Glasgow Tigers 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 anti-clockwise laps of an oval circuit. The motorcycles are specialist machines that use only ...

team from

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popu ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. Formed in 1928, the club adopted the Tigers nickname in 1946 and compete in the British SGB Championship. The team race at

Ashfield Stadium Saracen Park or Ashfield Stadium, also known as Peugeot Ashfield Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a stadium in Glasgow, Scotland. It is currently shared by Ashfield F.C. for Association football, football and the Glasgow Tigers (speedway), Glas ...

, the home of

Ashfield F.C. Ashfield Football Club are a Scottish football club based in the Possilpark area of north Glasgow. The club compete in the and wear black and white hooped strips. Formed in 1886, they are based at Saracen Park, which they share with the Gl ...

, and celebrated their 75th anniversary in 2021.

History

1928 to 1945

Glasgow Speedway was formed in 1928 and were initially based at the

White City Stadium White City Stadium was a stadium located in White City, London, England. Built for the 1908 Summer Olympics, it hosted the finish of the first modern marathon and other sports like swimming, speedway, boxing, show jumping, athletics, stock ca ...

on Paisley Road West in Ibrox, Glasgow (close to

Rangers F.C. Rangers Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the Govan district of Glasgow which plays in the Scottish Premiership. Although not its official name, it is often referred to as Glasgow Rangers outside Scotland. The fou ...

Ibrox Stadium Ibrox Stadium is a football stadium on the south side of the River Clyde in the Ibrox area of Glasgow, Scotland. The home of Rangers Football Club, Ibrox is the third largest football stadium in Scotland, with an all-seated capacity of . ...

). Other venues were also operating open meetings around this time at

Carntyne Stadium Carntyne Stadium was a multi-sports stadium situated in the Carntyne area of Glasgow, Scotland, used mainly for greyhound racing and speedway. Origins and opening The Carntyne Greyhound Racecourse was situated between the Parkhead and Carnt ...

Celtic Park Celtic Park is the home stadium of Celtic Football Club, in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, Scotland. With a capacity of 60,832, it is the largest football stadium in Scotland, and the eighth-largest stadium in the United Kingdom. It is al ...

and Nelson Athletic Grounds in the Gallowgate area of the city. White City had been built in 1928 as a greyhound track and hosted speedway in the 1930 and 1931 Northern League and the 1939 Open/ACU Trophy. White City staged meetings from 1928 until 1931 and again from 1939 (Glasgow Lions) to 1940 and finally in 1945.

1946 to 1968

The Tigers raced at White City intermittently (1946 until 1954, 1956, and 1964 until 1968).

Johnnie Hoskins Johnnie S. Hoskins MBE (1892 Waitara, New Zealand – 1987 Kent, England) was the most significant promoter of speedway and stock car racing in the United Kingdom, he is considered by some to have invented motorcycle speedway. Early life Born at ...

was the promoter in 1945 and he handed the role over to his son Ian who promoted from 1946 to 1953. The track promoted two meetings staged in 1954 and ex-Tigers Tommy Miller and Junior Bainbridge were responsible for a short-lived venture in 1956.

Trevor Redmond Trevor John Redmond (16 June 1927 – 17 September 1997)Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2003) ''Bristol Bulldogs: 50 Greats'', Stroud: Tempus Publishing. was a New Zealand speedway rider who mainly rode for the Aldershot Shots, and the Wembley Lio ...

, 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. He continued as promoter until 1967. The team finished in 13th place during the inaugural 1965 British League season.

1969 to 1972

The Tigers moved to

Hampden Park Hampden Park (Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden''), often referred to as Hampden, is a football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland. The -capacity venue serves as the national stadium of football in Scotland. It is the no ...

in 1969 after the White City stadium was demolished to make way for the M8 motorway through Glasgow

1973 to 1986

In 1973 the club moved to

Coatbridge Coatbridge ( sco, Cotbrig or Coatbrig, gd, Drochaid a' Chòta) is a town in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, about east of Glasgow city centre, set in the central Lowlands. Along with neighbouring town Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, Airdrie, Coatbrid ...

and became the Coatbridge Tigers, riding at

Cliftonhill Cliftonhill Stadium, commonly known as Cliftonhill and currently 'The Reigart Stadium' for sponsorship purposes, is a football stadium in Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is the home ground of Scottish Professional Football League te ...

