Sport in

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

includes a variety of professional and amateur sports. Leicestersportingstatue

Professional and semi professional sports teams include:

Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers (officially Leicester Football Club) are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1880 and since 1892 plays its hom ...

(rugby union),

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

(football),

Leicester Riders Leicester Riders are a British professional basketball team and the oldest club in the British Basketball League (BBL). Established in 1967, the club have played in various locations around Leicestershire before moving to their current purpose- ...

(basketball), Leicester Warriors (basketball),

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 ...

(speedway), and the

Leicestershire County Cricket Club Leicestershire County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Leicestershire. It has also been representative of the count ...

. Sports clubs include:

Leicester Coritanian A.C. Leicester Coritanian Athletics Club is an athletics club based in Leicester, England. It is based at the Saffron Lane sports centre. The club competes at all levels in senior and junior road racing, cross country, and track and field. The name is ...

(athletics) and Leicester Penguins Swimming Club who were awarded Sports Club of the Year by the ''

Leicester Mercury The ''Leicester Mercury'' is a British regional newspaper for the city of Leicester and the neighbouring counties of Leicestershire and Rutland. The paper began in the 19th century as the ''Leicester Daily Mercury'' and later changed to its pre ...

'' at their annual sports awards for 2007 and 2008.

Leicester Racecourse Leicester Racecourse is a horse racing course in Oadby, Leicestershire, about three miles south of the city centre. History of horse racing in Leicester The earliest evidence suggests that racing took place at Abbey Meadow, Leicester on 23 Mar ...

is located to the south of the city in Oadby. A statue was erected in the town centre commemorating Sporting Success in the year (1996) when Leicester City won the Coca-Cola Cup, Leicester Tigers won the

Pilkington Cup The Anglo-Welsh Cup (), was a cross-border rugby union knock-out cup competition that featured the 12 Premiership Rugby clubs and the four Welsh regions. It was a created as a replacement for the RFU Knockout Cup, which featured only English clubs ...

, and Leicestershire won the

County Championship The County Championship (referred to as the LV= Insurance County Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales and is organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). It bec ...

Rugby union

Leicester Tigers on Welford Road are one of the most successful

Rugby Union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

teams in Europe, having won the

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

twice, the first tier of English rugby ten times, and the

Anglo-Welsh Cup The Anglo-Welsh Cup (), was a cross-border rugby union knock-out cup competition that featured the 12 Premiership Rugby clubs and the four Welsh regions. It was a created as a replacement for the RFU Knockout Cup, which featured only English clubs ...

eight times. Notable former players include England's

Rugby World Cup The Rugby World Cup is a men's rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams. The tournament is administered by World Rugby, the sport's international governing body. The winners are awarded the Webb E ...

winning captain Martin Johnson,

Neil Back Neil Antony Back MBE (born 16 January 1969) is a former international rugby union footballer for England and the British & Irish Lions who also played for Nottingham RFC, Leicester Tigers, and captained both England and Leicester during his ca ...

, Dean Richards and

Austin Healey Austin Sean Healey (born 26 October 1973 in Wallasey (now part of Merseyside, formerly Cheshire), is a former English rugby union player who played as a utility back for Leicester Tigers, and represented both England and the British & Irish L ...

Football

Leicester City have also enjoyed a fair degree of success. In 2016, they became the sixth team to win the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

, having started the season with odds of 5000 to 1. They have championed the second tier of the English league system on a record seven occasions, competed in the top flight regularly during their history, won three

Football League Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

s and reached the

FA Cup Final The FA Cup Final, commonly referred to in England as just the Cup Final, is the last match in the FA Cup, Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the List of sports attendance figures, most attended domestic football ev ...

five times, lifting the trophy for the first time on their latest attempt in

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

. In the 2008–09 season they competed in and won

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

(third tier), to which they were relegated for the first time. In 2014, they returned to the

after ten years away. Their current stadium is the

King Power Stadium King Power Stadium (also known as the Leicester City Stadium due to UEFA sponsorship regulations and formerly known as the Walkers Stadium) is a football stadium in Leicester, England. It has been the home of Premier League club Leicester City ...

