The Sheffield Tigers (sponsored by Tru Plant) are a

motorcycle speedway Motorcycle speedway, usually referred to simply as speedway, is a motorcycle sport involving four and sometimes up to six riders competing over four clockwise, anti-clockwise laps of an oval circuit. The motorcycles are specialist machines that ...

team based in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

, England. They currently race in the British

SGB Premiership The Speedway Great Britain (SGB) Premiership (sponsored by Sports Insure) is the top division of speedway Speedway may refer to: Racing Race tracks *Daytona International Speedway, a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida. *Edmonton Internation ...

, and their home meetings take place at

Owlerton Stadium Owlerton Stadium, also known as Sheffield Stadium, is a purpose-built speedway stadium built in 1929, which hosts greyhound racing five-times a week. The track is in Owlerton near Hillsborough in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Greyhound ...

. They were founded in 1929 and were champions of Britain, in

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

. The Tigers traditionally hold their race nights on Thursdays between March and October.

History

Origins & 1930s

In 1929 construction began on a 20-acre freehold site to build a new stadium in Owlerton. The Provincial Dirt Tracks (Sheffield) Co. Ltd under the chairmanship of Edgar W. Hart opened the purpose-built

on 30 March 1929. The team known simply as Sheffield at the time were inaugural members of the English Dirt Track League and Northern League the following season. In 1930, they rode as the Sheffield Blades but soon adopted the name Tigers. The early stars of the team included Dusty Haigh, Clem Beckett, Broncho Dixon and Squib Burton.

1940s

The team re-opened for a short spell in 1945, following the disruption caused by

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

before returning to league action in 1946. The team operated in the Northern League of 1946 and in the National League Division Two between 1947 and 1950. The team spearheaded by Stan Williams and Tommy Bateman won their first trophy in 1947, after winning the British Speedway Cup (Div 2).

1950s

The 1950s started with the unpopular decision to name the team the Tars and matters got worse despite the team reverting to the name Tigers at the end of the 1950 season because the team withdrew from the league part way through 1951.

1960s

The track re-opened in 1960, with the Tigers participating in the

Provincial League Provincial League (formerly known as Professional League) also known as Pro League was the old regional Football league in Thailand in 1999–2008. It was founded in 1999 under the name "Provincial League" organized by Sports Authority of Thailan ...

. The team continued to ride in the Provincial League until 1964, when they moved up to the highest tier, known as the National League at the time before it was renamed the

British League The British League was the main motorcycle speedway league in Britain from its formation in 1965 until 1995 when British speedway was restructured. It initially had a single division, with a British League Division Two, second division starting i ...

in 1965. The sixties brought little success with the best performances being a fourth place finish in 1960, 1963 and 1968. Notable riders during the decade were Clive Featherby, Jack Kitchen, John Dews,

Billy Bales Raymond Arthur Bales (6 June 1929 – 19 June 2023), known as Billy Bales, was an English international motorcycle speedway rider who reached the final of Speedway World Championship in 1955.Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). ''A History of the ...

, Arnold Haley and

Bob Paulson Bob Paulson may refer to: * Bob Paulson (police commissioner), commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police * Bob Paulson (politician), member of the North Dakota Senate * Bob Paulson (speedway rider), English motorcycle speedway rider See ...

1970s

Sheffield had signed Jim Airey the Australian champion in 1969 and he led Sheffield into the seventies. In 1970, he finished third in the league averages and then steered Sheffield to a fourth place finish in 1971, when well supported by Haley and Bengt Larsson. Despite the loss of Airey for 1972, the team rode well finishing fourth again before taking runner-up spot in 1973. Silverware finally arrived in 1974 when the Tigers won the Knockout Cup, easily defeating

Ipswich Witches The Ipswich Witches are a British motorcycle speedway club based at Foxhall Stadium near Ipswich, Suffolk. They compete in the British SGB Premiership. Meetings are staged on most Thursdays from March until October, normally commencing at 7.30 ...

in the final. Bob Valentine recorded 22 points over the two legs and with heavy scoring from Haley and Doug Wyer, the Tigers won by a 25 point margin. By the mid-seventies Reg Wilson was becoming an important rider for the club, topping the team's averages in 1975 and 1979 and establishing himself as one of two main riders alongside Doug Wyer.

