Glasgow Tigers are a motorcycle speedway team from Glasgow, Scotland. Formed in 1928, the club adopted the Tigers nickname in 1946 and compete in the British SGB Championship. The team race at Ashfield Stadium and celebrated their 75th anniversary in 2021.
Glasgow Tigers | |||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Club information | |||||||||||||||||
Track address | Ashfield Stadium Possilpark Glasgow | ||||||||||||||||
Country | Scotland | ||||||||||||||||
Founded | 1928 | ||||||||||||||||
Promoter | Alan Dick & Michael Max | ||||||||||||||||
Team manager | Cameron Brown | ||||||||||||||||
Team captain | Chris Harris | ||||||||||||||||
League | SGB Championship | ||||||||||||||||
Website | glasgowtigers | ||||||||||||||||
Club facts | |||||||||||||||||
Colours | Red and White | ||||||||||||||||
Track size | 306 metres (335 yd) (pre 2011 302 metres (330 yd)) | ||||||||||||||||
Track record time | 55.08 seconds | ||||||||||||||||
Track record date | 21 May 2021 | ||||||||||||||||
Track record holder | Scott Nicholls | ||||||||||||||||
Current team | |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
Major team honours | |||||||||||||||||
|
History edit
Origins and 1920s edit
Speedway in Glasgow began during 1928, starting with the Nelson Recreation Ground on 9 April, followed by Celtic Park on 28 April and Carntyne Stadium on 25 May. The origins of the Tigers team can be traced to the first meeting held at White City Stadium on Paisley Road West in Ibrox, Glasgow on 29 June 1928, although at this stage only open meetings were held.[1] White City had been built in 1928 as a greyhound track.[2] A Glasgow White City team raced several challenge matches during the 1929 season before becoming members of the Northern League for 1930.[3]
1930s edit
The first Northern League fixture at White City was held on 22 April 1930 against Leicester Super.[4] The team eventually finished tenth in their inaugural league season. However, the team abruptly withdrew mid-way through the 1931 season following a meeting by the directors.[5]
Speedway ceased not only at White City but also the other tracks in Glasgow and no racing was seen for seven years before 'the Lions' under the promotion of Johnnie Hoskins raced Union Cup matches, in addition to challenge meetings during 1939.[6][7]
1940s edit
Several fixtures were held in 1940 before the threat of bombing during World War II closed the track to speedway for another five years.[6][7] Several fixtures were held in late Sumemr of 1945 and league speedway finally returned for the 1946 Speedway Northern League season. Led by number 1 rider Will Lowther the team adopted the nickname 'Tigers' for the first time[8] and Johnnie Hoskins handed the promotion role over to his son Ian who promoted from 1946 to 1953.
Despite signings, including the likes of Junior Bainbridge and Ken McKinlay, the White City Tigers experienced several underwhelming seasons and ended the decade with an eighth place finish.
1950s edit
The 1950s began much better with the Tigers finishing the 1950 season as runners-up, just one point behind Norwich Stars.[9] The team included new signing Tommy Miller and the Hodgson brothers Frank and Jack. One of the team's league rivals was Ashfield Giants, who were formed in 1949 and raced at Saracen Park in Glasgow.
Tommy Miller topped the league averages in 1953 and the team won the Scottish Cup but as the team headed into the 1954 season matters deteriorated. Miller, McKinlay and Bainbridge were all put on the transfer list.[10] The club eventually pulled out of the league following several fixtures in early 1954, citing financial losses despite the sale of its stars.[11] Miller and Bainbridge were responsible for a short-lived venture in 1956 but speedway ended for another ten years.