(formerly the Walkers Stadium), situated south of the city centre and near to the site of

Filbert Street Filbert Street was a football stadium in Leicester, England, which served as the home of Leicester City F.C. from 1891 until 2002. Although officially titled the City Business Stadium in the early 1990s, it remained known almost exclusively b ...

from which they relocated in 2002 after 111 years. Notable former managers include

Jimmy Bloomfield James Henry Bloomfield (15 February 1934 – 3 April 1983) was an English football player and manager. He made nearly 500 appearances in the Football League, including more than 300 in the First Division with Arsenal, Birmingham City and West ...

David Pleat David John Pleat (born 15 January 1945) is an English football player turned manager, and sports commentator. Pleat made 185 Football League appearances for five clubs, scoring 26 goals. He had two spells as manager of Luton Town, and four as ma ...

Brian Little Brian Little (born 25 November 1953) is an English football manager and former player. As a player, Little was a striker who spent his entire career for Aston Villa in a career that spanned from 1971 to 1980. He made 247 league appearances, ...

Claudio Ranieri Claudio Ranieri Grande Ufficiale OMRI (; born 20 October 1951) is an Italian football manager and former player. He will be the new head coach of club Cagliari from 1 January 2023. Ranieri began his managerial career in the lower leagues in It ...

, and

Martin O'Neill Martin Hugh Michael O'Neill, (born 1 March 1952) is a Northern Irish professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. Starting his career in Northern Ireland, O'Neill moved to England where he spent most of his playi ...

. Notable former players include

Gordon Banks Gordon Banks (30 December 1937 – 12 February 2019) was an English professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Widely regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time, he made 679 appearances during a 20-year professional caree ...

(England's World Cup winning goalkeeper in 1966),

Peter Shilton Peter Leslie Shilton (born 18 September 1949) is an English former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. His 30-year career included spells at 11 clubs and he has the distinction of playing over 1,000 league games, including in ...

Frank Worthington Frank Stewart Worthington (23 November 1948 – 22 March 2021) was an English footballer who played as a forward. Worthington was born into a footballing family in Shelf, near Halifax, West Riding of Yorkshire. Both of his parents had played ...

Gary Lineker Gary Winston Lineker (; born 30 November 1960) is an English former professional footballer and current sports broadcaster. He is regarded as having been one of the greatest English strikers. His media career began with the BBC, where he has p ...

(the third highest goalscorer of all time for the England team with 48 goals between 1984 and 1992), Alan Smith,

Emile Heskey Emile William Ivanhoe Heskey (born 11 January 1978) is an English former professional footballer who currently serves as head of football development of Leicester City Women. Playing as a striker, he made more than 500 appearances in the Foo ...

Neil Lennon Neil Francis Lennon (born 25 June 1971) is a Northern Irish football coach and former player. During his playing career he represented English clubs Manchester City, Crewe Alexandra and Leicester City. Lennon moved to Celtic in 2000, where he ...

Riyad Mahrez Riyad Karim Mahrez ( ar, رياض كريم محرز, Riyāḍ Karīm Maḥraz; born 21 February 1991) is a professional association football, footballer who plays as a Winger (association football), winger for club Manchester City F.C., Manches ...

Danny Drinkwater Daniel Noel Drinkwater (born 5 March 1990) is an English professional footballer who is a midfielder. He is currently a free agent. Having come through the youth academy at Manchester United, he spent time on loan with Huddersfield Town, Cardif ...

Robert Huth Robert Huth (, ; born 18 August 1984) is a German former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. He is a three-time Premier League winner and has made the most Premier League appearances (322) by a German player. Huth was signed f ...

Andy King Andrew or Andy King may refer to: * Andrew King (astrophysicist) (born 1947), British astrophysicist * Andrew King (architect), Canadian architect and cross-disciplinary artist * Andrew King (mayor) (born 1960 or 1961), former mayor of Hamilton, Ne ...

