Leicester Tigers (officially Leicester Football Club) are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester, England. They play in PREM Rugby, England's top division of rugby.
The club was founded in 1880 and since 1892 plays its home matches at Mattioli Woods Welford Road in the south of the city. The club has been known by the nickname Tigers since at least 1885. In the 2024–25 Premiership Rugby season, Tigers finished 2nd, losing the Premiership final, this entitled them to compete in the 2025–26 European Rugby Champions Cup. The current head coach is Geoff Parling, who joined for the 2025–26 Premiership Rugby season.
Leicester have won 22 major titles. They were European Champions twice, back-to-back in 2001 and 2002; have won a record 11 English Championships, five RFU Knockout Cups, three Anglo-Welsh Cups, and most recently the PREM Rugby Cup in 2026. Leicester most recently won the Premiership Rugby title in the 2022 season, and appeared in a record nine successive Premiership finals, from 2005 to 2013. Leicester is one of only three teams never to have been relegated from the top division. Leicester have appeared in five European finals, the third most overall; as well as the two victories, they have also lost finals three times, in 1997, 2007 and 2009. In 2021, they played in the European Rugby Challenge Cup final.
Six Leicester Tigers players were members of the 2003 Rugby World Cup final-winning side, including captain Martin Johnson.
History
Foundation and Tom Crumbie era (1880–1928)
Leicester Football Club was formed on 3 August 1880 by the merger of three smaller teams: Leicester Athletic Society, Leicester Amateurs 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. On 10 September 1892, Leicester played their first game at Welford Road against a Leicestershire XV.
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 the reserve and third teams, making the First XV an invitation side and introducing players from all over the country. Tigers first silverware was the Midlands Counties Cup won for the first time in 1898 against Moseley. 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, On their return to the competition in 1909, Tigers won the cup again.
In 1903, Jack Miles became the first home-produced England international. 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, losing 28–0. December 1909 saw Tigers play 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. 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.
Lions captains, decline and club restructure (1928–1971) Club captain Doug Prentice captained the 1930 British Lions tour to New Zealand and Australia. The first BBC radio broadcast of a Tigers game was against Waterloo on 29 November 1930; Tigers won 21–5. 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. Gadney also became the club's second player to captain the British Lions on their tour to Argentina. 1936–37 was the worst season since 1889–90 for the club with only 14 wins from 39 matches.
Tigers first televised game by the BBC was on 3 February 1951 when they beat London Scottish 14–0 at the Richmond Athletic Ground. The club underwent a significant restructure in the 1956–57 season. The practice of being an "invitation" club featuring only a First XV stopped and Tigers adopted a more traditional membership club based approach with multiple sides. The "A XV" was to be re-introduced under the name "Extra First XV" with a third "Colts XV" also formed. The 1963–64 season saw David Matthews set the record for most consecutive appearances for the club with 109. Matthews was to become captain in 1965 and in 1966/67 lead the club to a record 33 wins. Chalkie White became coach in 1968; the same season Tom Berry became Leicester's first president of the RFU. White was credited with revolutionising Leicester's players in response to rule changes that opened up the game. 1970/71 saw Peter Wheeler emerge as first-choice hooker having made his debut the year before, he ended the season on England's tour to the Far East. Attendance for the annual Barbarians game hit a nadir with a crowd of only 2,518.
Introduction of competitions (1971–1978) The 1971/72 season saw changes that would radically change both the club and the game. The RFU introduced a national Knockout Cup competition for clubs and on 16 November 1971 Tigers played their first competitive cup match since 1914, a 10–3 defeat to Nottingham at their Beeston ground. Also introduced that season was Tigers' first "Youth" XV, based on a collection of the best 14- and 15-year-olds in the county. Only six years later, Paul Dodge became the first graduate to win an international cap.
Tigers were not involved in the 1974–75 Cup and lost in the 1st round of the 1975–76 Cup. This forced the club into the Midlands qualifiers for the only time. This era saw a huge increase in the popularity of the Barbarians annual fixture with crowds of 15,000 in 1973 & 1975, 17,000 in 1974 and 21,000 in 1976. This contrasted with usual crowds in the low hundreds. 1976–77 saw the introduction of regional "Merit Tables" by the RFU, the first step on the road to full leagues. Based around traditional fixtures, Tigers finished second to Moseley in the Midlands Merit Table with a record of played 8 won 6. It took six years before Leicester were drawn at home in the cup but in 1977–78 they received four in a row on their way to a first Twickenham final against Gloucester. The game ended in a 6–3 loss to the Cherry and Whites; the attendance was 25,282 – more than double the previous season. Cup success also coincided with Tigers' membership more than doubling from 750 in 1978 to 2,000 by the end of 1979.
