Guinness Premiership

The George Hotel in England witnessed the development of one of the great British and European club rugby teams when members from three local rugby teams, Leicester Societies AFC, Leicester Amateur FC and Leicester Alert, came together in August of 1880 to form the Leicester Football Club.

The new rugby club wasted no time taking to the pitch that October against Moseley at the Belgrave Cricket and Cycle Ground and quickly established themselves as the dominant team in the Midlands.

The Leicester Football Club adopted their more common moniker of Tigers on February 21 in 1885 when the local paper, the Leicester Daily Post, wrote of the side, that "the Tiger stripes were keeping well together."  It is unknown whether the nickname came from the brown and yellow strip worn that day or as a reference to the local regiment, The Royal Leicestershire Regiment, who were called the ‘Tigers’ after serving in India.  Regardless, the Tigers name stuck and is how the team is most often referred.

The Tigers are also known as the "The Death or Glory Boys".

The club kit changed from the yellow and black possibly mentioned in the Daily Post column to today’s scarlet, green and white colors in 1891.  The team first tried vertical stripes but changed to the traditional hoops four years later.

In 1897 the Tigers hoisted the Midlands Counties Cup, the premier tournament for Midlands-based rugby clubs, and in the process started one of the dominant championship runs in sporting history.  They won 8 straight cups through 1905 when they sportingly stepped aside ‘to give other teams a chance.’

Tom Crumbie, the Honorary Secretary of the Club from 1895 until 1928, is credited with building a strong foundation for the club and for much of the early success.  In addition to the domestic competitions he hosted international touring sides such as the All Blacks in 1904 (a 28-0 loss for Tigers) and regularly had Leicester players in touring sides to other countries.

The club saw a growth in membership and support staring in the 1970’s that has continued with the move to professionalism and through to today. And much of the credit goes to Chalkie White coming to Leicester in 1968 according to former player and CEO Peter Wheeler, saying that White was ‘a very forward thinking coach, the standards he set in terms of fitness and thinking about the game.’

The Leicester Tigers are not without the huge support from the stands and when the Tigers score a try you can hear fans yell, ‘Here you are, there you are, now you've got'em, you can take 'em, Ra, ra, ra, come the Tigers.’

In keeping with Crumbie’s idea of the importance of international touring, the Leicester Tigers become the first English side to tour the Southern Hemisphere when they head to Australia and Fiji for matches in 1980 in as part of their centenary celebrations.

The professional era has been great for Tigers winning four consecutive Premiership titles from 1998-2002 and where the first side to win back-to-back European Cup titles.  And the Leicester Tigers are one of only four teams never to have been relegated from the top division.

Arguably the best season in club history was in 2000/01 when the team won the treble taking silver in the Zurich Premiership, Zurich Championship and Heineken Cup. They followed it up the next season winning the Zurich Premiership to make it four years in a row as the number one club in England as well as winning another Heineken Cup to put their stamp on the dominant team not only in England but in all of Europe as well.

Leicester Football Club Facts
Full name: Leicester Football Club
Founded: 1880
Location: Leicester, England
Ground(s): Welford Road
Capacity: 17,498
League: Guinness Premiership
Website: http://www.leicestertigers.com/3_8.php

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