History of Leicester Tigers details the history of the rugby union club based in Leicester, England. Nicknamed the Tigers from 1885, Leicester have been a prominent club from the earliest days of organised English rugby dominating midlands rugby before the First World War; providing British Lions captains in 1930, 1936, 1997 and 2001; and winning 21 major titles since 1979 including a record 11 Premiership Rugby titles.
History Foundation
Leicester Football Club was formed in a meeting held in the city's George Hotel on 3 August 1880 by the merger of three smaller teams: Leicester Athletic Society FC, Leicester Amateur FC and Leicester Alert. The club's first game was a scoreless draw on 23 October against Moseley at the Belgrave Road Cycle and Cricket Ground. That first season Tigers play a local fixture list against the likes of Northampton, Nuneaton, Rushden, Kettering, Market Harborough, and Coventry. In 1881 the club joined the Midlands Counties Football Union enabling them to enter the Midlands Counties Cup the next season. Tigers first ever cup game was an away loss to Edgbaston Crusaders.
Early Years (1888–92) This inauspicious start to the cup continued with losses to Moseley in each of the next three seasons. In 1888 Tigers fixture list started to expand outside the midlands, on 10 March they traveled to Valley Parade in Bradford to play Manningham F.C., the forerunners of soccer side Bradford City A.F.C. The 1888–89 season saw Tigers welcome back Manningham as well as Oldham and Swinton, Cardiff Harlequins became the club's first Welsh opponents. Leicester also reached their first Midland Counties Cup Final that year losing, again, to Moseley in front of 4,000 fans in Coventry.
1889–90 saw Tigers travel to Wales for the first time playing Cardiff and Newport on consecutive days, the Monday and Tuesday of Easter week. Gloucester were added to the fixture list in 1891–92, whilst on 13 February Tigers played in London for the first time, a 37–0 loss to Blackheath.
On 10 September 1892 Leicester played their first game at their present ground, Welford Road, against a Leicestershire XV. That season saw derby matches produce attendances up to 7,000 whilst 10,000 saw Leicester lose 12–0 to Coventry in the second round of the Midlands Counties Cup.
Tom Crumbie and the rise to national prominence (1895–1905)
Tom Crumbie was appointed secretary on 2 August 1895, a position he held for the next 33 years. Crumbie has been credited with dragging the club to national prominence, he disbanded reserve and third teams making the First XV an invitation side and introducing players from all over the country. During his tenure 26 players from the club became capped at international level.
The Midlands Counties Cup was secured for the first time in 1898; captain Arthur Jones lead the club to victories over Rugby (31–0), Burton (17–0) and Coventry (12–5) to reach the final against Moseley played on 6 April at Coventry's Butts ground. Jones was forced to miss the final on medical grounds but Tigers still took home the cup for the first time winning 5–3. The only score coming from Percy Oscroft after only 3 minutes, the try converted by Frank Jones, Arthur's brother.
Leicester's first defense of the cup was against local club Belgrave St Peter's, dispatched 68–3, and Tigers progressed to the final again in 1899 first requiring a replay to beat old rivals Moseley in the semi-finals. In the final Nuneaton were beaten 20–3. For the next three seasons Leicester had the better of Moseley beating them in the final each year, before seeing off Rugby in the final of 1903. Moseley were defeated again in 1904, Nottingham beaten 31–0 in 1905. Having won the Midlands Counties Cup every year from 1898 to 1905, they dropped out "to give other teams a chance".The Tigers Tale, Page 19, D.Hands,
In 1903 Jack Miles became the first home produced England international, playing on the wing against Wales in Swansea. He had come to prominence scoring 43 tries in 52 appearances.
Leicester's status as a premier club was confirmed in 1905 when a crowd of 20,000 was on hand to see the club face The Original All Blacks for the 5th game of their tour, despite losing 28–0 the club made an impression as four Tigers were called up by England for their test with the New Zealanders.
Allegations of professionalism (1908–14)
In 1908 the club had three players selected for the 1908 Anglo-Welsh tour of New Zealand. John Jackett, Tom Smith and Fred Jackson became the first Tigers selected for an overseas tour. Controversy dogged Jackson; a secretive man it was claimed he had played for Northern Union side Swinton under the name "John Jones", such a charge was serious as it could have not only professionalised Jackson but all those who had associations with him. Jackson was withdrawn from the tour and settled in New Zealand.
Allegations of veiled professionalism were levelled at Leicester during the Rugby Football Union's (RFU) 1908 annual general meeting (AGM) and an inquiry ordered, though a vote to expel Leicester from the RFU was defeated. The inquiry was not only into professionalism but also the transfers of Jackson & Jackett as well as Alf Kewney and Tom Hogarth. On 30 January 1909, the day Leicester hosted an England v France test match, the RFU announced the outcome of the inquiry clearing the club on all charges in what has been described as a whitewash.
As if to refute the notion that the Tigers were made up purely of imported players there were 12 locals selected for the 1909 Midland Counties Cup Final against Coventry. Tigers won the cup, the first time they had entered after a four-year absence, 8–3 with two tries from Percy Lawrie.
