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Liège Basket

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Liège Basket
Liège Basket logo
LeaguesBNXT League
Founded1967; 57 years ago (1967)
Dissolved2024
HistoryFléron Basket Club
1967–2000
Liège Basket
2000–2024
ArenaCountry Hall Liège
Capacity5,000
LocationLiège, Belgium
Team colorsBlack, White, Red
     
Main sponsorVOO
PresidentErnie Cambo
Head coachAlex Zampier
OwnershipErnie Cambo
Championships1 Belgian Cup
2 Belgian Supercups
1 ENBL
Websiteliegebasket.be

Liège Basket was a Belgian professional basketball club from Liège. The club competed in the BNXT League. Founded in 1967, the team played at 5,600 seat Country Hall Ethias Liège.[1]

The club was one of the traditional clubs in Belgian basketball, having played in the top flight division since 2001. Liège Basket's accolades include one Belgian Cup (in 2004) and two Belgian Supercups (in 2004 and 2009).

History

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The club was founded in Fléron as the Fléron Basket Club in 1967. After being an amateur league for its first years, the team hired its first professional coach in 1975. In 1977 and 1981, the Fléron promoted to the first regional league. In 1983, the club made its debut on the national level as it promoted to the Fourth National Division. In 2000, the club decided to merge with BC Hannut and Essor Hannut, relocating to the city of Liège.

After the move to Lìege, the club quickly promoted to the First National League. In 2001, the club's debut in Europe was made after it qualified as 7th in the previous season. In the 2001–02 FIBA Korać Cup, the team lost to French side Racing Paris in the first round. Three years later, in 2004, the team wins its first silverware when it captures the Belgian Basketball Cup for the first time.

In the 2008–09 season, the team had its best European campaign when it reached the Top 16 of the 2008–09 FIBA EuroChallenge. In 2010, Liège played in the championship playoffs for the first time, but loses to Spirou Charleroi.

Since the 2021–22 season, Liège plays in the BNXT League, in which the national leagues of Belgium and the Netherlands have been merged.[2] After the 2020s were characterised mainly by financial problems for Liège, the club was purchased by an American investors group in 2022. The Mickael Sports Group, owned by Ernie Cambo, purchased all shares in the team.[3] Following the acquisition, head coach Lionel Bosco was sacked and replaced by Brad Greenberg.

On October 3, the club announced that they will be boycotting the away-game against Antwerp Giants on October 28 because of "partisan" refereeing in away-games, also saying that "Belgian players get better calls then foreigners. The BNXT League responded by saying that if they actually pull through, Liège will be refused access to the playoffs on top of a €2500 fine. The League put the deadline for the decision on October 10. On October 9, they announced that the will play against the Antwerp Giants.

Honours and titles

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Logos and names

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  • Sponsored logo (2014–2017)
    Sponsored logo (2014–2017)
  • The Liège Basket logo used until 2018
    The Liège Basket logo used until 2018
  • TEC Liège (2000–2001)
  • Dexia Liège (2001)
  • Euphony Liège (2001–2004)
  • Liège Basket (2004–2015)
  • betFirst Liège Basket (2015–2017)
  • VOO Liège Basket (2017–present)

Season by season

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Season Tier League Pos. Belgian Cup Other cups European competitions
2009–10 1 BLB 2nd Supercup C 3 EuroChallenge T16
2010–11 1 BLB 8th 3 EuroChallenge RS
2011–12 1 BLB 8th
2012–13 1 BLB 7th Quarterfinalist
2013–14 1 BLB 5th Semifinalist
2014–15 1 BLB 7th Runner-up
2015–16 1 BLB 8th Round of 16
2016–17 1 BLB 10th Round of 16
2017–18 1 BLB 9th Quarterfinalist
2018–19 1 BLB 10th Round of 16
2019–20 1 PBL 10th
2020–21 1 PBL 9th Play-in Round
2021–22 1 BNXT 17th –

European record

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Season Tier Competition Round Club Home Away
2001–02
2
FIBA Korać Cup First Round France Racing Paris
62–83
74–88
2004–05
2
ULEB Cup
2006–07 3 FIBA EuroCup First Round Estonia BC Kalev ? ?
Ukraine BC Kyiv ? ?
Second Round Spain Estudiantes ? ?
Cyprus AEL Limassol ? ?
Lithuania Šiauliai ? ?
2008–09 3 FIBA EuroChallenge First Qualifying Round Denmark Bakken Bears 97–64 67–55
Second Qualifying Round France JA Vichy 74–67 80-70
Regular Season Spain Cajasol 69–62 79–78
Latvia Ventspils 89–84 73–54
Poland Czarni Słupsk 89–64 93–91
Top 16 Netherlands EiffelTowers Den Bosch 81–68 58–67
Germany Bonn 59–67 64–79
France Cholet 70–80 78–71
2009–10
3
 FIBA EuroChallenge

Players

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See also: Category:Liège Basket players

Individual awards

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Belgian League MVP
Belgian League Star of the Coaches

Notable players

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Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationalities not displayed.

Criteria

To appear in this section a player must have either:

  • Set a club record or won an individual award while at the club
  • Played at least one official international match for their national team at any time
  • Played at least one official NBA match at any time.

References

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  1. ^ "La Salle" (in French). Retrieved 2009-10-09.
  2. ^ "Licenties BNXT League 2021-2022 toegekend". Basketball League (in Dutch). Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  3. ^ "Eerste Belgische basketbalclub in buitenlandse handen: Amerikaanse investeringsgroep neemt Luik Basket over". Het Nieuwsblad (in Flemish). 13 December 2022. Retrieved 2023-01-25.
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