, home of Albion Rovers F. C. The Tigers remained there until they moved to

Blantyre Blantyre () is Malawi's centre of finance and commerce, and its second largest city, with an enumerated 800,264 inhabitants . It is sometimes referred to as the commercial and industrial capital of Malawi as opposed to the political capital, L ...

in the middle of the 1977 season and re-introduced the name Glasgow Tigers. The Tigers rode in two stadiums in

, firstly at the

Blantyre Greyhound Stadium Blantyre Greyhound Stadium was a greyhound racing and speedway stadium in Blantyre, South Lanarkshire, near Glasgow. The track opened on 6 October 1933 as an independent (unlicensed) track and was popular with the miners from the pit well an ...

. 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 East Kilbride (; gd, Cille Bhrìghde an Ear ) is the largest town in South Lanarkshire in Scotland and the country's sixth-largest locality by population. It was also designated Scotland's first new town on 6 May 1947. The area lies on a rais ...

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

In 1987 the Tigers moved to

Derwent Park Derwent Park is a Speedway and Rugby League Stadium in Workington, England situated beside the Cumbrian River Derwent. It is used mostly for rugby league matches and is the home stadium of Workington Town who play in League 1 the 3rd tier ...

Workington Workington is a coastal town and civil parish at the mouth of the River Derwent on the west coast in the Allerdale borough of Cumbria, England. The town was historically in Cumberland. At the 2011 census it had a population of 25,207. Locat ...

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

In 1988, the club returned to Glasgow when they moved into

Shawfield Stadium Shawfield Stadium is a closed greyhound racing, football and speedway venue in the Shawfield district of the town of Rutherglen, South Lanarkshire, Scotland, located close to the boundary with Glasgow. Originally a football ground, Shawfield ...

Rutherglen Rutherglen (, sco, Ruglen, gd, An Ruadh-Ghleann) is a town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, immediately south-east of the city of Glasgow, from its centre and directly south of the River Clyde. Having existed as a Lanarkshire burgh in its own ...

. The Tigers achieved a 'double double' feat in 1993 and 1994, winning both the

British League Division Two The British League Division Two was created in 1968 and was the second tier of speedway racing in the United Kingdom until the restructuring of British speedway in 1995. It was renamed the New National League in 1975 and the National League betwee ...

Championship and

Knockout Cup A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

in consecutive years. The Tigers remained at Shawfield with the exception of the 1996 season when the poorly supported

Scottish Monarchs The monarch of Scotland was the head of state of the Kingdom of Scotland. According to tradition, the first King of Scots was Kenneth I MacAlpin (), who founded the state in 843. Historically, the Kingdom of Scotland is thought to have grown ...

rode there in top flight speedway.

1999 to present

In 1999 the club moved to its current home at the Ashfield Stadium in

Possilpark Possilpark is a district in the Scottish city of Glasgow, situated north of the River Clyde and centred around Saracen Street. The area developed around Saracen Foundry of Walter MacFarlane & Co., which was the main employer. In the wake of the ...

when the speedway track replaced an old

greyhound racing Greyhound racing is an organized, competitive sport in which greyhounds are raced around a track. There are two forms of greyhound racing, track racing (normally around an oval track) and coursing; the latter is now banned in most countries. Tr ...

track. 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 Newcastle Diamonds were a motorcycle speedway team that raced in the SGB Championship, every Sunday night during the season (March–October) from their home at the Newcastle Stadium on the Fossway, Byker. The Stadium, previously known as Broug ...

. 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 former

Speedway Grand Prix Speedway Grand Prix are a series of stand-alone motorcycle speedway events over the course of a season used to determine the Speedway World Champion. The series started in 1995 replacing the previous format of a single event final. The first win ...

rider and 2007 British GP winner Chris Harris. Halfway through the season team changes were needed to boost the chances of winning silverware, by signing in GP rider

Craig Cook Craig William Cook (born 21 May 1987) is a British speedway rider. Career Born in Whitehaven, Cook's speedway career began in 2008. In 2009 Cook won the National League Riders Championship and three years later won the Premier League Riders ...

