Sheffield Tigers
| Sheffield Tigers | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Track address | Owlerton Stadium Penistone Road Sheffield South Yorkshire | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Country | England | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Founded | 1929 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Team manager | Simon Stead | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Team captain | Kyle Howarth | ||||||||||||||||||||
| League | SGB Premiership | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Website | www | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| Colours | Yellow and Blue | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Track size | 361 metres (395 yd) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Track record time | 59.1 seconds (54.66mph) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Track record date | 15 October 2010 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Track record holder | Ricky Ashworth | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The Sheffield 'Window Centre' Tigers are a motorcycle speedway team based in Sheffield, England. They currently race in the British SGB Premiership, and their home meetings take place at Owlerton Stadium. The Tigers traditionally hold their race nights on Thursdays between March and October.[1] The Tigers are sponsored by the Sheffield Window Centre, promoted by Damien Bates, Peter Mole and Julie Reading.[2]
History[]
Owlerton was a purpose built speedway track built in 1929. The team were inaugural members of the English Dirt Track League and Northern league the following season. In 1930 they rode as the Sheffield Blades.[3]
It operated for most of the pre-war years and re-opened for a short spell in 1945. The team operated in the Northern League of 1946 and in the National League Division Two between 1947 and 1950. The team won their first trophy in 1947, after winning the British Speedway Cup (Div 2).[4]
It closed part way through 1951 and staged open meetings in 1952. The track re-opened in 1960 and has operated most seasons since then.[5][6] The team has been known as The Tigers apart from part of 1950 when they were known as The Tars and 1930 when they were the Blades. Sheffield won the Premier League (speedway's second division) twice during the 1999 Premier League speedway season and the 2002 Premier League speedway season. They also won the Knockout Cup in 2002 to complete the double. The club's junior side the Sheffield Prowlers also won silverware winning the Conference League in 2000 and 2001.
The Tigers alltime leading point scorer is Sean Wilson with 4246 points and the record appearance maker is Reg Wilson with 470 appearances. Their official track record holder is former captain and No.1 Ricky Ashworth with a time of 59.1 seconds.[7]
In 2019, the club won their fourth historical league title winning the SGB Championship 2017 after finishing top of the regular season table and winning the play offs. Due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) the 2020 season did not take place.
Club honours[]
- British Championship League SGB Championship Winners 2017
- British Championship Pairs SGB Championship Winners 2017 (Kyle Howarth & Lasse Bjerre), 2018 (Kyle Howarth and Charles Wright)
- British Speedway Cup (Division 2) - 1947
- British League Knockout Cup winners - 1974
- Premier League Four-Team Championship winners - 1999 (Wilson, Smith, Compton, Stead), 2000 (Wilson, Stead, Kessler, Lee)
- Premier League Play off winners - 1999, 2002[8]
- Premier League winners - 1999, 2002
- Conference League Champions - 2000, 2001
- Premier Trophy winners - 2001
- Premier League Riders Championship winners - Sam Ermolenko (1996), Sean Wilson (1999, 2003, 2005), Andre Compton (2004), Ricky Ashworth (2009), Simon Stead (2014, 2016).
- Premier League Pairs winners - Ricky Ashworth & Josh Auty 2010
Notable former riders[]
Jim Airey
Tommy Allott- Ricky Ashworth
- Josh Auty
- Billy Bales
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- Cyril "Squib" Burton
- Peter Carr
- Les Collins
- Neil Collins
- Andre Compton
- John Dews
Aleš Dryml Sr.
Sam Ermolenko- Neil Evitts
- Carl Glover
Lars Gunnestad- Dusty Haigh
- Arnold Haley
- Steve Johnston
Robbie Kessler-
Bengt Larsson- Roman Matoušek
- Kelly Moran
- Shawn Moran
- Shane Parker
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Jan O. Pedersen- Garry Stead
- Simon Stead
- Carl Stonehewer
- Bob Valentine
- Len Williams
- Stan Williams
- Reg Wilson
- Sean Wilson
- Tai Woffinden
- Mirko Wolter
- Doug Wyer
Full seasons summary[]
Season summary (juniors)[]
Extended content
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Previous seasons[]
References[]
- ^ "Potters Will Get Respect". Sheffield Tigers. 18 April 2007. Retrieved 10 November 2010.
- ^ Bamford, Robert (1 March 2007). Tempus Speedway Yearbook 2007. NPI Media Group. ISBN 0-7524-4250-3.
- ^ "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - PRE-WAR ERA (1929-1939)". Official British Speedway website. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
- ^ "Year by Year". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
- ^ "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - POST-WAR ERA (1946-1964)". Official British Speedway website. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
- ^ Rogers, Martin (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 129. ISBN 0-904584-45-3.
- ^ "Hungry Tigers edge first leg of Play-Offs". Sheffield Star. 15 October 2010. Retrieved 11 November 2010.
- ^ Oakes, P (2006). Speedway Star Almanac. Pinegen Ltd. ISBN 0-9552376-1-0.
External links[]
- Speedway Premier League teams
- SGB Championship teams
- Sports teams and clubs in Sheffield