The Sheffield 'Tru Plant' 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 based in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and ...

, England. They currently race in the British

SGB Premiership The Speedway Great Britain (SGB) Premiership is the top division of speedway league competition in the United Kingdom, governed by the Speedway Control Bureau (SCB) in conjunction with the British Speedway Promoters' Association (BSPA). It was ...

, and their home meetings take place at

Owlerton Stadium Owlerton Stadium, also known as Sheffield Stadium, is a purpose-built speedway track built in 1929 which also hosts greyhound racing The track is in Owlerton near Hillsborough in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Greyhound racing takes pla ...

. The Tigers traditionally hold their race nights on Thursdays between March and October. The Tigers are sponsored by Tru Plant, promoted by Damien Bates, Peter Mole and Julie Reading.

History

Owlerton Owlerton () is a suburb of the city of Sheffield, it lies northwest of the city centre near the confluence of the River Don and River Loxley. Owlerton was formerly a small rural village with its origins in the Early Middle Ages; it became pa ...

was a purpose built speedway track built in 1929. The team were inaugural members of the English Dirt Track League and Northern league the following season. In 1930 they rode as the Sheffield Blades. It operated for most of the pre-war years and re-opened for a short spell in 1945. The team operated in the Northern League of 1946 and in the National League Division Two between 1947 and 1950. The team won their first trophy in 1947, after winning the British Speedway Cup (Div 2). It closed part way through 1951 and staged open meetings in 1952. The track re-opened in 1960 and has operated most seasons since then. The team has been known as The Tigers apart from part of 1950 when they were known as The Tars and 1930 when they were the Blades. Sheffield won the Premier League (speedway's second division) twice during the

1999 Premier League speedway season The 1999 Premier League speedway season was the second division of speedway in the United Kingdom and governed by the Speedway Control Board (SCB), in conjunction with the British Speedway Promoters' Association (BSPA). Season summary The Leag ...

and the

2002 Premier League speedway season The 2002 Premier League speedway season was the second division of speedway in the United Kingdom and governed by the Speedway Control Board (SCB), in conjunction with the British Speedway Promoters' Association (BSPA). Season summary The Leagu ...

. They also won the

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 2002 to complete the double. The club's junior side the Sheffield Prowlers also won silverware winning the Conference League in 2000 and 2001. The

SGB Championship 2017 The Speedway Great Britain Championship 2017 was the second division of British speedway. It was the first time that it was known as the SGB Championship after changing its name from the Premier League. The season ran between March and October ...

season was the 21st consecutive season that the Sheffield Tigers competed in division 2. The Tigers finished in 1st place having beaten

Ipswich Witches The Ipswich Witches are a British speedway club based at Foxhall Stadium near Ipswich, Suffolk. They compete in the British SGB Premiership. Meetings are staged on most Thursdays from March until October, normally commencing at 7.30pm (first ...

in the two leg Play Off final 99–81. In 2019, the club won their fourth historical league title winning the

after finishing top of the regular season table and winning the playoffs. Due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) the 2020 season did not take place. The club topped the

SGB Premiership 2022 The 2022 SGB Premiership was the 87th season of the top tier of British Speedway and the 5th known as the SGB Premiership. Sheffield Tigers topped the regular season table and met Belle Vue Aces in the play off final but Belle Vue ran out the winn ...

table but lost in the play off final to

Belle Vue Aces The Belle Vue Aces are a British speedway club, based in Manchester. The club hold the record of having won the top tier League championship 13 times. They currently compete in the SGB Premiership, racing at The National Speedway Stadium, wi ...

, which foiled the chance for the club to win their first ever top tier league title. However, they did gain compensation by winning the League Cup. The Tigers all-time leading point scorer is Sean Wilson with 4246 points and the record appearance maker is Reg Wilson with 470 appearances. Their official track record holder is former captain and No.1 Ricky Ashworth with a time of 59.1 seconds.

Club honours

*British Championship League

SGB Championship The Speedway Great Britain (SGB) Championship is the second division of speedway league competition in the United Kingdom, governed by the Speedway Control Bureau (SCB), in conjunction with the British Speedway Promoters' Association (BSPA). ...

Winners 2017 *British Championship Pairs

Winners 2017 (Kyle Howarth & Lasse Bjerre), 2018 (Kyle Howarth and Charles Wright) *British Speedway Cup (Division 2) - 1947 *British League Knockout Cup winners - 1974 * Premier League Four-Team Championship winners - 1999 (

Wilson Wilson may refer to: People *Wilson (name) ** List of people with given name Wilson ** List of people with surname Wilson * Wilson (footballer, 1927–1998), Brazilian manager and defender * Wilson (footballer, born 1984), full name Wilson R ...

, Smith, Compton, Stead), 2000 (

, Stead,

Kessler Kessler or Keßler (in German) may refer to: * Kessler (automobile), an American automobile made 1921–1922 * Kessler (name), people named Kessler * ''Kessler'' (TV series), a British television series from 1981 * Kessler, Ohio, an unincorporat ...

Lee Lee may refer to: Name Given name * Lee (given name), a given name in English Surname * Chinese surnames romanized as Li or Lee: ** Li (surname 李) or Lee (Hanzi ), a common Chinese surname ** Li (surname 利) or Lee (Hanzi ), a Chinese ...

) *Premier League Play off winners - 1999, 2002 *Premier League winners - 1999, 2002 *Conference League Champions - 2000, 2001 *

Premier Trophy The Major League Tournament (formerly known as the Premier Trophy) is the main domestic first-class cricket competition in Sri Lanka. It was established in 1938 and has existed under a number of different names. Matches before the 1988–89 seas ...

winners - 2001 *Premier League Riders Championship winners -

Sam Ermolenko Guy Allen 'Sudden Sam' Ermolenko (born November 23, 1960 Maywood, California) is a former speedway rider. In 1993 he won the Speedway World Championship in Pocking, Germany.Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). ''A History of the World Speedway ...

(1996), Sean Wilson (1999, 2003, 2005), Andre Compton (2004), Ricky Ashworth (2009),

Simon Stead Simon Trevor Stead (born 25 April 1982) is a British speedway team manager and former rider. Career Summary Born in Sheffield, Stead started his career at local track Sheffield Tigers before riding for Buxton Hitmen, Peterborough Panthers an ...

(2014, 2016). *Premier League Pairs winners - Ricky Ashworth & Josh Auty 2010

Notable former riders

Full seasons summary

Season summary (juniors)

Previous seasons

References

{{SGB Premiership Speedway Premier League teams SGB Championship teams

Tigers The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus ''Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on un ...