Bristol Flyers are set to compete in European competition for the first time in the basketball club’s history next season.
The British Basketball League (BBL) franchise has announced it has joined the European North Basketball League (ENBL). Founded in 2021, the developmental tournament is open to professional clubs in Northern, Central and Eastern Europe with aspirations of competing at a higher level of European competition, such as FIBA's Basketball Champions League or the FIBA Europe Cup.
The Flyers will become the first British basketball club to enter the invitational ENBL, and will play against teams from Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Poland, Czech Republic, Kosovo, Israel and Ukraine.
The addition of the Flyers will take the ENBL to 16 teams for the 2023/24 campaign - with clubs drawn into two eight team groups, competing in seven midweek games during the regular season.
BristolLive understands there are plans in place which could see participating teams play three of these games at home and four on the road, or vice versa.
The top four from each group will advance to the ENBL playoffs, before a final four will be held at a central location in April 2024.
Winning the competition does not provide automatic qualification for a higher tier tournament. If they were to win the ENBL title in their maiden campaign, the Flyers would still need to apply to join a different European league.
Last year’s ENBL champions, Anwil Wloclawek of the Polish Basketball League, went on to win this year’s FIBA Europe Cup, which is widely considered as the fourth tier of European continental basketball. This year the title was won by another Polish team, Stal Ostrów Wielkopolski.
BristolLive understands teams who wish to compete in the ENBL must be judged to be competitive in their domestic league, with every European basketball competition requiring an entry fee to join. It is also understood that an ENBL club's home venue must be able to accommodate a minimum of 300 spectators for a game, in order to qualify.
The Flyers have reached the BBL play-off semi-finals having secured their highest ever regular season finish of third place in the league table, notching up the most wins the team has ever achieved in a single season along the way.
The club’s current home, the SGS College Arena in Stoke Gifford is the smallest gym in the BBL with a capacity of 750, though work is set to begin on the club’s new 3,600-seater arena next to Ashton Gate Stadium, where it will sit closer to its Bristol Sport affiliate clubs Bristol City FC and Premiership Rugby team Bristol Bears.
Director Jon Lansdown said: “We are really excited to join this competition. Participating in the ENBL brings to life our European ambitions and offers us a platform to continue to grow and build further momentum for the Flyers.
“It will be fantastic to introduce European basketball to Bristol and we look forward to what the competition will bring, not just for the club but our fans and the city too.”
The team’s head coach Andreas Kapoulas added: “This is an exciting opportunity to experience European competition and understand what it takes to compete at this level, both on and off the court.
“As a club we have been on an incredible journey over the last 18 years and with our new venue on the horizon, we want to continue our progress by taking the next steps in the development of our programme.”
Kapoulas told BristolLive organisers of the ENBL had previously approached the Flyers to gauge their interest in taking part, with the club deciding it was the “right time” to enter, following their domestic achievements this year.
The buzz surrounding the team’s successful BBL season saw them sell out their final six home games of the regular season well in advance, while Kapoulas said tickets for the first leg of the team’s play-off semi-final against Leicester Riders were snapped up “within 15 minutes” of going on general sale.
Kapoulas said the club had become “the hottest ticket in town”, adding he anticipated demand would also be high to watch the club’s European games next year as well. The Greek coach said the ENBL could provide a “good level” of competition and act as a “stepping stone” for the Flyers, as they aim to win their first BBL championship while also competing in top European competitions.
Kapoulas has been at the helm of the Flyers, and its previous iteration the Bristol Academy Flyers, for almost two decades. He was also an assistant coach with the Great Britain men’s national side at last year’s EuroBasket - the sport’s top European competition at international level.
He described the prospect of leading the Bristol Flyers into the club’s first European competition as an “incredible feeling”.
“I’m very proud of how we do things at the club and how we have done things over the last 18 years. Certainly there has been a lot of hard work from everyone to get to this point, and the opportunity to play European competition is something incredible.
“It shows that there is a real appetite for basketball in this city, we mentioned about the sell-outs and how difficult it is to get tickets, and how much progress we have made both on and off the court in a relatively quick time. For us to be in this position is something that fills me with a lot of pride.”
Now they are in Europe, Kapoulas said he and his players were looking forward to testing themselves against some of the better teams on the continent, and were hoping to make some noise in the ENBL..
“Certainly we want to do well. We want to learn from it and we're hoping that the Flyers will be playing in European competition for a number of years and this is the start of it. We’re competitors. We’re doing this because we want to win. We're not just going there to make up the numbers.”
