List of Leicester Tigers records and statistics
This article collates key records and statistics relating to Leicester Tigers, including information on honours, player appearances, points and tries, matches, sequences, internationals, season records, opponents and attendances.
Honours
Tigers first silverware was the Midlands Counties Cup, Tigers entered this competition from 1881 to 1914. There were then no competitions until 1971 when the RFU Knockout Cup started. Tigers won this for the first time in 1979, the competition continued until 2005 when it was replaced by the Anglo-Welsh Cup which Tigers have won three times, a record since the re-launch and addition of Welsh sides. The league started in 1987 and Tigers were the inaugural champions of England, a play off for the title was introduced in 2003. Leicester hold the record for most Premiership titles, the most consecutive Premiership Final appearances and the most Play off appearances. On 18 May 2008 against Gloucester at Kingsholm they were the first team to achieve an away semi-final victory in the Premiership play-offs. They were the first side to retain the Heineken Cup after winning the competition in 2001 and 2002.1st XV
- Premiership
- European Cup
- RFU Knock-out Cup
- Anglo-Welsh Cup
- Midland Counties Cup
- Leicestershire County Cup
- Premiership A League
Player records
Appearances
Most appearances- All-time most appearances
# | Nat. | Pos. | Name | Period | Appearances |
1 | FL | David Matthews | 1955–1974 | 502 | |
2 | HK | Sid Penny | 1895–1910 | 491 | |
3 | SH | John Allen | 1961–1975 | 457 | |
4 | HK | Doug Norman | 1919–1933 | 453 | |
5 | CE | Paul Dodge | 1975–1993 | 437 | |
6 | PR | Graham Rowntree | 1990–2007 | 398 | |
7 | FB | Dusty Hare | 1976–1989 | 394 | |
8 | SH | Pedlar Wood | 1906–1923 | 388 | |
9 | N8 | Garry Adey | 1966–1981 | 381 | |
10 | FL | John Wells | 1982–1998 | 367 |
- Most appearances: 502 – David Matthews
- Most league appearances: 234 – Graham Rowntree
- Most cup appearances: 51 – Paul Dodge
- Most European appearances: 74 – Geordan Murphy
- Most appearances in a single season: 45 – Teddy Haselmere in 1922/23
- Most successive appearances: 109 – David Matthews
- Most appearances in cup finals: 13 – Geordan Murphy
- Most appearances as captain:
# | Nat. | Pos. | Name | Period | Appearances | Wins | Win % |
1 | LK | Martin Johnson | 1995–2005 | 202 | 146 | 72.3 | |
2 | WG | Percy Lawrie | 1911–1923 | 165 | 107 | 64.8 | |
3 | FB | Arthur Jones | 1896–1904 | 131 | 99 | 75.6 | |
3 | HK | Peter Wheeler | 1973–1981 | 131 | 90 | 68.7 | |
5 | FH | Les Cusworth | 1985–1990 | 130 | 101 | 77.7 |
Youngest and oldest appearances
- Longest spell at club: 27 years 169 days – Graham Willars
- Youngest first-team player: 16 years 52 days – Martinus Swain
- Youngest player in competitive game: 16 years 237 days – George Ford
- Oldest first-team player: 47 years 135 days – Graham Willars
- Oldest player in competitive game: 40 years 109 days – Brad Thorn
- Oldest debutant: 39 years 243 days – Brad Thorn
Try and points scorers
- Top 10 all-time top tryscorers Current players in bold.