1980s

The eighties started badly with a last place finish in 1980, but in 1981 the club signed American rising star

Shawn Moran Shawn Moran (born November 19, 1961, in Lakewood, California) is an American former professional motorcycle speedway rider who was one of the most popular and talented riders ever to race for Sheffield Tigers. He earned 74 caps for the United ...

. He would spend eight seasons at Owlerton, developing into a world class rider and a fan's favourite. In 1984, the Collins brothers

Neil Neil is a masculine name of Irish origin. The name is an anglicisation of the Irish ''Niall'' which is of disputed derivation. The Irish name may be derived from words meaning "cloud", "passionate", "victory", "honour" or "champion".. As a surname ...

and

Les LES or Les may refer to: People * Les (given name) * Les (surname) * L.E.S. (producer), hip hop producer Space flight * Launch Entry Suit, worn by Space Shuttle crews * Launch escape system, for spacecraft emergencies * Lincoln Experimental ...

arrived and in 1985, Peter Carr was signed, with the team only being denied the league title by the big spending

Oxford Cheetahs The Oxford Cheetahs are a British Motorcycle speedway, speedway teamLawson,K (2018) “Riders, Teams and Stadiums”. based at Oxford Stadium, in Oxford, England. They were founded in 1939 and are five times champions of Britain, in 1964 Speed ...

. The following season, Reg Wilson retired after making a club record 470 appearances and Shawn Moran's older brother Kelly Moran was signed. Sheffield enjoyed large attendances throughout the 1980s but after the 1988 season, the landlords increased the rent and manager

Eric Boocock Eric Henry Boocock (born 28 February 1945 in Dewsbury, England) is a former motorcycle speedway rider who appeared in three Speedway World Championship finals. He was the joint manager of the Great Britain national speedway team with Colin Pra ...

was forced to disband the team and sell the riders.

1990s

Division 2 speedway returned to Owlerton in 1991 under the promotion of Cliff Carr and following the signing of a lease with the city council.

Neil Evitts Neil Clive Evitts (born 25 September 1964 in Birmingham, England) is a former English international motorcycle speedway rider. He was the 1986 British champion and earned 27 international caps for the England national speedway team. Career ...

was number 1 before being replaced by

Roman Matoušek Roman Matoušek (23 May 1964 – 8 January 2020) was a Czechs, Czech Motorcycle speedway, speedway rider. He earned 26 international caps for the Czechoslovakia national speedway team. Speedway career Matoušek was the champion of the Czechos ...

, although it was not until 1999 that Sheffield experienced the taste of success again. Inspired by Sean Wilson, Sheffield won the Premier League (speedway's second division) during the 1999 Premier League speedway season.

2000s

The club's junior side the Sheffield Prowlers won more silverware, winning the Conference League in 2000 and 2001 and the Tigers won the league and Knockout Cup in 2002 to complete the double, during the 2002 Premier League speedway season. Sean Wilson and

Simon Stead Simon Trevor Stead (born 25 April 1982) is a retired motorcycle speedway rider and team manager. He earned 11 international caps for the Great Britain national speedway team. From 2019, he has been joint manager of the Great Britain team with O ...

both had great seasons and when Sean Wilson would retire in 2005, he was the Tigers all-time leading point scorer, with 4246 points. The Tigers later recorded a second place finish in 2006 and a play off final appearance in 2007.

2010s

The Tigers reached another play off final during the 2010 Premier League speedway season, the same season that Ricky Ashworth and Josh Auty won the pairs championship. The

SGB Championship 2017 The Speedway Great Britain Championship 2017 was the second division of British speedway. It was the first time that it was known as the SGB Championship after changing its name from the Premier League. The season ran between March and Octobe ...

season was the 21st consecutive season that the Sheffield Tigers competed in division 2. The Tigers finished in 1st place having beaten

in the two leg play off final 99–81.

Josh Grajczonek Joshua Lee Grajczonek (born 5 February 1990) is an Australian former motorcycle speedway rider. He is a record eight times winner of the Queensland championship. Career Born in Townsville, Queensland, Grajczonek's big break in British Speedwa ...

headed the team averages, supported by

Kyle Howarth Kyle Howarth (born 11 February 1994) is a British motorcycle speedway rider. Biography Born in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, Howarth competed in grasstrack and motocross before starting his speedway career in 2008 in amateur competit ...

and

Lasse Bjerre Lasse Bjerre Jensen (born 31 October 1993) is a speedway rider who won the 2010 Under-21 World Cup with the Denmark team. Biography Bjerre was born in Esbjerg, Denmark in 1993. His brother, Kenneth (born 1984), is also a speedway rider. They ...

