| Glasgow Tigers | |||||||||||||||||
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| 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 | ||||||||||||||||
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| Major team honours | |||||||||||||||||
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Glasgow Tigers are amotorcycle speedway team from Glasgow, Scotland. Formed in 1928, the club adopted the Tigers nickname in 1946 and compete in the BritishSGB Championship. The team race atAshfield Stadium and celebrated their 75th anniversary in 2021.
Speedway in Glasgow began during 1928, starting with theNelson Recreation Ground on 9 April, followed byCeltic Park on 28 April andCarntyne Stadium on 25 May. The origins of the Tigers team can be traced to the first meeting held atWhite City Stadium on Paisley Road West inIbrox, 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 theNorthern League for 1930.[3]
The first Northern League fixture at White City was held on 22 April 1930 againstLeicester Super.[4] The team eventually finished tenth in their inaugural league season. However, the team abruptly withdrew mid-way through the1931 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 ofJohnnie Hoskins raced Union Cup matches, in addition to challenge meetings during 1939.[6][7]
Several fixtures were held in 1940 before the threat of bombing duringWorld War II closed the track to speedway for another five years.[6][7] Several fixtures were held in late Summer of 1945 and league speedway finally returned for the1946 Speedway Northern League season. Led by number 1 riderWill 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 ofJunior Bainbridge andKen McKinlay, the White City Tigers experienced several underwhelming seasons and ended the decade with an eighth-place finish.
The 1950s began much better with the Tigers finishing the1950 season as runners-up, just one point behindNorwich Stars.[9] The team included new signingTommy Miller and the Hodgson brothersFrank andJack. One of the team's league rivals wasAshfield Giants, who were formed in 1949 and raced atSaracen 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.
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 AustralianCharlie Monk but ended with a last place finish in the league.[12]
The team finished in 13th place during the inaugural1965 British League season[13] andJimmy 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 inJedburgh. He moved on to form theBerwick Bandits in 1968 and Les Whaley took over Glasgow.[14]
The Tigers moved toHampden Park in 1969 in anticipation of the White City stadium demolition to make way for theM8 motorway through Glasgow. White City did not close until a few years later. A nomadic existence was then experienced by the club for a prolonged period.
Hampden Park witnessed recent signingSvein Kaasa being killed during a race on 29 September 1972.[15] Problems continued at Hampden Park with poor crowds, escalating costs and the refusal of the city council to allow music to be played at the venue, so the club moved again toCliftonhill inCoatbridge in 1973, becoming the Coatbridge Tigers.[16]
The next issue arose in early 1977 when Cliftonhill's ownersAlbion Rovers F.C. applied for permission to convert the track into a greyhound racing track and gave the speedway Managing Director Jimmy Beaton notice to vacate.[17]
The Tigers moved to their fourth different home at theBlantyre Greyhound Stadium inBlantyre during the middle of the 1977 season but fans received some good news when the club re-introduced the name Glasgow Tigers.[18]Steve Lawson was signed in 1978 andKenny McKinna joined the following season to end a most turbulent decade.
The greyhound stadium was demolished in advance of the construction of theEast Kilbride Expressway and the Tigers moved to yet another home (their fifth) in 1982 toCraighead Park. The track at Craighead Park was shoe-horned into a football stadium but was a more traditional oval shape than the previous one.[19]
During all the turmoil the team unsurprisingly failed to win any silverware and then in 1987 matters worsened further. The Tigers moved toDerwent Park inWorkington[20] 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.[21]
In 1988, the club returned to Glasgow when they moved intoShawfield Stadium inRutherglen.[22]
The team began to show promise and in 1991James Grieves joined the club, teaming up with Steve Lawson,Mick Powell andShane Bowes. Together they helped Glasgow finish runner-up behindArena Essex Hammers in 1991. A third-place finish in 1992 was followed by theLeague andKnockout Cup double to bring Glasgow their first major success in the club's history. The double team included Bowes, Powell, Grieves, number 1Róbert Nagy,Nigel Crabtree,Jesper Olsen andDavid Walsh. The following season the team achieved the 'double double' feat, winning both the League and Cup again in consecutive years.[23][24]
The success was abruptly ended by the merger of the first and second tiers of the British league into the one divisionPremier League. The following season in 1996, the Tigers andEdinburgh Monarchs effectively merged in one unpopular team known as theScottish Monarchs. The formation of theElite League allowed the Tigers and Monarchs to revert to their normal routine.
The decade ended on a sour note when the team's owner Brian Sands and general manager Bob Sneddon were connected to a racing application for Ashfield Stadium (the former venue of the Ashfield Giants). This caused Shawfield's owner Billy King to threaten eviction.[25][26] The club eventually moved to Ashfield Stadium, with the speedway track replacing the old greyhound racing track.[27][28]
The first five years at Ashfield saw the team finish bottom of the league twice but in 2005,Shane Parker andGeorge Štancl claimed thePremier League Pairs Championship held at Ashfield Stadium on 26 June.[29][30] The pairs event was won by Glasgow for the second consecutive season when Parker andDanny Bird were winners.[31][32]
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. The changes proved successful as the Tigers won the league title led by heat leadersJoe Screen,Josh Grajczonek and James Grieves and in addition Screen and Grieves won ThePremier League Pairs Championship, held atOaktree Arena on 24 June.[33][34]
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.
In2016, the Tigers won the KO cup final againstNewcastle Diamonds.[35] For the 2018 season, the Tigers signedCraig Cook, who went on to win the Riders' Championship and record the highest league average for the season, as Glasgow finished 2nd on the league standings.
The 2019 season saw the Tigers finish in second place again in theSGB Championship. They reached the play-off finals, but fell short by losing to league winnersLeicester Lions by two points but did win the Pairs Championship with Craig Cook andRasmus Jensen.
Following a season lost to theCOVID-19 pandemic, the Tigers finished runners-up in both the 2021 and 2022SGB Championship league standings, losing in the play-off final against thePoole Pirates in the former.[36]
In 2023, the team won the 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 andBenjamin Basso, Glasgow signed RussianVadim Tarasenko late in the season, which proved to be the catalyst for winning the play offs, defeatingOxford Cheetahs and Poole to claim only their fourth ever title.[37]
Extended content |
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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 |
Steve Lawson – Inducted 2011
Jim McMillan – Inducted 2011James Grieves – Inducted 2011
Shane Parker – Inducted 2012Jimmy Beaton – Inducted 2013Charlie Monk – Inducted 2013Junior Bainbridge
Benjamin BassoBobby BeatonShane BowesBrian CollinsLes CollinsCraig CookSean CourtneyNigel CrabtreeJoe CrowtherJosh GrajczonekChris HarrisRasmus JensenWill LowtherMaury MattingleyKen McKinlayKenny McKinnaTommy Miller
Róbert NagyJesper OlsenMick PowellJoe Screen
George Štancl
Vadim TarasenkoWillie TempletonDavid WalshDivision Two league winners
Division Two Knock Out Cup
Pairs champions
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