, replacing

Richie Worrall Richie Worrall (born 23 September 1991) is an English motorcycle speedway rider who in 2012 reached the final of the World Under-21 Championship. Biography Worrall was born in St. Helens, Merseyside, the slightly elder of twins, the other being ...

. 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 Leicester Lions are a speedway team which originally operated from 1968 until 1983.Bamford, R & Jarvis J.(2001). ''Homes of British Speedway''. The club returned to speedway for the 2011 Premier League season, moving up to the Elite League ...

by two points but did win the Pairs Championship. British speedway was cancelled for 2020 season due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

with only a few individual meetings getting underway behind closed-doors. In 2021, the Tigers finished second in the regular season table and reached the play off final before losing to

Poole Pirates Poole Pirates (also known as Poole Speedway) are a motorcycle speedway team based in Poole, England, competing in the SGB Championship. The club have been the champions of the United Kingdom on ten occasions. Poole Speedway is promoted by ...

. They were knocked out of the SGB Championship KO cup semi-finals against rivals

Edinburgh Monarchs The Edinburgh Monarchs are a Scottish Speedway team, currently based in Armadale. They compete in the SGB Championship, racing on Friday nights during the Speedway season. The club is run by a board of directors, chaired by Alex Harkess. The ...

.The Tigers finished runners-up in the 2021 SGB Championship Play-Off finals against the

, who completed a season double.

Logos

Season summary

Riders previous seasons

2006 team * * * * * * * 2007 team * * * * * * * Also Rode: * 2008 team * * * * * * * Also Rode: * 2009 team * * * * * * * 2010 team * * * * * * * Also Rode: * * * * * * 2011 team * * * * * * * Also Rode: * (Broken Femur) * (Broken Collarbone) 2012 team * * * * * * * Also Rode: * * * * * 2013 team * * * * * * * Also Rode: * * * * 2015 team * * * * * * * Also Rode * * * 2016 team * * * * * * * Also Rode * 2017 team * * * * * * * 2018 team *

* Nathan Greaves * Claus Vissing *

Paul Starke Paul Simon Starke (born 18 November 1990) is an English speedway rider. Career Born in Hereford, Starke started his career with the Buxton Hitmen in 2007, before going on to have spells at a variety of different clubs during his development i ...

* Chris Harris-Captain * James Sarjeant * Jack Thomas Also rode: *

Lewis Kerr Lewis James Kerr (born 25 March 1990) is a British speedway rider from Snettisham in England. Speedway career Kerr took up speedway in late 2009, and made his competitive debut in June the following year for King's Lynn Young Stars' in the Nat ...

2019 team *

-Captain * Rasmus Jensen * Claus Vissing * Sam Jensen * Mikkel B Andersen * Kyle Bickley * Connor Bailey Also rode: *

* Luke Chessell * James Sarjeant 2021 team *

-Captain * Tom Brennan *

Broc Nicol Broc Nicol (born April 22, 1998) is a speedway rider from the United States. Career Nicol won the United States Championship twice in 2017 and 2020. Nicol began his British racing career riding for Sheffield Tigers in 2018. The following se ...

* Sam Jensen *

Ricky Wells Ricky Wells (born 27 July 1991 in Auckland, New Zealand), is an American international motorcycle speedway rider. He was the 2009 USA National Champion and a two time U.S. Under 21 National Champion. He has been an international rider for the ...

- Captain * Marcin Nowak * Connor Bailey Also rode: * Jack Smith * Ulrich Østergaard * Justin Sedgman 2022 team * * * * (C) * * *

Notable riders

STARs Hall Of Fame

* - Inducted 2011 * - Inducted 2011 * - Inducted 2011 * - Inducted 2012 * - Inducted 2013 * - Inducted 2013

Other notable riders

Club honours

British League Division Two

Champions: 1993, 1994

British League Division Two Knock Out Cup

Winners: 1993, 1994

Premier League

Champions: 2011

Premier League Pairs

Champions: 2005, 2006, 2011, 2019

National Series

Winners: 1990

Premier League KO Cup

Champions: 2016

References

{{SGB Championship Speedway Premier League teams SGB Championship teams Sports teams in Glasgow Motorsport in Scotland Workington Govan Blantyre, South Lanarkshire Coatbridge 1928 establishments in Scotland Sports clubs established in 1928 Sports team relocations