Simon Grayson Simon Nicholas Grayson (born 16 December 1969) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the current head coach of Indian Super League club Bengaluru. As a player, he was a right back, but he was also utilised in m ...

Harry Maguire Jacob Harry Maguire (born 5 March 1993) is an English professional Association football, footballer who plays as a centre-back for club Manchester United F.C., Manchester United and the England national football team, England national team. ...

, and

N'Golo Kanté N'Golo Kanté (born 29 March 1991) is a French professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for club Chelsea and the France national team. Considered by many to be one of the world's best midfielders, Kanté is widely praised ...

. Notable current players include

Kasper Schmeichel Kasper Peter Schmeichel (born 5 November 1986) is a Danish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Nice and the Denmark national team. Schmeichel began his career with Manchester City, but had loan spells with Darlington, B ...

Wes Morgan Westley Nathan Morgan (born 21 January 1984) is a former professional footballer who made over 750 professional appearances as a defender for Nottingham Forest, Leicester City and the Jamaican national team, as well as a brief loan spell at Ki ...

Jamie Vardy Jamie Richard Vardy (''né'' Gill; born 11 January 1987) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for club Leicester City. Regarded as one of the best strikers in the world, Vardy is known for his prolific goalscoring aided ...

Marc Albrighton Marc Kevin Albrighton (born 18 November 1989) is an English professional footballer who plays as a winger or wing-back for Championship side West Bromwich Albion, on loan from Premier League club Leicester City. Albrighton joined Aston Vil ...

Christian Fuchs Christian Fuchs (; born 7 April 1986) is an Austrian former professional footballer who played as a left back. He began his senior career as a teenager at Wiener Neustadt before signing his first professional contract at 17 with SV Mattersburg ...

James Maddison James Daniel Maddison (born 23 November 1996) is an English professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for club Leicester City and the England national team. Maddison began his career with Coventry City before joining Norw ...

Wilfred Ndidi Onyinye Wilfred Ndidi (born 16 December 1996) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for club Leicester City and the Nigeria national team. Ndidi is known for his defensive prowess. Club career Genk On 14 Jan ...

, and

Youri Tielemans Youri Marion A. Tielemans (born 7 May 1997) is a Belgian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Leicester City F.C., Leicester City and the Belgium national football team, Belgium national team. Tielema ...

Motor sports

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 ...

racing has been staged in Leicester on and off since 1928. In the pioneer days speedway was staged at a track known as

Leicester Super Leicester Super was a motorcycle speedway team based at the Leicester Super Speedway near Melton Road. History Promotion company Speedways and Sports Ltd initially approached Leicestershire County Cricket Club in 1929 with a proposal to constr ...

situated in Melton Road and at '

The Stadium A stadium ( : stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand o ...

' in Blackbird Road. Post war, the

Leicester Hunters The Leicester Hunters were a motorcycle speedway team which operated from 1948 until 1962.Bamford, R & Jarvis J. (2001) ''Homes of British Speedway'', , p. 147-149 History Speedway had operated before the war at both Leicester Stadium and the Lei ...

joined the National League Division Three in 1949 and operated at various levels until closure at the end of 1962. The sport was revived for a spell from 1968 before the sale and subsequent redevelopment of the site ended the first

era in 1983. Planning permission was granted in October 2009 for a brand-new speedway track at Beaumont Park , with

returning to action in the

from 2011 to 2013. In 2014 the

raced in the Elite League.

American football

Leicester is home to the

Leicester Falcons The Leicester Falcons are an American football team based in Leicester, Leicestershire, England, that competes in the BAFA National Leagues NFC 1 South, the second level of British American football. The club currently operate from the Leicester ...