# | Nat. | Pos. | Name | Period | Tries | Apps | Try Ratio |
1 | WG | Percy Lawrie | 1907–1924 | 206 | 318 | 0.648 | |
2 | WG | Barry Evans | 1981–1996 | 170 | 273 | 0.623 | |
3 | WG | John Duggan | 1969–1980 | 158 | 302 | 0.523 | |
3 | WG | Bob Barker | 1968–1980 | 158 | 320 | 0.494 | |
5 | WG | Harry Wilkinson | 1895–1905 | 153 | 233 | 0.657 | |
6 | WG | Teddy Haselmere | 1918–1924 | 136 | 180 | 0.756 | |
7 | WG | Rory Underwood | 1983–1997 | 134 | 236 | 0.568 | |
8 | FL | Neil Back | 1990–2005 | 125 | 339 | 0.369 | |
9 | FL | David Matthews | 1955–1974 | 119 | 502 | 0.237 | |
10 | CE | Ralph Buckingham | 1924–1935 | 117 | 325 | 0.360 |
- Most tries: 206 – Percy Lawrie
- Most league tries: 75 – Neil Back
- Most cup tries: 31 – Harry Wilkinson
- Most European tries: 25 – Geordan Murphy
- Most tries in a game by a player: 7 – Alastair Smallwood
- Most tries scored in a single season: 59 – Teddy Haselmere in 1919–20
- Most tries scored in a season of Premiership Rugby or National League Division 1: 16 – Neil Back
- Most tries scored in a calendar year: 46 – Teddy Haselmere in 1920
- Most tries scored on debut: 3 – 7 players, most recently Marika Vunibaka
- Most consecutive games with a try scored: 8 – Percy Lawrie
- Most hat-tricks : 17 – Teddy Haselmere
- Youngest try-scorer: 17 years, 1 month – Charles Wynne
- Youngest try-scorer in a competitive match: 18 years, 89 days – Ollie Smith
- Oldest try-scorer: 42 years + – Jesse Ball
- Oldest try-scorer in a competitive match: 39 years, 307 days – Brad Thorn
- Quickest try: 14 seconds – John Duggan
- Quickest hat-trick: 8 minutes – Peter Sandford
Note: Points recorded at contemporary values. See History of rugby union#Method of scoring and points for history of how points values have changed.
- Top 10 all-time points scorers
# | Nat. | Pos. | Name | Period | Apps. | Tries | Cons. | Pens | Drop goals | Marks | Total points |
1 | FB | Dusty Hare | 1976–1989 | 394 | 87 | 779 | 820 | 47 | 0 | 4,507 | |
2 | FB | John Liley | 1988–1997 | 230 | 74 | 417 | 449 | 2 | 0 | 2,518 | |
3 | FH | Andy Goode | 1998–2008 | 200 | 29 | 275 | 335 | 33 | 0 | 1,799 | |
4 | FB | Tim Stimpson | 1998–2004 | 151 | 29 | 223 | 372 | 2 | 0 | 1,713 | |
5 | FH | Toby Flood | 2008–2014 | 119 | 25 | 199 | 270 | 1 | 0 | 1,336 | |
6 | FH | Jez Harris | 1984–1996 | 225 | 23 | 165 | 178 | 70 | 0 | 1,171 | |
7 | CE | Harold Day | 1918–1929 | 212 | 108 | 281 | 81 | 4 | 2 | 1,151 | |
8 | WG | Bob Barker | 1968–1980 | 320 | 158 | 92 | 107 | 2 | 0 | 1,117 | |
9 | FH | Les Cusworth | 1978–1990 | 365 | 66 | 100 | 65 | 96 | 0 | 947 | |
10 | FH | Joel Stransky | 1996–1999 | 73 | 23 | 146 | 157 | 6 | 0 | 896 |
- Most points: 4,507 – Dusty Hare
- Most league points: 1,180 – Tim Stimpson
- Most cup points: 531 – Dusty Hare
- Most European points: 406 – Andy Goode
- Most points in a game by a player: 43 – Dusty Hare
- Most points scored in a single season: 486 – Tim Stimpson in 2000–01
- Most points scored in a season of Premiership Rugby or National League Division 1: 321 – Tim Stimpson
- Most points scored in a calendar year: 451 – Tim Stimpson in 2001
- Most points scored on debut: 27 – Rob Liley
- Youngest points scorer: 16 years, 237 days – George Ford
- Oldest points scorer: 46 years + – Jesse Ball
- Oldest points scorer in a competitive match: 39 years, 307 days – Brad Thorn
- Quickest points scorer: 12 seconds – Jez Harris
- Most times scoring all of Leicester's points: 41 games – Dusty Hare
- Most successive points scoring games: 118 games – Dusty Hare
Internationals
- Most international caps won while at Leicester: 101 – Ben Youngs
- Most international caps won while at Leicester: 99 – Ben Youngs
- Most international caps won while at Leicester: 16 – Jim Hamilton
- Most international caps won while at Leicester: 3 – Darren Morris and Jonah Holmes
- Most international caps won while at Leicester: 72 – Geordan Murphy
- Most British and Irish Lions international caps won while at Leicester: 8 – Martin Johnson
- Most international caps won while at Leicester for a non-British or Irish nation: 63 – Martin Castrogiovanni for
- Most international tries scored while at Leicester: 50 – Rory Underwood
Awards
The following people associated with club have been inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame.
