Proud name of Bradford Dragons left fighting for survival amid lockdown

Such is the world of sport amid the coronavirus shutdown. Clubs of all statures and fanbases, in whichever sport, are looking at how to cut their cloth accordingly.

For those at the bottom end of the professional sphere, where games are played in front of 150 people, there is no television deal and a huge dependance on local sponsors, a global pandemic of this magnitude could be terminal.

Steve Valentine has been with the club since it’s first game back in 2004. Then as treasurer and secretary, and now as chairman, Valentine has helped build a club that boasts a senior men’s team, an academy programme at Bradford College, and puts three junior teams on the court in national competitions at Under-14s, Under-16s and Under-18s level. The Dragons’ junior programmes should be safe no matter what, but their flagship team – which has spent 10 years in the top flight of English basketball – finds itself in peril.

“Most of our time is spent scrabbling around for money,” explains Valentine of a club who pays players from the local area, United States and Latvia to represent Bradford.

“I’m in the process of doing our budget for next year and the immediate concern is are we going to be able to get sponsors? Where can we make savings?

“We are very much in survival mode. We’re going to be looking for help from the government, from Basketball England, from Sport England. Give us a grant, just enough money to start us off again next season.

“Because otherwise you need £3,000 for registration fees etc just to tip-off the first game. Where are we going to find that?”

Despite the gloomy outlook, Valentine is optimisitic.

Bradford Dragons have been a well-run club for all of their 16 years in existence, have the support of the local business community and of local MPs, and have never run before they walked. The only sprinting they did was through the divisions of the National Basketball League; from Division Four to Division One in three seasons before consolidating in English basketball’s top flight.

The British Basketball League would represent a natural progression, but Valentine is wary.

“You need a hell of a lot of money behind you for the BBL, and we don’t have that,” said Valentine, of conversations that occurred long before coronavirus struck. “We want first and foremost to get a group of guys together capable of winning the NBL. That’s our ambition.

“Once we’ve got to that stage we’ll look at the BBL. Only when you’re the best in the NBL can you attract the sponsorship and crowds that could help us be competitive in the BBL.

“And if we did go for it we’d want to be there for the long haul. There’s no point trying it and coming back down to NBL1. You’d go bust and have to start all over again.”

So a record of 12 wins and 11 losses that saw them sat eighth in the 14-team league was not going to trouble BBL this year.

Dragons were rounding into form as they looked for a strong play-off push, led by their long-time head coach Chris Mellor, the Bradford-born former England and GB player, and through the points of Albert Margai and Richard Sulcs.

It was all about the basketball for the team based at Bradford College, until Mellor and Sulcs tested positive for coronavirus in the middle of March.

They went into self-isolation, Bradford withdrew from fixtures and the league was suspended and eventually abandoned. Mellor and Sulcs have recovered. Quite how well the club’s first team recovers from coronavirus is now their biggest challenge.

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