, an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

team that competes as part of the

BAFA National Leagues The BAFANL (BAFA National Leagues) are the primary American football domestic League competition in Great Britain. The League is run by the British American Football Association to coordinate contact football within England, Scotland and Wales. ...

and in 2011 was promoted to the BAFA Premier League, the highest tier of British American Football. The Falcons' home ground is located at

Babington Academy Babington Academy (formerly Babington Community College) is an 11–16 mixed secondary school with academy status in Beaumont Leys, Leicester, Leicestershire, England. It is part of the Learning without Limits Academy Trust. The school re ...

, in the Beaumont Leys area of the city.

Rugby league

Leicester Phoenix Leicester Storm are an amateur community rugby league football club based in Leicester, England. They compete in the Conference League South and their Academy Team compete in the 3v Sport Midlands Rugby League. The club's home is Phoenix Park w ...

is a

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

club based in the centre of the city. The club was founded in 1986. After playing in different

British Amateur Rugby League Association The British Amateur Rugby League Association (BARLA) is an association for social and recreational rugby league. It works jointly with the Rugby Football League through the RFL Community Board. History BARLA was created in 1973 in Huddersfiel ...

leagues (namely the Midlands and South West Amateur Rugby League and the East Midlands Amateur Rugby League) the Phoenix were one of the 10 founder members of the

Rugby League Conference The Rugby League Conference (RLC) (also known as the Co-operative Rugby League Conference as a result of sponsorship from The Co-operative Group), was a series of regionally based divisions of amateur rugby league teams spread throughout England, ...

(then the Southern Conference League) in 1997 reaching the grand final in the inaugural season. Since then they have been one of the league's most consistent performers. Their 1st Grade Team currently compete in the

Midlands Premier Regional 1 Midlands (until 2022–23 known as Midlands Premier and up until 2016–17 known as National League 3 Midlands) is a level five semi-professional league in the English rugby union system. It is one of six leagues at this level. When ...

division of the

Other sports

Leicester City Hockey Club are one of England's leading ladies clubs. Their Ladies side has won the England Hockey League on six occasions, the most recent success coming in

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

. They have also won the Women's national Cup four times and have seen a number of players selected for International representation, notably 2016 Olympic gold medalist

Crista Cullen Chay Crista Kerio Cullen, (born 20 August 1985) is an Olympic Gold Medal-winning English field hockey player. Hockey career Cullen made her senior international debut for England in 2003. She was part of the Great Britain squad which won Bronz ...

. They are based at Leicester Grammar School in

Great Glen The Great Glen ( gd, An Gleann Mòr ), also known as Glen Albyn (from the Gaelic "Glen of Scotland" ) or Glen More (from the Gaelic ), is a glen in Scotland running for from Inverness on the edge of Moray Firth, in an approximately straight ...

Leicester Rowing Club Leicester Rowing Club is a sport rowing, rowing and sculling club in Leicester. The club was formed in 1882 and represents the City of Leicester in Regatta and Rowing (sport)#Head races, Head Races around Great Britain and Worldwide. The club ...

is a

rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically atta ...

and

sculling Sculling is the use of oars to propel a boat by moving them through the water on both sides of the craft, or moving one oar over the stern. A long, narrow boat with sliding seats, rigged with two oars per rower may be referred to as a scull, it ...

club based in the centre of the city on the

River Soar The River Soar () is a major tributary of the River Trent in the English East Midlands and is the principal river of Leicestershire. The source of the river is midway between Hinckley and Lutterworth. The river then flows north through Leicest ...

. Formed in 1882 they represent Leicester in

Regatta Boat racing is a sport in which boats, or other types of watercraft, race on water. Boat racing powered by oars is recorded as having occurred in ancient Egypt, and it is likely that people have engaged in races involving boats and other wate ...

and

Head Races A head race is a time-trial competition in the sport of rowing. Head races are typically held in the fall, winter and spring seasons. These events draw many athletes as well as observers. In this form of racing, rowers race against the clock wh ...

around Great Britain and Worldwide. The club insignia is based on the mythical

Wyvern A wyvern ( , sometimes spelled wivern) is a legendary winged dragon that has two legs. The wyvern in its various forms is important in heraldry, frequently appearing as a mascot of schools and athletic teams (chiefly in the United States, Unit ...