December 1909 saw the beginning of a cherished tradition as Tigers played the Barbarians for the first time, holding them to a 9–9 draw. The fixture became a vital feature in the club's calendar delivering large attendances until open professionalism and league rugby in the 1990s forced it to gradually be abandoned due to fixture congestion.
Tigers won the Midlands Counties Cup three more times in four years to cement their place as the midland's premier side before the outbreak of war in 1914.
War and reconstruction of Welford Road (1914–21)
With war declared, the Leicester committee suspended matches on 3 September 1914. Two charity matches were played against the Barbarians in 1915 but otherwise Tigers played no rugby for the duration of the war. 17 players from the club lost their lives during the war.
Within six weeks of the Armistice being signed Tigers were playing their first game, facing the 4th battalion of the Leicestershire Regiment in what was also the official opening of the Members Stand on the north side of the ground.
Tigers enjoyed their first full season back; winger Teddy Haselmere scored a club record 59 tries, no man before or since has even reached 40. At this time formations were not set in the way they are now and Tigers regularly played with 7 forwards and 8 backs, meaning overlaps for the wingers were plentiful.
The New Stand (later renamed the Crumbie Stand in honour of Tom Crumbie) costing £21,000 (approx £850,000 in 2016) was officially opened on 2 October 1920 before a match against Headingley by the president of the RFU Ernest Prescott, Tigers celebrated with a 33–3 victory.
Terracing was added in front of the new stand the next season and the Members Stand extended to give Welford Road a seated capacity of 10,250. Subscriptions for stand seats was 25 shillings (£50 in 2016 money) and unemployed men gained free entry to the end terraces on production of their out of work card. These ground developments lead to attendances that would not be bettered until the 2000s as 20,000 fans watched the loss to Newport on 29 October 1921.
Tourists in the 20s and the death of Tom Crumbie (1922–28)
Leicester welcomed their first French visitors on 28 December 1922 when Racing club de France formed part of Tigers' Christmas festival, the hosts winning 4–0 thanks to a Haselmere drop goal. Tigers returned the visit in February 1923 but lost 19–9 despite scoring three tries.
The visit of the Invincible All Blacks on 4 October 1924 saw a record attendance at Welford Road of 35,000 that stands to this day. Tigers were beaten 27–0 by the tourists but good things were still to come that season as Leicestershire won their only County Championship against Gloucestershire with the entire starting XV coming from the Tigers.
The next season saw a visit by the New Zealand Maori and a closer result, Tigers leading at half time 8–3 thanks to a try from Ewert Farndon and 5 points from the boot of Doug Prentice but eventually succumbing 15–13 to the Maori tourists.
Tom Crumbie died on 13 March 1928, he was described as the cog around which the club functioned and contemporary reports say he epitomised the club. Tigers wore black armbands for their next fixture against Penarth. On 4 April the club appointed his successor Eric Thorneloe and six months later renamed The New Stand as The Crumbie Stand in honour of Crumbie.
Personal honours as club's fortunes wane (1930–39)
Club captain Doug Prentice was given the honour of captaining the 1930 British Lions tour to New Zealand and Australia, alongside two Leicester teammates Joe Kendrew and George Beamish. Irish forward George Beamish played 21 games on the tour, the most of any player, and is credited with introducing the green of Ireland into the British & Irish Lions' playing kit.Richard Bath, The British & Irish Lions Miscellany, page 77, 2008, (Vision Sports Publishing:London)
No doubt the presence of such star players lead the next season to the first BBC radio broadcast of a Tigers game. The match against Waterloo on 29 November 1930 was the first radio broadcast of a Leicester game; Tigers won 21–5.
The Great Depression hit the club's gates hard. With no cup or league competitions attendances for friendly fixtures tumbled to a low of 346 against Bridgwater Albion in 1934. It took the introduction of leagues in the 1980s before crowd numbers returned to their pre-depression level. The club's poor finances meant an invitation by Amatori Milano to tour Italy had to be declined.
Personal honours for the players masked some of the decline though. Bernard Gadney became the club's first home produced England captain in 1934 and was captain when four Leicester players were part of the first England side to beat the All Blacks. Tigers winger Alexander Obolensky scored two tries on debut in the 13–0 win. Gadney also became the club's second player to captain the British Lions on their tour to Argentina where he was joined by Obolensky and Charles Beamish.
1936–37 was the worst season since 1889–90 for the club with only 14 wins from 39 matches. Results picked up slightly the next two season before the Second World War intervened and regularly fixtures were abandoned for the next five years. 26 Tigers players lost their lives in the war.
Post War move away from invitation side (1945–57)
Fifteen days after VE Day the club's committee held their first meeting to determine the future of the club. The roof of the Crumbie Stand had been damaged in air raids, there was a collapsed wall at the Welford Road end and significant repairs to the clubhouse were required where the Army had bored holes into the floor. The club ran two teams that year; the First XV and Leicestershire Harlequins, named for the war-time side that provided rugby for locals on leave or passing servicemen.
The Harlequins were quickly changed to be an "A XV", the first time the club had run more than one side for 40 years. The decision was unpopular with the junior clubs that provided the bulk of the players for the side. It ran for ten seasons until being discontinued in 1955.