Leicester Tigers enjoyed a successful start to the new millennium, taking the treble in the 2000/01 season as they picked up two domestic trophies (Zurich Premiership and Zurich Championship) and the Heineken Cup where they beat Stade Français 34-30 at Parc des Princes.
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The team celebrate winning the Zurich Championship
to take the treble in 2001
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The club built on its success in 2001/02, winning the Zurich Premiership to make it four years in a row as the number one club in England, and securing a back-to-back Heineken Cup win to reinforce Tigers' position as top team in Europe.
Tigers' second Heineken Cup came at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff against Irish side Munster with a 15-9 victory.
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Leicester Tigers are still the only club ever to win the
Heineken Cup two years in a row
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August 2002 saw Leicester face French champions Biarritz in the Orange Cup - a battle between the league winners of France and England. Tigers came out top, narrowly beating the French side by 14-13.
The 2002/03 season was not so successful for the team who failed to pick up any silverware. However, they made it through to the Powergen Cup semi-final (losing to Gloucester after a controversial refereeing decision), faced Munster in the Heineken Cup quarter-final at Welford Road in front of over 17,000 supporters, and secured a place in Europe for 2003/04 via the Zurich Wildcard.
Tigers U21s enjoyed a successful 2002/03 season, winning all but two league games and beating Gloucester U21s convincingly in the final match to take the Zurich U21s League title.
Off the pitch, the Tigers community programme continues to thrive and now spreads the Tigers word as far as Wakefield, Norfolk and Birmingham. Alliance & Leicester TAG has moved into its second three-year term after picking up a series of national awards including the Sportsmatch Overall Winner for 2002.
After their success between 1998 and 2002, Tigers would probably want to put the 2003/04 season behind them as quickly as possible.
Rugby World Cup call-ups wrecked havoc with the team during the season - they lost eight members of their pack to the tournament - and they suffered defeats in seven of their first 13 Zurich Premiership games of the season.
Their Zurich Premiership season, however, got back on track in the final four months, the team remaining unbeaten over that time and winning a spot in the 2004/05 Heineken Cup season through the Zurich Wildcard, after they failed to make the knockout stages of the 2003/04 Heineken Cup.
Off the field, Leicester Tigers announced a record turnover of over £10 million, while director of rugby Dean Richards left the club after 23 years to be replaced by his former number two John Wells. Ex-Tigers stars Pat Howard and Richard Cockerill were also added to the coaching staff as backs and forwards coaches respectively.
Welford Road's sell-out crowds continued to increase and in 2003/04 the club boasted 11 capacity home matches and over 13,500 members.
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