1960s edit
Trevor Redmond, in concert with the Hoskins family, reopened the track at White City in 1964 and rode for the Tigers that season before finally retiring as a rider and continued as promoter until 1967. The 1964 season started with the signing of Australian Charlie Monk but ended with a last place finish in the league.[12]
The team finished in 13th place during the inaugural 1965 British League season[13] and Jimmy McMillan was signed in 1966. Danny Taylor arrived as promoter in 1967 but left after just one season due to travel problems from Glasgow to his chicken farm business in Jedburgh. He moved on to form the Berwick Bandits in 1968 and Les Whaley took over Glasgow.[14]
The Tigers moved to Hampden Park in 1969 in anticipation of the White City stadium demolition to make way for the M8 motorway through Glasgow. White City did not close until a few years later.
1970s edit
A turbulent existence was experienced by the club for a prolonged period. Firstly getting used to a new venue and then on 29 September 1972, recent signing Svein Kaasa was killed during a race.[15] Problems continued at Hampden Park with poor crowds, escalating costs and the refusal of the city council to allow music to be played the club moved again to Coatbridge and became the Coatbridge Tigers, riding at Cliftonhill.[16]
1980s edit
The Tigers remained there until they moved to Blantyre in the middle of the 1977 season and re-introduced the name Glasgow Tigers. The Tigers rode in two stadiums in Blantyre, firstly at the Blantyre Greyhound Stadium. The bends at this track were unusual; the first and second bends were sweeping whilst the third and fourth were pointed giving the track an egg-shape. This stadium was demolished in advance of the construction of the East Kilbride Expressway and the Tigers moved in 1982 to Craighead Park. The track at Craighead Park was shoe-horned into a football stadium but was a more traditional oval shape.
1987 edit
In 1987 the Tigers moved to Derwent Park in Workington and although they started the year named as Glasgow, they were renamed Workington Tigers for the rest of what was an uncompleted season. This was the only time in the team's history that they have been based in England.
1988 to 1998 edit
In 1988, the club returned to Glasgow when they moved into Shawfield Stadium, Rutherglen. The Tigers achieved a 'double double' feat in 1993 and 1994, winning both the British League Division Two Championship and Knockout Cup in consecutive years. The Tigers remained at Shawfield with the exception of the 1996 season when the poorly supported Scottish Monarchs rode there in top flight speedway.
1999 to 2020 edit
In 1999 the club moved to its current home at the Ashfield Stadium in Possilpark when the speedway track replaced an old greyhound racing track.[17] The best placed finish from 1999 to 2010 was third place in 2006.
Prior to the 2011 season the club embarked on significant changes to the Ashfield track, extending its length by 17 meters on the inside, but more significantly widening the bends and increasing the banking, especially on bends three and four, opening up new racing lines in an effort to up the entertainment value of the meetings. Therefore, the final track record for the 302 meter track was 56.2s by Shane Parker on 8 August 2009. The Tigers won their first Premier League title in October 2011 in addition to the Pairs Championship.
With debts still hanging over the club at the end of the 2012 season, following the track alterations and championship season, club owners A&S Entertainments decided to sell the club, a new company was created with several key fans taking control of the club prior to the 2013 season. The club logo was also re-branded with the change of company, the old logo continues to be the club badge, and is still used for the Hall of Fame. In 2015, the stadium went under a multi-million pound redevelopment. In 2016, the Tigers won the Premier League KO cup against Newcastle Diamonds.
At the end of the 2017 season, work got underway to redevelop the track itself to create better racing. The track got widened and improved drainage was installed to help prevent rain-offs. For the 2018 season, the Tigers signed Chris Harris and Craig Cook, who replaced Richie Worrall. The 2019 season saw the Tigers finish in second place in the SGB Championship. They reached the Play-Off Finals, but fell short by losing to league winners Leicester Lions by two points but did win the Pairs Championship. British speedway was cancelled for 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic with only a few individual meetings getting underway behind closed-doors.
