Rugby Club Issue 48 | Page 86

LEICESTER TIGERS LEICESTER TIGERS Leicester Tigers are known as one of the most successful clubs in England having first been established in 1880. They play their home games at Welfare Road which is due to be expanded to hold 30,000 supporters. They are led by Chairman Peter Tom whilst Richard Cockerill coaches their first team. They have an illustrious history and were particularly successful in the 90’s, being crowned champions in 1995 and winning the Pilkington Cup in 1997. They also made it to the final of the Heineken Cup, becoming the first English team to do so. The club continued their success into the new Millennium when, under the captaincy of Martin Johnson and management of Dean Richards, they won 4 consecutive Premiership titles. In addition to this they claimed the Heineken Cup in back to back seasons defeating Stade Français and Munster in the finals. In the 2013/14 campaign Leicester put together a strong campaign, finishing with a record of having won 15, drawn 2 and lost 5 of their 22 league matches. This saw them claim 3rd place in the table with 74 points but they were unable to win the knock out stage of the competition. The team will now be focused upon preparing for next season and will be keen to get back amongst the trophies. So long as they are able to retain their current grou p of players and perhaps make one or two quality additions they should be in with a good chance of winning back the league title. 86 ISSUE 48 “They should be in with a good chance of winning back the league title.” A particular highlight of the team’s play was the attacking brand of rugby that they have managed to produce. In their league fixtures alone they managed to rack up 542 points which certainly meant that their supporters were well entertained. With a stadium expansion planned it will be vital for supporters to enjoy their match day experience if they are to regularly sell out their venue. If they continue to play the way they did this year then they should have no trouble at all in this regard. At the end of the campaign the club held their presentation awards where Fijian wing Vereniki Goneva was named Players’ Player of the Year. He told the club’s official website, “To be honest, I don’t know what to say. I am really happy and I thank the team for the award tonight.” Fly-half Owen Williams, in his first season at the club, was named as their Players’ Young Player of the Year. He told the club’s website, “I’m proud and honoured the boys have voted for me. I’m really grateful. When I signed I didn’t think the season would go as well as it has for me.”