and rowers compete in the club's colours of black and white. Leicester also has many badminton clubs in the city; most notably Leicester University, Loughborough Students, Regal Arts and Birstall. The city also hosted

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

and World track cycling and Road Racing championships at its Saffron Lane

velodrome A velodrome is an arena for track cycling. Modern velodromes feature steeply banked oval tracks, consisting of two 180-degree circular bends connected by two straights. The straights transition to the circular turn through a moderate Track tran ...

and

Mallory Park Mallory Park is a motor racing circuit situated in the village of Kirkby Mallory, just off the A47, between Leicester and Hinckley, in central England. Originally used for grass-track until 1955, a new, basically oval hard-surfaced course ...

racing circuit in August 1970. The cycle track was improved specially for the event which was televised all over the world. Another first meant that sponsors were allowed to buy sections of the track to utilise for advertising purposes. This was also the first time that a public road – the A46 – was closed in the UK to allow the Road Race to take place. However, this was the second world championships to be hosted by the city. Leicester is also the home of

Leicestershire Road Club The Leicestershire Road Club is a cycling club in Leicester, England. The club has produced European and world champions. Formation and early history The Leicestershire Road Club is the oldest cycling club in Leicestershire. It was formed from t ...

, the oldest cycling club in the county. Notable riders from Leicester include Individual Pursuit World Champion Colin Sturgess, double World Junior Road Race Champion

Lucy Garner Lucy May van der Haar (née Garner; born 20 September 1994) is a British former professional racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2013 and 2020 for the , and teams. Van der Haar is a double junior world road race champion, winning ...

, Commonwealth Games silver medallist George Atkins, and

Daniel McLay Daniel "Dan" McLay (born 3 January 1992) is a British racing cyclist, competing in road, track and cyclo-cross, who currently rides for UCI ProTeam . His first season as a professional was 2015, racing for French pro-continental and 2014 Tour de ...

, who in

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

became the first rider from Leicestershire to compete in the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...

. In 1989 and 2009, the city hosted the British Special Olympics. This was the adopted charity for the Lord Mayor of Leicester 2008–2009, Councillor

Manjula Sood Manjula Sood, MBE, is a British politician, community service participant and former educator. In 2008, Sood became the first Asian female Lord Mayor in the United Kingdom. Early life Sood immigrated to the United Kingdom in 1970. She became in ...

. Until its demolition in 1999,

Granby Halls Granby Halls was a popular live music, exhibition and sports arena in Leicester, England, also notable as the long serving home of professional basketball team, the Leicester Riders, from 1980 until 1999. It was located in a triangle of prime l ...

was a popular live music, exhibition and sports arena in the city. It was also notable as the long serving home of professional basketball team, the

, from 1980 until 1999. The

Dolly Rockit Rollers The Dolly Rockit Rollers (DRR) are a flat track roller derby league based in Leicestershire, England. Formed in January 2010, they are members of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA), which they joined in July 2014. The league has ...

roller derby Roller derby is a roller skating contact sport played by two teams of fifteen members. Roller derby is played by approximately 1,250 amateur leagues worldwide, mostly in the United States. Game play consists of a series of short scrimmages (jam ...

league are based in Leicester. They were ranked amongst the top eight

UKRDA The United Kingdom Roller Derby Association (UKRDA) is the National Association for roller derby in the UK. The association was formed in 2010 with 15 member leagues, and was recognized by the British Roller Sports Federation soon after. The UKR ...

members for 2011, and played at the Association's 2012 championship tournament as a result. The city is also home to one of the largest Korfball clubs in the country. Leicester City Korfball Club is based out of Regent College and DMU Korfball Club based at the university. Leicester Blue Sox is a baseball club based in the city, they play their home games at Western Park. They currently compete in the BBF single-A central division. Leicester was also the '2008 European City of Sport'.

References

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