Sport Basketball National League champions Birmingham Team Fiat Play Off's champions Sunderland Saints | Number of teams 10 National League runners-up Crystal Palace | |
League National Basketball League | ||
The 1980–81 Rotary Watches National Basketball League season was the ninth season of the National Basketball League formed in 1972.
The league was sponsored by Rotary Watches for the third consecutive year and Birmingham Team Fiat broke the Crystal Palace monopoly by taking the league title. Sunderland provided a major shock when securing the Play Off's title. Crystal Palace who were expected to make a clean sweep of silverware gained some consolation by winning the National Cup.
Team Changes
Coventry Team Fiat were rebranded Birmingham and moved to a larger venue at the Aston Villa Leisure Centre which served as a catalyst for their success. Manchester took on the name Trafford for the season but apart from this the teams remained the same. A team called Solent Stars backed by a millionaire businessman called Harry Smith easily won the second division and competed successfully against first division teams in tournaments.