Position 4th Position Finalists Position 3rd in Midland Group | Qualified For Play Offs Lost To Newcastle Diamonds KO Stages DNQ | |
The Sheffield Tigers are a speedway team based in Sheffield, England. They currently race in the British Premier League and their home meetings take place at Owlerton Stadium which is the fastest track in British speedway. The Tigers are sponsored by the Sheffield Window Centre, promoted by Neil Machin, David Hoggart and Eric Boocock, who is also the team manager.
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2012 season
In 2012 Tigers finished in 12th place.
2011 season
The 2011 season was the 15th consecutive season that the Tigers have competed in the Premier League.
2010 season
The Tigers took part in the majority of competitions in 2010. The Tigers participated in the Premier League, Premier Trophy and the Premier League Knock-Out Cup. The Tigers also qualified to participate in the Premier League Pairs and Premier League Fours. During the Close Season, Sheffield decided to resign Ricky Ashworth, Josh Auty, Richard Hall, Hugh Skidmore and Paul Cooper from the Previous Season. Josef Franc and Arlo Bugeja were signed from Berwick and Redcar respectively.
Season Overview
The 2010 season saw the Tigers return to a successful season after a couple of seasons of mediocracy. The Tigers finished the 2010 Premier League campaign in 4th place and thus qualifying for the Premier League Play-Offs. The Tigers started the season poorly in the Premier Trophy by finishing 3rd in the midland qualifying group, with the solitary away win at Redcar. However, a home loss against Birmingham was enough to condemn the Tigers to Premier Trophy Elimination. The Tigers league campaign started off slowly but fired into life on the May Bank Holiday Weekend, with 3 wins (1 Home, 2 Away) in 3 days. The win at the Premier League Pairs by Ricky Ashworth & Josh Auty was a boost in the Tigers confidence, as well as the first team silverware since 2002. The Tigers may have stalled at home against Edinburgh Monarchs and Newcastle Diamonds (Who finished 1st and 2nd Respectively) but with 5 away wins (3rd most in the league) at Redcar, Workington, Stoke, Scunthorpe and Glasgow, the Tigers finished the season in 4th place, qualifying for the play-offs. The Edinburgh Monarchs elected to play the Tigers in the semi-finals confident of gaining a result after home and away wins against the Tigers during the PL campaign. After taking a 59-31 to Owlerton, Sheffield pulled off one of the shocks and results of the season by overturning the 28 points deficit by winning at Owlerton 61-31 (92-90 Aggregate Score). This result enabled the Tigers to take on the Newcastle in the play-off final for a chance to have a crack at the Ipswich Witches in a promotion/relegation battle. However, although Sheffield overcame Newcastle 53-43 at Owlerton (And Ricky Ashworth once again broke the Owlerton Track Record from 59.2 to 59.1), the Diamonds romped to victory at Brough Park 58-36 (101-89 Agg) and effectively ended the Tigers season.
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Season Facts
2009 Season
The Tigers took part in the fewer of competitions in 2009. The Tigers participated in the Premier League, Premier Trophy and the Premier League Knock-Out Cup. The Tigers also qualified for the Jack Young Shield. However, due to lower averages around the time of qualification, the Tigers did not qualify to participate in the Premier League Pairs and Premier League Fours. During the Close Season, Sheffield decided to resign Ricky Ashworth, Joel Parsons and Paul Cooper from the Previous Season. Richard Hall, Josh Auty, Ritchie Hawkins and Chris Mills were signed from Scunthorpe Scorpions, Redcar Bears, Somerset Rebels and King's Lynn Stars respectively.
Season Overview
The Tigers finished the 2009 Premier League campaign in 8th place. The Tigers started the season poorly in the Premier Trophy by finishing 5th in the northern qualifying group, with the solitary away win at Newcastle. However, home losses against Glasgow Tigers and Redcar Bears stalled their progress. The Tigers' league campaign was also one of mediocracy as another 8th-place finish in which led to a Young Shield place against the Rye House Rockets. The Tigers lost the quarter final match 92-93 on aggregate over the two legs in which the 2009 season came to a close. The one highlight of the season was home favourite Ricky Ashworth being crowned PLRC champion by beating off the tournament favourite Darcy Ward in the final. This was also the season when Ashworth broke the Owlerton track record trimming the time to 59.2 from 59.3 (Previous Holder: Chris Holder) against the Berwick Bandits on 21 May.
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Season Facts
Season Overview
The Tigers finished the 2008 Premier League campaign in 8th place. The Tigers started the season well in the Premier Trophy by qualifying for the semi finals, and with away wins at Scunthorpe and Stoke. However, Sheffield went on to lose to Birmingham Brummies 90-94 on aggregate in the Premier Trophy semi-final. The Tigers' league form also suffered, and after finishing 8th in the Premier League, they were drawn against the Isle of Wight Islanders in the first round of the Young Shield, but lost 88-98. The Tigers lost Ricky Ashworth to injury for the last two months of the season and also captain Andre Compton announced his retirement at the end of the season, to end a disappointing campaign for the Tigers.
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Season Facts
Season Overview
The Tigers came 4th in the Premier League, and, unlike the previous year overcame King's Lynn Stars with an aggregate score of 99-86. In the Grand Final they met Rye House Rockets, but were convincingly beaten over two legs 111-74.
Season Facts
Season Overview
The Tigers came 2nd in the Premier League, allowing them entry to the play-off's ultimately losing 100-86 over two legs to King's Lynn Stars in the Grand Final. They also came 2nd in the Premier Trophy, losing again in the final to King's Lynn. They rode well in both the Fours and the Pairs, but never actually won. In the Fours (Compton, Ashworth, Legault and Ben Wilson) they reached the final, only to finish 3rd behind Somerset Rebels and winners Workington Comets. In the Pairs, they were without captain Compton due to injury, but Ben Wilson and Ashworth got through to the final, only to lose to the favourites and hosts Glasgow Tigers. They also fell in the semi-finals of the Knock-Out Cup to the Somerset Rebels, losing by one point on aggregate. Despite having a strong team, no trophies came back to Owlerton even though they performed well in all competitions.
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