Netball Superleague

The Netball Superleague is a top level netball league featuring teams from the United Kingdom. The league is organised by England Netball and while the majority of teams are based in England, it also features teams from Wales and Scotland. The league was commenced playing at the 2005–06 season, replacing the Super Cup as the elite netball competition in England. Since 2016 the league has been sponsored by VitalityHealth and, as a result, it is also known as the Vitality Netball Superleague.

Netball Superleague
Current season, competition or edition:
2021 Netball Superleague season
Inaugural season2005–06
No. of teams10
CountryUnited Kingdom
Most recent
champion(s)		Manchester Thunder (3rd title)
Most titlesTeam Bath (5 titles)
TV partner(s)Sky Sports
Sponsor(s)VitalityHealth
Related
competitions		British Fast5 Netball All-Stars Championship
Super Cup
Official websitewww.netballsl.com

Historically the league's most successful teams are Team Bath, who have won five titles, and the Mavericks, who have played in seven grand finals. In more recent times, Surrey Storm won successive titles in 2015 and 2016 and Wasps have played in three successive finals, winning two titles, between 2017 and 2019. In 2019 Manchester Thunder won their third title. Umpire Gary Burgess made history in 2018 by umpiring his 10th consecutive Netball Superleague final between Manchester Thunder and Surrey Storm.

Teams

Current teams
Team Home venue/base Country/Region Debut season
Celtic Dragons Sport Wales National Centre Wales 2005–06
Leeds Rhinos Leeds Beckett University Yorkshire 2021
London Pulse Copper Box Arena London 2019
Loughborough Lightning Loughborough University East Midlands 2005–06
Manchester Thunder Belle Vue Sports Village North West England 2005–06
Saracens Mavericks University of Hertfordshire East of England 2005–06
Severn Stars University of Worcester Arena West Midlands 2017
Strathclyde Sirens Emirates Arena Scotland 2017
Surrey Storm University of Surrey Greater London/South East England 2005–06
Team Bath University of Bath South West England/West of England 2005–06
Wasps Netball Ricoh Arena West Midlands 2017
Notes

Former teams
Team Region Debut season Final season
Glasgow Wildcats Scotland 2008–09 2011
Leeds Carnegie/Yorkshire Jets Yorkshire 2005–06 2016
Team Northumbria North East England 2005–06 2018
Notes

History
Season Key events
2005Brunel Hurricanes, Celtic Dragons, Galleria Mavericks, Leeds Carnegie, Loughborough Lightning, Northern Thunder, Team Bath and Team Northumbria become founder members of the new Netball Superleague.[1]
2005–06With a squad that included Pamela Cookey, Rachel Dunn, Stacey Francis, Jess Garland, Tamsin Greenway and Geva Mentor, Team Bath win the inaugural Netball Superleague title.[2][3][4] Team Bath subsequently dominate the early seasons of the league, winning further Superleague titles in 2006–07, 2008–09, 2009–10 and 2013.[5][6][7][8]
2007–08After playing and losing in the first two grand finals, the Mavericks win their first Superleague title.[9][10]
2008–09Glasgow Wildcats become the first team from Scotland to join the league.[11][12] However they only play in the league for three seasons and withdraw following the 2011 season.[13]
2009–10Brunel Hurricanes end their partnership with Brunel University and relocate to the University of Surrey to become Surrey Storm.[14][15]
2012Northern Thunder win their first Superleague title.[16] They subsequently change their name to Manchester Thunder before the 2013 season.[17]
2015After making four grand final appearances in five years, Surrey Storm win their first Superleague title.[15][18][19]
2016Surrey Storm retain the Superleague title.[20][21] Yorkshire Jets, formerly Leeds Carnegie, play their final Superleague season.[22]
2017Three new franchises Severn Stars, Scottish Sirens and Wasps make their Superleague debuts.[22][23][24] Wasps go on to win the Grand Final in their debut season.[25]
2018Wasps retain the Superleague title [26] Team Northumbria play their final Superleague season.[27]
2019London Pulse make their Superleague debut.[27][28][29] Manchester Thunder win their third Superleague title.[30][31] Leeds Rhinos are announced as a new franchise team for 2021.[32]
2020/2021Following disruptions to the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, England Netball took the "difficult decision" to suspend the league until 2021. This followed consultation with the league's board as well as all 10 teams and stakeholders.[33] The 2021 season was staged over a shortened period and behind closed doors at select venues.

Grand Finals
Season Winners Score Runners Up Venue
2005–06 [2]Team Bath43–35Galleria MavericksGuildford Spectrum
2006–07 [5]Team Bath53–45Galleria MavericksGuildford Spectrum
2007–08 [9][10]Galleria Mavericks43–39Loughborough LightningK2 Leisure Centre
2008–09 [34][6]Team Bath54–46Galleria MavericksCoventry Skydome
2009–10 [7]Team Bath51–44Hertfordshire MavericksTrent FM Arena
2011 [35][36]Hertfordshire Mavericks57–46Surrey StormHerts Sports Village
2012 [16][15]Northern Thunder57–55Surrey StormSportHouse
2013 [8][37][38]Team Bath62–56Celtic DragonsUniversity of Worcester Arena
2014 [39]Manchester Thunder49–48Surrey StormUniversity of Worcester Arena
2015 [40][19]Surrey Storm56–39Hertfordshire MavericksCopper Box Arena
2016 [20][21]Surrey Storm55–53Manchester ThunderCopper Box Arena
2017 [25][41]Wasps55–51Loughborough LightningBarclaycard Arena
2018 [26][42][43]Wasps55–51Loughborough LightningCopper Box Arena
2019 [30][31]Manchester Thunder57–52WaspsCopper Box Arena

Source:[44]

Winners
Winners Seasons Titles
Team Bath2005–06, 2006–07, 2008–09, 2009–10, 20135
Manchester Thunder2012, 2014, 20193
Mavericks2007–08, 20112
Surrey Storm2015, 20162
Wasps2017, 20182

Sponsorship
Sponsors Seasons
Figleaves [1]2005–06
The Co-operative Group [9][45][46]2007–2010
Fiat Group Automobiles [36][47]2011–2012
Zeo [48]2014
VitalityHealth [20][49]2016–

Television

Sky Sports are the Netball Superleague's official broadcast partner and they broadcast live matches throughout the season.[50][51][52] In November 2016 England Netball and Sky Sports signed a four-year deal which saw every live match made available to all Sky TV customers on Sky Sports Mix.[53][54] A "multi-year deal" was reached in 2021, which expanded Sky's coverage to allow for all matches to be either televised on Sky Sports or streamed via YouTube.[55]

See also

References
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