The Bristol Flyers are a British professional basketball team based in the city of Bristol, England. The Flyers compete in the British Basketball League, after promotion from the English Basketball League in 2014. The team play their home games at the SGS WISE Arena. The Flyers' head coach is Andreas Kapoulas.
Part of the Bristol Academy of Sport, the Flyers are one of the largest basketball clubs in the United Kingdom and are a four star Accredited England Basketball and Sport England Clubmark Club. In 2013, the club was acquired by billionaire businessman Stephen Lansdown and became a part of the 'Bristol Sport Ltd' group, alongside Bristol City F.C. and Bristol Rugby, amongst others.
History
Formation and early years
The club was established in 2006 through a merger between two Bristol-based teams, the Filton Flyers and Bristol Academy (who were formerly known as the Bristol Bombers). Both teams competed in English Basketball League Division 3 (South West), and were based at the WISE Basketball Arena at Filton College. Filton Flyers finished the 2005–06 season as Division 3 (South West) Champions and earned a promotion to Division 2 for the following season, whilst Bristol Academy had finished third in the league.
The newly formed Bristol Academy Flyers commenced play in the 2006–07 season, having assumed Filton's spot in Division 2. The Flyers played their first competitive game on 28 October 2006, marking the occasion with a 55–75 home defeat to Kent Crusaders. Flyers' Greg Streete top-scored for the débutantes with 14 points. The new-look team went on to have a very successful season, finishing Division 2 in second place with a 19–3 win record, and gained promotion to Division 1. Further success came in their inaugural appearance in the Patrons Cup. After topping their regional pool with 3 wins and just 1 defeat in the first round, Flyers marched on with a tight 75–74 victory over Team Northumbria in the Semi-final before losing out to Leicester Warriors in the Final on 4 March 2007. Warriors defeated the Flyers 61–55 at the show-piece event at the Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle upon Tyne.
In their Division 1 debut, the Flyers opened their campaign with an away defeat to the previous season's runner up, Reading Rockets. It wasn't until their third game, an away fixture at Derby Trailblazers – who were promoted alongside the Flyers from Division 2 – that Bristol earned their first victory. New American import signing Ryan Williams (formerly of Brooklyn Comets) posted a game-high 28 points in the 83–91 win. Flyers' sporadic form continued throughout the early part of the season and by mid-February they had recorded just a single home win – a 99–75 win over local rivals Taunton Tigers). A 90–84 victory over fellow struggler's Derby on 16 February kick-started a change in fortunes for the Flyers, with the team marching on to record consecutive home wins over West Anglia Fury, Coventry Crusaders and Sheffield Arrows and achieve a respectable fourth-placed finish and a 10–8 win record by the end of the regular season. With home court advantage in the Play-offs, Flyers easily dispatched London Leopards in the Quarter-final with a 105–96 victory, despite Leopards' Gareth Laws posting a massive 39 points. A strong Manchester Magic team defeated the Flyers 88–67 in the Semi-final en route to their first Play-off Championship. Flyers weren't able to better their performance during the 2008–09 season, finishing in 5th place and with first round exits in both the National Trophy and the post-season Play-offs.
Cup Finals and League success
The arrival of former Appalachian State players Doug McLaughlin-Williams and Davis Browne in the summer of 2009 brought about a new era of success for the Flyers. With Division 1 expanding from 10 to 12 teams for the 2009–10 season, Bristol started the campaign strongly with victories over Coventry Crusaders and Reading Rockets. A dismal 91–60 defeat away to Manchester Magic followed by defeats to London Leopards and Leeds Carnegie in the following weeks ensured that Flyers' challenge for the League title would be a closely fought one. As the season progressed Flyers, along with Manchester, Leeds and Derby Trailblazers, stormed ahead in a bid for the Division title.