British Championship Basketball begins its second league season on Saturday 3 October, starting a 14-team race that runs until April. The official schedule opens with six Saturday games before defending league champions Reading Rockets host Bristol Hurricanes on Sunday afternoon.[1][2]
For UK basketball followers, the first point is an important one: BCB and Super League Basketball are not the same competition. BCB’s own coverage treats the BBL/SLB as a separate tier when discussing players who have moved between those leagues and BCB.[3] Results, tables and honours should therefore be recorded against the correct competition.
How the 2026-27 BCB league works
All 14 clubs play one another twice, home and away, giving every team a 26-game league programme between October and April. The club finishing first will be crowned BCB League champion.[1]
The top eight progress to the Playoffs. From there, the title is decided through single-game knockout ties in the quarter-finals and semi-finals, followed by a one-game Playoff final. That format leaves no best-of-series safety net: one result decides who advances at every stage.[1]
The BCB Trophy is a separate competition. It began on 5 September, before the league, so Trophy results should not be folded into the 26-game regular-season record.[1]
The 14 teams
The clubs listed in the official 2026-27 BCB schedule are:[2]
- Birmingham Rockets
- Bristol Flyers II
- Bristol Hurricanes
- Derby Trailblazers
- Essex Rebels
- Hemel Storm
- London Cavaliers
- Loughborough Riders
- Milton Keynes Breakers
- Newcastle Knights
- Nottingham Hoods
- Reading Rockets
- Worthing Thunder
- Yorkshire Dragons
The list mixes established senior clubs, academy and pathway programmes, and a second team in Bristol Flyers II. For supporters checking results, that “II” matters: it identifies the BCB side and avoids confusion with Bristol Flyers’ first team elsewhere in British basketball.
Opening weekend: every league fixture
The first six games take place on Saturday 3 October, with the opening round completed the next day. Times below are those displayed on BCB’s official schedule and should be checked again before travel:[2]
- Nottingham Hoods v Derby Trailblazers — Saturday, 6pm, Harvey Hadden Sports Village
- Yorkshire Dragons v Birmingham Rockets — Saturday, 6.15pm, Inspire Leisure Centre
- Bristol Flyers II v Worthing Thunder — Saturday, 6.30pm, SGS College WISE Campus
- Essex Rebels v Newcastle Knights — Saturday, 6.30pm, Essex Sports Arena
- Loughborough Riders v London Cavaliers — Saturday, 6.30pm, Netball Centre, Loughborough University
- Hemel Storm v Milton Keynes Breakers — Saturday, 7pm, Hemel Hempstead Leisure Centre
- Reading Rockets v Bristol Hurricanes — Sunday 4 October, 4pm, Loddon Valley Leisure Centre
Yorkshire against Birmingham carries immediate recent history. Birmingham won the inaugural BCB Trophy, beating Yorkshire in the final, and the league fixture announcement selected their opening-day meeting as one of the dates to mark. Their return league game is scheduled for 10 January in Birmingham.[1][2]
Dates to circle
The other early headline game arrives on Saturday 24 October, when Newcastle Knights host Reading Rockets. Newcastle beat Reading to win the inaugural Playoff title after Reading had finished as League champions, giving the new season an early meeting between the holders of BCB’s two league-based honours.[1]
The current official schedule lists the return as Reading v Newcastle on Sunday 31 January. That is one day later than the 30 January date stated in BCB’s original fixture announcement, so readers should use the live schedule and club ticket information before making plans.[1][2]
That opening month also brings Birmingham v Reading on 18 October, Yorkshire v Newcastle on 17 October and Newcastle v Birmingham on 31 October.[2] Those games offer early comparisons between last season’s three title winners—Reading in the League, Birmingham in the Trophy and Newcastle in the Playoffs—but they do not settle a 26-game campaign. With no supported basis yet for forecasting a favourite, the useful early questions are how quickly new-look teams establish rotations, which clubs protect home court and who builds the consistency required to finish in the top eight.
The regular season is scheduled to close across 3 and 4 April, after which the one-game Playoffs will decide the final honour of BCB’s second season.[1][2]
Sources
[1] BCB fixtures 2026-27 announced and dates to mark