- Tony O'Reilly – inducted in 2009
- Martin Johnson – inducted in 2011
- Clive Woodward – inducted in 2011
- Bob Dwyer – inducted in 2011
- Waisale Serevi – inducted in 2013
- Wavell Wakefield – inducted in 2015
- George Ford – 2011
[Premiership Rugby] Awards
Player of the Season
- Martin Johnson – 1996–97, 1998–99
- Neil Back – 1997–98
- Austin Healey – 1999–2000
- Pat Howard – 2000–01
- Martin Corry – 2004–05
- Martin Castrogiovanni – 2006–07
- Tom Youngs – 2012–13
Awarded to those players under 23 years old
- Lewis Moody – 2001–02
- Ollie Smith – 2004–05
- Tom Varndell – 2005–06
- Ben Youngs – 2009–10
- Manu Tuilagi – 2010–11
- Ellis Genge – 2016–17
- Dean Richards – 2000–01
- John Wells – 2004–05
- Pat Howard – 2006–07
- Richard Cockerill – 2008–09
[Rugby Players' Association] Awards
- Neil Back – 1998–99
- Martin Corry – 2004–05
- Thomas Waldrom – 2010–11
- Vereniki Goneva – 2013–14
- Telusa Veainu – 2017–18
- Harry Ellis – 2004–05
- Tom Varndell – 2005–06
- Ben Youngs – 2009–10
- Manu Tuilagi – 2010–11
Team records
Matches
- First match: Leicester 0–0 Moseley, Belgrave Road Cycle and Cricket Ground, 28 October 1880
- First competitive match: Edgbaston Crusaders 1 goal, 2 tries to 0 Leicester, Edgbaston, 22 October 1881 in the Midlands Counties Cup
- First RFU Knock-out Cup match: Nottingham 10–3 Leicester, Ireland Avenue, 21 November 1971
- First Courage League match: Leicester 24–13 Bath, Welford Road, 12 September 1987
- First European Cup match: Leinster 10–27 Leicester, Donnybrook, 16 October 1996
Record wins
- Biggest win: 100–0
- Biggest league win: 83–10
- Biggest cup win: 76–0
- Biggest European Cup win: 90–19
Record defeats
- Biggest defeat: 10–85
- Biggest league defeat: 0–45
- Biggest cup defeat: 7–47
- Biggest European Cup defeat: 0–43
Other match records
- Highest scoring draw: 41–41
- Highest scoring European Cup draw: 32–32
- Highest scoring cup draw - 28-28
- Most points scored
- * In a win: 100
- * In a defeat: 42
- Most points conceded
- * In a win: 37
- * In a defeat: 85
- Highest combined points: 109
- Most tries scored: 19
- Most tries conceded: 13
- Quickest bonus point try scored: 21 minutes by Andy Goode
Sequences
- Overall: 22
- * Home: 42
- * Away: 10
- Overall: 9
- * Home: 6
- * Away: 13 and
- Overall: 13
- * Home: 7
- * Away: 15
Individual Seasons
- Most games played in a season: 46
- Most wins in a season: 35
- Most league wins in a season: 22
- Fewest wins in a season: 5
- Fewest league wins in a season: 7
- Most defeats in a season: 24
- Most league defeats in a season: 15
Opponents and Familiarity
- Club played most often: 245 v Northampton Saints
- Club played most often in the league: 62 v Bath
- Club played most often in domestic cup: 15 v Bath
- Club played most often in European Cup: 11 v Leinster, Stade Francais and Scarlets
- Non-home ground Leicester have played on most often: 118 at Franklin's Gardens, Northampton
- Player who has played the most games against one opponent for Leicester: 31 by Sid Penny against Coventry
- Player who has played the most games against Leicester: 38 by Simon Shaw for Bristol, Wasps and Barbarians
Home attendances
- Highest home attendance: 35,000 v the All Blacks on 4 October 1924
- Highest home league attendance: 25,849
- Highest home European Cup attendance: 32,500 v Bath
- Highest home cup attendance: 25,849 v Northampton Saints
- Highest average attendance for a league season: 22,889