Leicester Tigers

Leicester Tigers
Full name	Leicester Football Club
Nickname (s)	Tigers
Founded	1880
Stadion	Welford Road Stadium
Places	24,000
president	Peter Tom
Trainer	Geordan Murphy
Homepage	leicestertigers.com
league	English Premiership
2018/19	11th place
home	Away

The Leicester Football Club (almost always as Leicester Tigers called) is a rugby union -Verein from the English city of Leicester , in the Aviva Premiership play, the top English league. The home games are played at Welford Road Stadium . With ten championship titles, two wins in the Heineken Cup and seven times the English Cup, the "Tigers" are among the most successful teams in the country.

history

In 1880, Leicester Football Club was formed from the merger of Leicester Societies AFC, Leicester Amateur FC and Leicester Alert. In 1892 it moved to its current location on Welford Road. There are two theories about the origin of the nickname Tiger : Either it comes from the Leicestershire Regiment, which was stationed in India , or from the brown and yellow striped shirts that the crew wore in the past.

Until the 1970s, the number of spectators was modest; The stadium was only sold out for the traditional game against Barbarian FC on December 26th. This Boxing Day Fixture still takes place today, but on other days due to the championship program.

The Tigers won three times in a row in the final of the John Player Cup between 1979 and 1981 and were therefore allowed to keep the cup permanently. They also won the English championship, which was held for the first time in the 1987/88 season, today's Aviva Premiership ; they secured the title on the last day of play with a win against the Waterloo RFC .

In the 1990s a successful series began that is unparalleled in England. The Tigers won the cup in 1993 and 1997, and in 1995 they became champions for the second time. In 1997 they reached the final of the European Heineken Cup , which they lost to the French club CA Brive . Between 1999 and 2002 they won the English championship four times in a row. In 2001 they won the final of the Heineken Cup against Stade Français Paris in Paris' Parc des Princes ; The Tigers repeated this success in 2002 at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff against the Irish team Munster Rugby . Between December 30, 1997 and November 30, 2002, Leicester remained unbeaten in 57 games at home, including 52 in a row.

During the 2003 World Cup, there were no fewer than seven Tigers players in the England squad . Since these regular players were absent for a long time, the team ended the 2003/04 season in the unusually poor 11th place and almost relegated. In 2005, the Tigers finished the regular season back on top, but lost the play-off final against the London Wasps . Also in 2006 they lost in the final, this time against the Sale Sharks .

In 2007 they finally prevailed against Gloucester RFC and won the championship title for the seventh time. However , they lost the final in the Heineken Cup against the London Wasps with 9:25. Another defeat in the final came in 2008 when the Tigers lost to the London Wasps 16:26 in the decisive game for the championship. In the following season they were again English champions, but had to admit defeat in the final of the Heineken Cup . In 2010 they were able to successfully defend the championship title. However, they lost in the final against the Saracens in 2011 and against the Harlequins in 2012 . In 2013 they were again in the championship finals and prevailed against the Northampton Saints .

successes

Champion Premiership : 1988 , 1995 , 1999 , 2000 , 2001 , 2002 , 2007 , 2009 , 2010 , 2013
Anglo-Welsh Cup winners : 1979, 1980, 1981, 1993, 1997, 2007, 2012, 2017
Heineken Cup winner : 2001, 2002
Winner Middlesex 7s : 1995
Playoff finalist Premiership: 2005, 2006, 2011, 2012
Heineken Cup finalist: 1997, 2007, 2009
Finalist John Player Cup / Pilkington Cup: 1978, 1983, 1989, 1994, 1996