Team History ## Home Court: Northgate Arena
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Team Names:TCS Chester Jets(-07), BiG Storage Cheshire Jets (07-09), Cheshire Jets (09-)
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Origin
The team was first formed from the ruins of the Ellesmere Port team, the St Saviours in 1984. The team was initially named after their sponsors 'Motocraft Centre Ellesmere Port'. However, after the loss of their sponsor, they renamed themselves Ellesmere Port Jets.
Moving to the BBL The Jets were admitted to NBL Division 2 in 1986 and showed little sign of what was to come as they finished last in their first season, with just a single victory. Edging up to seventh in 1987-88, they then changed their name to Cheshire Jets, though still continuing to play in Ellesmere Port.
They continued a steady mid-table development until, in 1991, they won the divisional title despite suffering five defeats. The same year, the Jets moved up into the BBL joining in with Britain's elite basketball teams.
Later however, the arena in Ellesmere Port became unsuitable, and so in 1993 the Jets were forced to move to Chester, and into the Northgate Arena.
The move was reflected in another name change to what is now the Chester Jets.The real turning point for the Jets came in 1996, when the application of
the Bosman ruling to basketball resulted in the departure of many of the top English players to European clubs, and the BBL changed its eligibility rule to
entitle teams to use five non-national players.
Astute trans-Atlantic recruitment in a highly competitive team, which finished fifth in the League table in 1997. They have remained highly competitive ever since, with best-ever performances in 2002 (Northern Conference Champions) and 2003 (3rd in the re-unified League), and a string of successes in the BBL trophy (4-times winners, from 2001 to 2004), culminating in the League Championship in 2005.
On April 7, 2007, prior to the Jets' season finale at home to Guildford Heat, an 81-102 defeat, club Director and head coach Mike Burton formally
announced that he would be retiring from the franchise at the end of the 2006-07 season. Burton's announcement, after 19 years at the helm, raised
serious doubts of the clubs' future.Shortly after the announcement, group of fans formed a committee to help save the club, while arranging several
meetings and fund-raisers, the dedication and commitment publicly received the backing of players including Jets legend James Hamilton. Following a
sponsorship deal agreed during the summer of 2007 with local firm BiG Storage to save the club and preserve their future, the Jets were renamed as the Cheshire Jets to cover the wider demographic of Cheshire county
BBL Positions:
Cheshire Jets (90-93), Chester Jets (93-)
88-7(D1), 89-8(D1), 90-6(D1), 91-1(D1), 92-11, 93-10, 94-11, 95-12, 96-12, 97-5, 98-10, 99-11, 00-4, 01-3, 02-1(Northern), 03-3, 04-5, 05-1, 06-7, 07-9, 08-11, 09-8, 10-4
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League achievements:
Uni-ball Trophy -01
British BBL National Cup Winner -02
British BBL Trophy Winner -02
British BBL Champion -02
National Cup Finalist -03
British BBL Finalist -04, 05
English BBL Regular Season Champion -05
British BBL Cup Semifinals -06
British BBL Trophy Semifinals -08
British BBL Cup Finalist -10
British BBL Trophy Finalist -10
Click on roster entry to view player profile via link to Eurobasket website.
