Sheffield Tigers

Sheffield Tigers
Club information
Track address	Owlerton Stadium Penistone Road Sheffield South Yorkshire
Country	England
Founded	1929
Promoter	Damien Bates, Julie Reading & Peter Mole
Team manager	Simon Stead
Team captain	Kyle Howarth
League	SGB Premiership National Development League
Website	www.sheffield-speedway.com
Club facts
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
Current senior team
Rider CMA Jack Holder Tai Woffinden Chris Holder Kyle Howarth Josh Pickering Jason Edwards Dan Gilkes
Current junior team
Rider CMA Ace Pijper Nathan Ablitt Luke Harrison Mickie Simpson Kean Dicken Stene Pijper
Major team honours
United Kingdom Champions 2023 Div 1 Knockout Cup 1974 Div 1 League Cup 2022 Div 2 Champions 1999, 2002, 2017 Division 2 Knockout Cup 1939, 2002 Div 2 Pairs Champions 2010, 2017, 2018 Div 2 Fours Champions 1999, 2000 Premier Trophy Winners 2001 Div 2 British Speedway Cup 1947 Div 3 Champions 2000, 2001, 2011 Northern Trophy 1974, 1979 Provincial Northern League 1962, 1963, 1964

The Sheffield 'Tru Plant' 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. They were founded in 1929^[1] and were champions of Britain, in 2023.

The Tigers traditionally hold their race nights on Thursdays between March and October^[2] and are sponsored by Tru Plant.

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.

From 1970 to 1986, Reg Wilson made a club record 470 appearances.

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. When Sean Wilson retired in 2005, he was the Tigers all-time leading point scorer, with 4246 points.^[7]

The SGB Championship 2017 season was the 21st consecutive season that the Sheffield Tigers competed in division 2. The Tigers finished in 1st place having beaten Ipswich Witches in the two leg Play Off final 99–81.

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 playoffs. Due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) the 2020 season did not take place. The club topped the SGB Premiership 2022 table but lost in the play off final to Belle Vue Aces, which foiled the chance for the club to win their first ever top-tier league title. However, they did gain compensation by winning the League Cup.^[8]

In 2023, after finishing third in the SGB Premiership 2023 league standings, they went on to defeat Wolverhampton Wolves in the semi finals and then Ipswich Witches in the final. This was the first time in the club's history that were crowned champions of the United Kingdom. The success somewhat atoned for the final defeat the season before.^[9]

Club honours

• SGB Premiership Winners 2023
• 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^[10]
• 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

Full seasons summary

Season summary (juniors)

Previous seasons

References

This page was last edited on 12 April 2024, at 17:12