, the latter two also winning the championship pairs.

2020s

Following a season lost to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

the team stepped up to the highest division for the first time since the 1995/1996 merged division.

Jack Holder Jack Holder (born 23 March 1996) is an Australian motorcycle speedway rider. Jack is a World team champion and his brother Chris Holder is a former World individual champion. Career A successful rider in Australia, he came to England and firs ...

and Adam Ellis were signed, with the team finishing 4th but following the signing of

Tobiasz Musielak Tobiasz Musielak (born 18 August 1993 in Leszno, Poland) is a Polish motorcycle speedway rider. Career Musielak, the younger brother of fellow Speedway rider Sławomir Musielak, mirrored the early career of his brother by starting his career ...

the club topped the

SGB Premiership 2022 The 2022 SGB Premiership was the 87th season of the top tier of British speedway and the 5th known as the SGB Premiership. Sheffield Tigers topped the regular season table and met Belle Vue Aces in the play off final but Belle Vue ran out the ...

table but controversially lost in the play off final to

Belle Vue Aces The Belle Vue Aces are a British speedway club, based in Manchester. The club hold the record of having won the top tier League championship 14 times. They currently compete in the SGB Premiership, racing at The National Speedway Stadium, wit ...

, 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. In 2023, the Tigers signed two former world champions in

Tai Woffinden Tai Woffinden (born 10 August 1990) is a British speedway rider. He is a three-time World Champion (2013, 2015 and 2018). Early life Woffinden was born in Scunthorpe, the son of former speedway rider Rob Woffinden. Although born in the Unite ...

and

Chris Holder Christopher Robert Holder (born 24 September 1987 in Sydney, New South Wales) is an Australian speedway rider, who was the 2012 World Speedway Champion. He is also five times Australian champion (2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2014. Career Hold ...

and after finishing third in the

SGB Premiership 2023 The 2023 Sports Insure SGB Premiership was the 88th season of the top tier of British speedway and the 6th known as the SGB Premiership. There was an increase of one team after the Leicester Lions opted to move up from the SGB Championship. ...

league standings, they went on to defeat

Wolverhampton Wolves Wolverhampton Wolves were a British motorcycle speedway team based in Wolverhampton, England. They were champions of the United Kingdom five times and raced at Monmore Green Stadium from 1928 to 2023. History 1928–1930 Speedway (known ...

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. A track record that had stood for 4976 days (from 15 October 2010) was beaten on 30 May 2024. Ricky Ashworth's time of 59.1 seconds was bettered by

, with a time of 58.92 seconds. Sheffield's success continued in 2024 with the club winning the Knockout Cup.

Club honours

winners 2023 * SGB Premiership Knockout Cup winners 2024 *British Championship League

SGB Championship The Speedway Great Britain (SGB) Championship is the second division of speedway league competition in the United Kingdom, governed by the Speedway Control Bureau (SCB), in conjunction with the British Speedway Promoters' Association (BSPA). ...

winners 2017 *British Championship Pairs

winners 2017, 2018 *British Speedway Cup (Division 2) – 1947 *British League Knockout Cup winners – 1974 *

Premier League Four-Team Championship The SGB Championship Fours formerly the Premier League Four-Team Championship is a contest between teams competing in the second tier of speedway in the United Kingdom. Teams are grouped into fours, with one rider from each team in each race. The ...

winners – 1999, 2000 *Premier League Play off winners – 1999, 2002 *Premier League winners - 1999, 2002 *Conference League Champions - 2000, 2001 *

Premier Trophy The Major League Tournament (formerly known as the Premier Trophy) is the main domestic first-class cricket competition in Sri Lanka. It was established in 1938 and has existed under a number of different names. Matches before the 1988–89 seas ...

winners - 2001 *Premier League Riders Championship winners -1996, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2009, 2014, 2016 *Premier League Pairs winners – 2010

Full seasons summary

Season summary (juniors)

Notable riders

Previous seasons

References

{{Speedway National League SGB Premiership teams SGB Championship teams

Tigers The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is a large cat and a member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Asia. It has a powerful, muscular body with a large head and paws, a long tail and orange fur with black, mostly vertical stripes. It is tradition ...