ON THIS DAY

Tigers History

ON THIS DAY

1890: In the eighth game of the club’s debut season, they beat Moseley by the score of 1 try and 1 goal to nil. All other details of the match, almost uniquely in the club’s archives, have disappeared.

1886: Rushden were beaten 2-1 at Leicester’s Victoria Park home with scores from Sherrard Coleman and William Sheffield. The opportunity for a repeat at Christmas was postponed due to frost.

1897: Frank Jones supplied the only score in a 3-0 win away to Manchester.

1909: A crowd of 7,000 witnessed an 8-3 win at Northampton with Kenneth Wood - who would gain selection for the British Isles tour to South Africa in 1910 - claiming a try and Harry Lawrie adding a conversion and a goal from the mark, a scoring option which would survive into the 1970s.

1920: Norman Coates, a centre who would play in 38 of the 41 games in the season, was the tryscorer in a 6-5 win over Blackheath.

1926: Tigers lost 18-6 away to Blackheath.

1937: Eric Bevins, Raymond Clark and Frank Herbert - who would end the season as top try and points scorer - were on the scoresheet in an 11-9 win at Blackheath. 1948: Tigers enjoyed another successful trip to Blackheath, winning 10-3 in London.

1954: Second-row Jim Ford made his debut in a 9-11 defeat at Blackheath.

1965: Mike Harrison grabbed the only try in a 6-3 win over Blackheath, with Graham Pulfrey adding a penalty.

1971: Bob Barker and Robin Money were among the tryscorers in a close game against Blackheath. The other scorer in a 15-13 victory was back-row Chris Baynes, one of the 37 he scored in 116 appearances, and who sadly passed away recently at the age of 73.

1976: The John Player Cup trip to Wakefield was postponed for a second time due to frost. At the third time of asking, six weeks later, Tigers would record a 17-6 victory but exited in the next round at Moseley.

1982: Forwards trio Dean Richards, Rob Tebbutt and Martin Whitcombe scored tries in a 28-21 triumph at Blackheath.

1993: Tigers stayed in second place in the Courage League table with a 21-9 win over Bristol at Welford Road, with fly-half Jez Harris kicking all of the points.

DEC 11

2005: A full-house crowd of 16,815 cheered a 30-12 victory over Ospreys in the Heineken Cup, with Austin Healey providing the bonus-point score in the last minute after earlier tries from Brett Deacon, Harry Ellis and George Chuter. Tigers completed a home-andaway double a week later but eventually lost to Bath in the quarter-final at the home of neighbours Leicester City.

2010: A losing bonus point from a 19-24 defeat away to Perpignan - who had future Leicester player and coach David Mélé at scrum-half - kept Tigers top of their pool in the Heineken Cup.

2011: Ben Youngs claimed a try in a 12-30 defeat away to Clermont Auvergne in the Heineken Cup, in a game which included simultaneous yellow cards for George Chuter and Manu Tuilagi.

WALL: MATRIX COLLECTION: BLACK GLOSS & MATT, ANTIQUE WHITE GLOSS & MATT

2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

Rugby’s family values have never been more literally emphasised than at Bristol’s Ashton Gate Stadium back in October. Joe Simmonds was already the Heineken Star of the Match before the penalty that took Exeter Chiefs to their first European crown against Racing 92 in the final and, soon after, brother Sam was presented with the Anthony Foley Memorial Trophy as EPCR European Player of the Year. The number eight was the tournament’s top try scorer during the season, crossing eight times to become the fourth Englishman in five seasons to win the prestigious accolade. Simmonds was selected by a combination of an expert panel deliberating right until the end of the Heineken Champions Cup final and more than 20,000 votes cast through HeinekenChampionsCup.com. This season, stars of the global game will have more intense periods to prove they are Europe’s standout player with the pool stage of the Heineken Champions Cup played over four rounds in December and January on an exceptional basis, with an expanded knockout stage leading a path to Marseille for Finals Weekend on 21-22 May 2021, before which a list of nominees will have been streamlined to five candidates. By taking part in the public vote through official channels of the tournaments, fans can be in with a chance of winning outstanding rugby prizes.

EPCR European Player of the Year Past Winners

1995-2010 Ronan O’Gara 2011 Sean O’Brien 2012 Rob Kearney 2013 Jonny Wilkinson 2014 Steffon Armitage 2015 Nick Abendanon 2016 Maro Itoje 2017 Owen Farrell 2018 Leone Nakarawa 2019 Alex Goode 2020 Sam Simmonds