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 first played for during the 2005–06 season. It replaced the Super Cup as the top level 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. League games and grand finals have been broadcast live on Sky Sports. 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.

Netball Superleague
Current season, competition or edition:
2020 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

Teams

2021 teams
Team Home venue/base Country/Region Debut season
Celtic Dragons Sport Wales National Centre Wales 2005–06
Leeds Rhinos TBC 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]

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 [33][6]Team Bath54–46Galleria MavericksCoventry Skydome
2009–10 [7]Team Bath51–44Hertfordshire MavericksTrent FM Arena
2011 [34][35]Hertfordshire Mavericks57–46Surrey StormHerts Sports Village
2012 [16][15]Northern Thunder57–55Surrey StormSportHouse
2013 [8][36][37]Team Bath62–56Celtic DragonsUniversity of Worcester Arena
2014 [38]Manchester Thunder49–48Surrey StormUniversity of Worcester Arena
2015 [39][19]Surrey Storm56–39Hertfordshire MavericksCopper Box Arena
2016 [20][21]Surrey Storm55–53Manchester ThunderCopper Box Arena
2017 [25][40]Wasps55–51Loughborough LightningBarclaycard Arena
2018 [26][41][42]Wasps55–51Loughborough LightningCopper Box Arena
2019 [30][31]Manchester Thunder57–52WaspsCopper Box Arena

Source:[43]

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][44][45]2007–2010
Fiat Group Automobiles [35][46]2011–2012
Zeo [47]2014
VitalityHealth [20][48]2016–

Television

Sky Sports are the Netball Superleague's official broadcast partner and they broadcast live matches throughout the season. [49][50][51] 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. [52][53]

References
  1. Dr. Louise Mansfield & Dr. Lara Killick (1 January 2012). "The UK Netball Superleague: A Case Study of Franchising in Elite Women's Sport" (PDF). Brunel University, School of Sport and Education, Kingston Lane, Uxbridge, Middlesex, UK; and University of the Pacific, Department of Health, Exercise and Sport Science, Stockton, CA.
  2. "TeamBath take Superleague title". news.bbc.co.uk. 4 June 2006. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
  3. "2005–06 Team Bath squad". www.teambath.com. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  4. "2006–07 Team Bath squad". www.teambath.com. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  5. "Team Bath defend their Super League Title". womensportreport.com. 9 June 2007. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  6. "Gallery: Full Report: Mavericks lose out in grand final to Team Bath". www.whtimes.co.uk. 7 April 2009. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
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  8. "Team Bath are champions". www.itv.com. 25 May 2013. Retrieved 14 February 2020.
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  18. "Surrey Storm beat Hertfordshire Mavericks to win 2015 Netball Superleague title". www.skysports.com. 26 April 2015. Retrieved 29 April 2015.
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  27. "Netball Superleague: London Pulse to replace Team Northumbria in 2019". www.bbc.com. 10 July 2018. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
  28. "London Pulse join Netball Superleague". www.skysports.com. 10 July 2018. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
  29. "Netball Superleague: Wasps beat Lightning to begin title defence - round-up". www.bbc.com. 5 January 2019. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
  30. "Manchester Thunder crowned Superleague Champions after epic showdown with Wasps". www.manchesterthunder.co.uk. 18 May 2019. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  31. "Netball Superleague Grand Final: Manchester Thunder win 57-52 against Wasps". www.bbc.co.uk. 19 May 2019. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  32. "Netball Superleague: Leeds Rhinos to join league from 2021". www.bbc.co.uk. 5 June 2019. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  33. "Galleria Mavericks lose to Bath in Superleague Grand Final". www.whtimes.co.uk. 5 April 2009. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
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  40. "Wasps Netball beat Loughborough Lightning in Netball Superleague Grand Final". www.skysports.com. 15 June 2017. Retrieved 8 February 2020.
  41. "Wasps Netball are Superleague champions 2018". www.waspsnetball.co.uk. 7 July 2018. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  42. "Superleague Grand Final: Wasps 55-51 Loughborough". www.bbc.co.uk. 8 July 2018. Retrieved 8 February 2020.
  43. "About Us". www.netballsl.com. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  44. "England Netball enters Co-operative partnership for Superleague". www.sportbusiness.com. 23 October 2007. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  45. "The Co-operative signs up for more netball". www.sportbusiness.com. 9 January 2009. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  46. "Fiat agrees netball partnership". www.sportspromedia.com. 10 January 2011. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  47. "Zeo scores England Netball deal". www.sportbusiness.com. 12 November 2013. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  48. "Vitality confirms continued commitment to England Netball as England Roses become 'Vitality Roses'". www.englandnetball.co.uk. 23 October 2018. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  49. "Netball". www.skysports.com. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
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  51. "Sky Sports". www.englandnetball.co.uk. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
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