2021 to present edit
In 2021, the Tigers finished runners-up in the 2021 SGB Championship play-off finals against the Poole Pirates, who completed a season double.[18] In 2023, the team won the SGB Championship league title after winning the play offs and gaining revenge over Poole for their 2021 and 2022 losses. Having already won the pairs title with Chris Harris and Benjamin Basso, Glasgow signed Russian Vadim Tarasenko late in the season, which proved to be the catalyst for winning the play offs, defeating Oxford Cheetahs and Poole to claim only their fourth ever division 2 title.[19]
Season summary edit
Riders previous seasons edit
Extended content
|
---|
2006 team 2007 team Also Rode: 2008 team
Also Rode: 2009 team
2010 team Also Rode: 2011 team Also Rode:
2012 team Also Rode: 2013 team Also Rode: 2015 team
Also Rode
2016 team Also Rode 2017 team 2018 team Also rode: 2019 team
Also rode: 2021 team
Also rode: 2022 team |
Notable riders edit
STARs Hall Of Fame edit
- Steve Lawson - Inducted 2011
- Jim McMillan - Inducted 2011
- James Grieves - Inducted 2011
- Shane Parker - Inducted 2012
- Jimmy Beaton - Inducted 2013
- Charlie Monk - Inducted 2013
Other notable riders edit
- Junior Bainbridge
- Benjamin Basso
- Bobby Beaton
- Will Beveridge
- Shane Bowes
- Barry Campbell
- Brian Collins
- Les Collins
- Craig Cook
- Sean Courtney
- Nigel Crabtree
- Joe Crowther
- Chris Harris
- George Hunter
- Merv Janke
- Rasmus Jensen
- Will Lowther
- Jason Lyons
- Maury Mattingley
- Ken McKinlay
- Kenny McKinna
- Tommy Miller
- Egon Müller
- Róbert Nagy
- Jesper Olsen
- Mick Powell
- Vadim Tarasenko
- Willie Templeton
- David Walsh
- John Wilson
Club honours edit
Division Two league winners
- Champions: 1993, 1994, 2011, 2023.[20]
Division Two Knock Out Cup
- Winners: 1993, 1994, 2016[20]
Pairs champions
- Champions: 2005, 2006, 2011, 2019, 2023.[20]
References edit
- ^ "1928 season" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 25 April 2024.
- ^ "Local Man's Greyhound Track Appointment". Motherwell Times. 6 April 1928. Retrieved 25 April 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "1929 season" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 25 April 2024.
- ^ "Dirt Track Racing". The Scotsman. 23 April 1930. Retrieved 25 April 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "Dirt Track Racing". The Scotsman. 14 July 1931. Retrieved 25 April 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ a b Bamford, R & Jarvis J.(2001). Homes of British Speedway. ISBN 0-7524-2210-3
- ^ a b "Scottish Speedway History". Defunct Speedway. Retrieved 25 April 2024.
- ^ "From ship to cinder track". Dundee Courier. 2 May 1946. Retrieved 25 April 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "1946 to 1951". Cyber Morotcycles. Retrieved 25 April 2024.
- ^ "Speedway". Daily Mirror. 7 November 1953. Retrieved 25 April 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "Speedway promoters receive another blow". Coventry Evening Telegraph. 24 April 1954. Retrieved 25 April 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "Speedway expands". Newcastle Journal. 3 December 1963. Retrieved 25 April 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ Oakes, Peter (1981). 1981 Speedway Yearbook. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 100. ISBN 0-86215-017-5.
- ^ "Berwick may get speedway". Newcastle Evening Chronicle. 21 December 1967. Retrieved 19 April 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "Glasgow Speedway rider killed". The Scotsman. 30 September 1972. Retrieved 25 April 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "Speedway". Wolverhampton Express and Star. 15 January 1973. Retrieved 25 April 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ Henry, J. & Moultray, I. (2001). Speedway in Scotland. ISBN 0-7524-2229-4
- ^ "Pirates are Champions". British Speedway website. Retrieved 6 November 2021.
- ^ "Tigers take title glory". Glasgow Tigers Speedway. Retrieved 14 October 2023.
- ^ a b c Oakes, P (2006). Speedway Star Almanac. Pinegen Ltd. ISBN 0-9552376-1-0.