Thames Valley Tigers

Franchise history

The franchise started as the Southern Pirates in Portsmouth, but moved inland to Guildford in 1975 after coach Brian Naysmith became Director of Sport at the University of Surrey. The name Southern Pirates was kept at first, then changed to Guildford Pirates. In the 1978–79 season, Guildford Pirates won the Second Division of the National Basketball League and accepted an invitation to join the top tier. Known as Team Talbot Guildford Pirates after a sponsorship deal, the team spent three seasons in Guildford, struggling in NBL Division 1 but improving each year.

The Junior (U-18) Men were more successful, winning the National (U-18) Cup. In 1982, the Pirates moved to Bracknell, becoming the Bracknell Pirates, and notched the franchise's first winning season and Play-Off appearances. In 1987, the Bracknell Tigers joined the BBL and won their first silverware in 1988–89 before being renamed the Thames Valley Tigers. For many years, the Tigers were front runners, winning the League Championship in 1994, but successes dried up in the new millennium.

Owner John Nike found the team too much of a financial burden and announced in April 2005 that he would stop funding both the basketball franchise and the ice hockey franchise Bracknell Bees. A consortium of fans led by local businessman Mike Davies formed to save the club and put together a viable package to take over administration, but Nike failed to reach agreement in time for them to lease the franchise, and the deadline for BBL entry for 2005–06 passed.

The Tigers' BBL membership lapsed, but the fans obtained permission from the League to enter a new team, and successful negotiations with the Spectrum Arena in Guildford led to the birth of the Guildford Heat.