It seems wherever the Tig has gone this year, a Tigers shirt, scarf or other merchandise have already been.
Whether supermarket shopping, visiting a sports centre, or just passing the time of day around town, there are always Leicester Tigers colours in evidence.
Tigers support is spread across a massive geographic area. We all have season ticket holders or fans near us on Welford Road matchdays who travel good distances to share their passion for the team. But it just seems the family is growing all the time – and they’re always proud to show their affiliations in red, white and green.
It has got to the point now that The Tig actually feels a whole lot better when the first shirt has been spotted, perhaps during lunch hour from work or on the way into town on a non-matchday.
We have biggest support in the country and, sitting slap-bang in the middle of the country, we can attract fans from all over, or bring back for game-day those who have previously moved away for work, study or other reasons.
But whatever the circumstances, it is just a great feeling to see other sharing your passion for the club.
At the last home game The Tig saw the club’s London & south-East Supporters Club joining the half-time pitch parades. They meet up regularly in London to watch TV coverage of games they can’t get to and also enjoy meeting up for those games in the southern half of the country. They could help Tigers could become the best-supported team in London!
One of the undoubted beauties of our sport is the camaraderie among supporters. The feeling of ‘belonging’ is special too. Where else would you share a passionate and probably details chat with someone on a regular basis without ever knowing their name or any other personal details? Matchdays are full of those incidents.
It’s great that we’re all in this together and we can share it with the Tigers.
