Playing in the nearby town of Guildford, at the Spectrum complex, the team started the 2005–06 British Basketball League season with many of the former Tigers players.

The franchise originally started out as the Southern Pirates, playing out of the city of Portsmouth, however they were soon moved inland in 1975 to the town of Guildford, following their coach, Brian Naysmith who had been appointed Director of Sport at the University of Surrey.

In the 1978–79 season Guildford Pirates were champions of the Second Division of the National Basketball League and accepted an invitation to join the top tier.

For many years, the Tigers were one of the front runners of the league, even winning the League Championship in 1994, but it was in the new millennium that the successes dried up and for owner John Nike the team was too much of a financial burden.

[2] The Tigers' BBL membership thus lapsed, but the fans obtained permission from the League to enter a new team in their place, and successful negotiations with the Spectrum Arena in Guildford, where the Pirates franchise started, led to the birth of the brand new Guildford Heat.