Biography

Paisley Basketball Club was originally formed in 1962 as Penilee Basketball Club by Ronnie Mather. This team was based on pupils who had been involved in playing basketball at Penilee Secondary School in Glasgow. Penilee won the Scottish Cup at youth level in 1970. In 1972, as Ronnie moved teaching posts to Castlehead High School in Paisley, so the club moved to Paisley and was renamed. The newly named team continued to be successful and picked up another Scottish Cup at youth level in 1975. These players went on to form the basis for the 1977 and 1978 Scottish Cup winning sides at Senior level. This lead to competing in Europe against Spartak Mamer in the 1974 Cup Winners Cup and YMCA Espana Madrid in 1975. This culminated in the winning of the national league title in 1979. The youth development continued through the 1980’s and 1990’s with several league titles at Cadet and Junior levels, whilst the Senior team played in the National League, until 2001. As the Strathclyde League (SLBA) began to grow stronger and more organised in the 2000’s, Paisley focussed their efforts on competing in Division 1 and appearing in a number of Cup Finals. After the passing on Ronnie Mather, Paisley Basketball Club merged with Glasgow Gators, who themselves had been playing Senior National League and had recently enjoyed success in the Chairman’s Cup (A national cup competition for non-National League teams). This formed Paisley and South Glasgow Gators (or PSG for short). PSG enjoyed early success and in their first year won the SLBA division 2 title in 2006/7. The teams continued in the SLBA until 2012, when work and family commitments lead the club to cease. As 2012 represented the club’s 50th anniversary and 40th year in Paisley, a tournament was held in the Lagoon Leisure Centre in Paisley. Players that had represented the club over the years were invited to play with their old team mates in an all day 6 team competition. A few drinks were consumed after the tournament in the local bowling club! After the closure of the club’s bank account and the sale of some merchandise and equipment, a donation of £850 was made to the Paisley charity ACCORD Hospice. In 2013, after some discussion between Robert Brown and Craig Morning, a new club was created using a sponsorship from ChemTech Consultancy, which allowed the purchase of new strips. The club was now based Paisley Grammar school and playing in SLBA Division 3. The team narrowly missed out on the Division 3 league title in 2014/15. In 2015/16, Paisley were able to enter two teams in the Strathclyde League, with runners up placings in Division 2 and 4. The club has now grown so much through player recruitment and the return of former players that we needed to restructure the club. This has allowed us to enter 3 teams for the 2016/17 season. The future is bright.

Personal Info