABRES IN A 3-PT GRAND FINAL THRILLER". SportsTG.com. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
- ^ Vartuli, Kieren (18 August 2019). "FORESTVILLE CROWNED CHAMPIONS AFTER MIRACULOUS COMEBACK". SportsTG.com. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
- ^ "Results for 2019 Premier League Men – Grand Final". SportsTG.com. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
- ^ "Results for 2019 Premier League Women – Grand Final". SportsTG.com. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
- ^ 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.