British basketball player Temi Fagbenle has endured two months of insane sporting highs and lows.
On the one hand, she is currently playing for the most high-profile women’s sports team in America, the Indiana Fever, alongside superstar rookie Caitlin Clark. There is more attention and interest in women’s basketball than ever before and, for Fagbenle, it has been exhilarating.
But it sits in stark contrast with the situation at London Lions, her hometown club. Just over a month ago, she won an historic EuroCup title with the Lions at the Copper Box Arena, but they will not be back to defend their crown next season because of an investment decision taken by the club’s owners.
“It’s not good to hear the owners don’t deem our group as something to continue to invest in,” Fagbenle says, speaking to Standard Sport from Indianapolis. “It goes to show, even if you win a European trophy and break records and make history, that, if you’re a woman, then things are still quite different for you in the world of sports. It’s a punch to the gut.”
The Lions’ owners are 777 Partners, the same investment group involved in the beleaguered takeover attempt at Everton. The online gaming company, which also runs football clubs in France, Italy, Belgium and Brazil, took over the Lions in 2020 and also has a 45 per cent stake in the British Basketball League.
It sparked an exciting time, where players at the London club were on full-time contracts and success came on the court. But in March it emerged that 777 had suddenly opted to withdraw the women’s team from all European competition next season.
That decision remains unchanged, despite the Lions becoming the first-ever British team — male or female — to win a major European trophy.
The official line from 777 was that this was temporary, and that the club would focus on developing homegrown players, rather than signing top overseas talent, ahead of returning to European competitions in subsequent seasons.
The reality, though, according to club sources, is that instability at the Lions started ever since problems with 777’s Goodison Park takeover emerged.
777’s deal to buy Everton remains up in the air, as it has as yet failed to meet Premier League conditions, but the company has lent the Merseyside club more than $200million (£157.5m).
In the meantime, at the Lions, Standard Sport understands that the majority of funding for the women’s team and the club’s academy has been cut for next season, while the men’s team has kept most of its budget.
One source says that club vendors have not been paid since October, and club employees are “living day-to-day” in fear of being made redundant.
A spokesperson for 777 told Standard Sport that its investment in British basketball has been “the largest ever” seen in the sport, and that it remains “fully committed to growing all arms of the club, prioritising the women’s and men’s teams wholeheartedly, including the onward development of the academy”. It added that it is“strategically working through any outstanding creditors to ensure all are paid in full”.
For Fagbenle and her team-mates, though, there are no more full-time professional contracts and the majority of the squad are not expected to return.
Their European triumph should have been a huge moment of growth in the UK, especially with the record-breaking wave of viewership in the WNBA in the US, but Fagbenle fears UK women’s basketball, which remains largely amateur, will be left behind.
“It’s a massive step to say to a kid who grew up playing basketball that they will be funding the men and not the women.”
“I guess [777] doesn’t want to be part of it, but there’s a rise in attention for women’s basketball and people are putting their money where their mouths are,” she says. “[UK basketball] is definitely going to be left in the dust, because it’s a missed opportunity to capitalise on the momentum of the win, the history-making and really bring more eyes on London, Britain. All good things would have happened from that, if you look at the bigger picture.”
Greenhouse Sports, a charity that delivers sports coaches and mentoring to children from disadvantaged backgrounds, currently run basketball programmes with 1,600 girls involved.
It continues to partner with London Lions, but Greenhouse chief executive Don Barrell says the impact of the women’s team missing out on European competition will be felt by the children in the community.
“It’s a massive step to say to a kid who grew up playing basketball that they will be funding the men and not the women,” Barrell says. “I think [the children] feel let down and frustrated by this. Every decision made around professional sport affects the next generation. It’s something taken away.”
Fagbenle, 31, is a seasoned professional, who has played all over the world and will continue to find work elsewhere. But seeing the history-making squad fall away, after all they achieved, leaves a bitter taste.
“It was a season like no other, the most meaningful for me,” says the Baltimore-born forward. “It’s a missed opportunity to ride this wave.”
