Sheffield Hatters fear one-and-done as British basketball fans group unite over licence dispute

As the higher seed and on home court they were heavy favourites, but in one-and-done play-off basketball, anything can happen - and so it proved. It ensures that when the women’s Super League Basketball play-offs commence tonight with the second-seed Hatters hosting Durham Palatinates, the seventh seeds, Hatters will be taking nothing for granted.

Durham won 11 fewer games than the 18-2 (win-loss) record Hatters finished the regular season with, but Hatters head coach Vanessa Ellis said: “It’s one game, one and done, it’s tough but that’s what the format is.

“We know from last year, losing by one point to Newcastle, but that’s the nature of the play-offs, it’s the same for everybody.”

The 2024-25 campaign has been the Hatters’ strongest since they returned after taking a year out in the wake of the Covid pandemic.

They finished second in the league and reached the SLB Cup final, beaten to the silverware by Oaklands Wolves on both occasions.

“Obviously you want to win but it wasn’t to be,” said Ellis.

“I’m really pleased for the players, they’ve had a lot thrown at them this season with a lot of injuries.

“There’s actually only four players from the start who have played all the games - Georgia Gayle, Shauna Harrison, Nina Krisper and Emma Gandini. So it’s been a tough season, but that core of players has really held the team together.”

Sheffield Sharks are also on home court on Sunday for the second leg of their play-off quarter-final with Cheshire Phoenix.

Elsewhere, the newly-former British Basketball Fans Association (BBFA) met on Thursday night to discuss developing a united front amid the licence dispute gripping the game.

Last month, the British Basketball Federation (BBF) awarded the licence to run the league from 2026/27 to GBB League Ltd, a group of external investors. Super League Basketball has threatened legal action and said it will run its own league independent of the governing body.

Fans at the BBFA meeting expressed their frustration at the silence from the governing body, their scepticism about the new investors taking on the operation of the licence and plan to write an open letter to all the relevant parties raising their concerns.