Falkirk Fury: Basketball club shares success with Team Solripe legend Bobby Kinzer

There has been praise across the basketball community for Bobby's ‘The Other Side of the Hoop’, where Special K describes his European basketball experience, focussing particularly on his time in Falkirk playing in front of 5,000 fans at Coasters Arena.

In those days Scottish basketball had a huge following, broadcast on mainstream TV and crowds that rivalled the local football team.

Coasters brought a showbiz glitz to the game and Solripe had one of the two best teams in Scotland with Kinzer the floor general.

Kinzer praised the Fury head coach for his work in founding Fury basketball club in 1992 and continuing to provide opportunities for players to not only play in Scotland but throughout the world.

Kinzer also met Fury junior women MVP of the Scottish Cup finals of 2024 Daisy Lawson, who received one of the Special Endeavour Awards at Fury's 2025 awards night for her work not just on court but off court coaching young players.

Also present was Fury's US star Javon Daniels, who found he grew up in the same area of the US as the Solripe star.

Another former Solripe and Fury star, Steve Hoffman, was also part of the Falkirk club's connection.

Scotland international Hoffman, a three-point shooting legend, played for both Solripe in the 1980s and for Fury, winning Scottish National titles (cup and league ) with both Falkirk clubs.

Kinzer met many fans of the Solripe era and former team-mates like Grant Mitchell, another man who incredibly played for both Solripe and Fury.

While Solripe never won the Scottish Division 1 title (they were Scottish Cup winners), Fury head coach John Bunyan brought the league trophy along to the event and Special K shared in Fury's recent eighth time of winning the title and being Scottish champions.

The first title won by Fury back in season 2000-2001 was with Hoffman in the team, Bunyan the coach and another Special K in that line-up - Great Britain and Olympic star Kieron Achara as a 17-year-old.

The meeting between the two Falkirk forces of Scottish basketball was truly a great occasion.

Meanwhile, Fury's own Jonny Bunyan, who was recently appointed as the Caledonia Gladiators head coach in Britain's professional men's basketball league, the Super League, took his first win as coach against the Newcastle Eagles on the road.

The 83-67 scoreline saw the Gladiators play their best basketball this season and was testimony to the work the players and coaches Jonny Bunyan and assistant Darryl Woods had put in since a number of changes were put in place at the Scottish pro side.

Fury's former star Fraser Malcolm, who plays for the EK side, had a solid game in the win at the Vertu Motors Arena.