14
LEICESTER TIGERS v NEWCASTLE FALCONS
T IGE R S TA L K
Rewind & replay
With a very special anniversary approaching, we want to hear from supporters who cheered Tigers to victory in the stadium or back at home so we can all enjoy the memories of Paris 2001... Even at this distance, we all have vivid memories of the victory over Stade Francais in the Heineken Cup Final almost 20 years ago. Whether your recollections involve the tries from Leon Lloyd and Neil Back, the decisive late break by Austin Healey, Tim Stimpson’s winning kick or the friends and family who shared your support for the team either in the stadium or from further away, Tigers want to hear from you. Healey describes the game as the most important he ever played in, recalling “a hot, sunny day in Paris in front of thousands and thousands of Leicester Tigers fans”. John Griffiths, from the Tigers Away Supporters Club, was central to the travel plans of many of those supporters, though admitting that he had originally planned on booking just a couple of coaches for the trip. “On the day tickets went on sale I arrived home from work to be told that my answerphone was full,” John recalls. “The phone was ringing as I walked in the door, I picked it up and sat at the bottom of the stairs as
I took name and phone number and gave payment details. As I replaced the phone, it immediately rang again. This was continuous for about three hours. “I then had to find accommodation for about 500 people for a price that fitted with the trip I had already sold.” Once the travelling fans arrived in Paris, the Eiffel Tower became a Tigers focalpoint on matchday morning with hundreds of fans gathering there in club colours before making their way to the Parc des Princes. Bars and restaurants filled with green, white and red in the build-up to kick-off and then, of course, there was the match itself, with the travelling Tigers making themselves known in the bright sunshine at a stadium just yards away from Stade’s front door. Mick Phipps was among the supporters unable to make the trip, due to work commitments, but remembers watching coverage of the tense last few minutes “on a small black-and-white TV sat in the car park”. We have also heard from other fans based around the world who nevertheless were there in spirit as