Centenary and cup and league success (1979–1988) Leicester secured their first national trophy, the 1978–79 John Player Cup, by defeating Moseley 15–12. Tigers retained the cup in 1979–80 beating London Irish 21–9 at Twickenham in front of a record crowd of 27,000. 1979–80 also saw Tigers win the Midlands Merit Table for the first time. To celebrate the club's centenary a six-match tour to Australia and Fiji was arranged in August 1980, the first undertaken by an English club in the southern hemisphere. Prestige fixtures staged at Welford Road to mark the centenary were the visit of the Irish Wolfhounds, Romania, and Queensland. Tigers retained the Midlands Merit Table title in November with an undefeated record. On 25 April 1981, Tigers' Dusty Hare broke the world record for points scored in first-class fixtures with 3,658 points. Leicester retained the cup in 1980–81 by beating Gosforth 22–15.
Leicester was knocked out in the semi-finals of the 1982 Cup. This was also Chalkie White's last season with the club after 30 years as a player, administrator or coach. A new generation of players debuted in the early '80s: Dean Richards, John Wells, and Rory Underwood. In 1985, in the penultimate step towards league rugby, the Merit Table A was launched for two seasons where Tigers finished fourth and second. League rugby was launched in England with the 1987–88 Courage League and all sides now played all other sides in a round-robin. Tigers lost only one match all season and the end of the 1987–88 season Tigers became England's first official champions.
Tigers finished the 1988–89 Courage League in sixth place, their joint-worst ever finish. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, several key members of the Leicester pack came through the youth ranks and became key first-team contributors, most notably lock Martin Johnson who debuted in 1989 and later became club captain; flanker Neil Back who joined in 1990; and the front row trio of Graham Rowntree, Richard Cockerill, and Darren Garforth, who started 166 games together between 1992 and 2002.
Professional and European success (1993–2003) From 1993 to 2002, Leicester enjoyed a remarkable nine trophies in ten years. This streak started when Leicester won the 1993 Pilkington Cup. In 1993/94 Tigers finished runners up in the Courage League to Bath. Leicester finished as Courage League champion in 1994–95.
The advent of the 1995–96 season brought two important changes: rugby union (and consequently the Tigers) became professional, and European club competition began in the form of the Heineken cup. The 1995/96 season was another of just missing out to perennial rivals Bath, who secured a league and cup double after defeating Leicester in the Pilkington Cup final. In Leicester's debut season in the Heineken Cup, the team reached the final, losing 28–9 against Brive. Leicester won the 1997 Pilkington Cup Final 9–3 against Sale. That summer Martin Johnson was named as captain for the 1997 British Lions tour to South Africa. In February 1998, Dean Richards was appointed as Director of Rugby following Bob Dwyer's sacking.
Under Richards, Leicester entered a golden age, winning four consecutive Premiership Rugby titles in 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002, as well as back to back Heineken Cups in 2001 and 2002. During the 1998–99 Premiership, the Tigers title was sealed in the penultimate match of the season. In the 1999–2000 Premiership season Leicester retained their title. Tigers' third successive Premiership title was sealed early on 17 March 2001. In the 2001 Heineken Cup final Tigers beat Stade Français 34–30 to secure the club's first continental title. Tigers had won the inaugural Premiership playoffs the week before so also sealed an unprecedented treble. That summer, Martin Johnson was named captain for the 2001 British & Irish Lions tour to Australia, becoming the first man to lead two tours.
Leicester became the first side to retain a European title after beating Munster 15–9 in the 2002 Heineken Cup Final. Leicester also retained their fourth successive Premiership title in 2002. This brought the club's total to six championships, tying Bath's record. During this time, Leicester went 57 games unbeaten at home from 30 December 1997 to 30 November 2002 and earned 52 successive wins. During these four seasons, Leicester lost only 14 games out of the 92 they played.
During the 2003–04 season, Leicester's form suffered and with eight games left in the season Dean Richards was sacked. After Richards' departure Tigers turned to his assistant coach John Wells, who guided Leicester to the regular season top of the league in his only full season. In Martin Johnson and Neil Back's last game for Leicester they lost the Premiership Final to London Wasps.
Premiership success (2004–2013)