No English club have taken to professionalism as successfully as Leicester Tigers and they have a trophy cabinet full of silverware to prove it.

Off the pitch Leicester were professional in outlook even back in the 1980s as they sought corporate sponsorship and with fervent support at Welford Road, they were well placed when the professional era began in 1995.

World Cup winners Martin Johnson and Neil Back formed the backbone of a formidable pack during the late 1990s and 2000s, while behind the scrum the Tigers were blessed with the mercurial talents of England utility back Austin Healey and Ireland full-back Geordan Murphy.

The Tigers won four successive Premiership titles between 1998 and 2002, and became the first team to win the European Cup in successive seasons.

They unceremoniously usurped Bath as the dominant club in England and in 2000-01 history was made when the Tigers won the Premiership, the Championship and the Heineken Cup.

In the 2006-07 season they came within 80 minutes of achieving another treble, but, having already won the Premiership and the EDF Cup, they were defeated in the final of the European Cup.

The Tigers have shown no sign of relinquishing their billing as one of the most feared sides in Europe and in the 2007-08 season the club made two Twickenham final appearances as they finished runners-up in both domestic competitions.