Editing London Tigers


'''London Tigers''' was a British professional [[paintball]] team associated with London and Kent, England. The team competed internationally in the [[Millennium Series]] and the [[National Professional Paintball League]] (NPPL), including the American professional seven-player circuit during the mid-2000s.[1][2]

London Tigers won the 2013 Millennium Series Semi-Professional Paintball League (SPL) championship, finishing first overall with victories at the European Masters in Bitburg and the World Cup in Paris.[3]

== History ==

=== Early professional competition ===

London Tigers was an established British tournament team by 2005, competing in the Champions Paintball League (CPL), the highest division of the Millennium Series.

Contemporary tournament records identify London Tigers among the teams entered in the 2005 European Masters and Campaign Cup, alongside [[London Nexus]], [[Shockwave UK]], [[Copenhagen Ducks]] and [[Joy Division (paintball team)|Joy Division]].[4]

The organisation also competed in the American NPPL Super 7 professional division during 2005.

At the NPPL Commander's Cup in Miami, Florida, held on 4–6 November 2005, London Tigers finished fifth in the professional preliminary rankings and qualified for the quarter-finals.

The team was eliminated before the semi-finals. Its performance placed it among the eight quarter-finalists at the season-ending tournament, which was filmed for television coverage on ESPN.[1]

=== NPPL changes and European competition (2006–2008) ===

Following the 2005 NPPL season, the team's American professional position changed ownership.

Contemporary reporting by WARPIG stated that Spesh Robinson purchased London Tigers and used the team's NPPL professional position for the [[Pittsburgh All Americans]] in 2006.[2]

London Tigers nevertheless continued competing in the European Millennium Series.

The team finished sixteenth in the 2006 Champions Paintball League standings.

In February 2007, equipment manufacturer Luxfer Gas Cylinders announced its continued sponsorship of the Kent-based team ahead of the Millennium Series season.

Luxfer supplied composite high-pressure air cylinders and supported the team through its paintball safety campaign.[5]

London Tigers competed in the Semi-Professional Paintball League during 2007, finishing twenty-first overall.

The following year, the team improved to tenth in the 2008 SPL standings.[3]

=== Continued development (2009–2012) ===

London Tigers continued participating in the Millennium Series throughout the late 2000s and early 2010s.

The team finished eighteenth in the 2009 SPL standings, twentieth in 2010 and seventeenth in 2011.

In 2012, London Tigers improved to tenth overall, with its best event result being fifth place at the London tournament.[3]

=== Millennium Series championship (2013) ===

The 2013 season was one of London Tigers' most successful documented campaigns.

Competing in the Millennium Series Semi-Professional Paintball League, the team finished third at the Mediterranean Cup in Puget-sur-Argens, France.

London Tigers subsequently won the European Masters in Bitburg, Germany, before finishing second at the London event.

At the final tournament of the season, the World Cup in Paris-Chantilly, London Tigers secured another first-place finish.

The team won the overall 2013 SPL championship with 382 series points.[3]

Equipment manufacturer [[Planet Eclipse]] recognised the championship in a September 2013 announcement, confirming that London Tigers had won both the final event in Paris and the season title.[6]

The team was coached by Mark "Twizz" Dale, who was associated with its competitive programme during this period.[7]

=== Return to professional competition (2014–2015) ===

Following its 2013 SPL championship, London Tigers returned to the Champions Paintball League for the 2014 season.

The team finished twelfth overall in 2014, with its best tournament result being ninth place at the Paris-Chantilly World Cup.

London Tigers remained in the CPL in 2015, finishing thirteenth in the season standings.

Its best result that year was eleventh place, achieved at both the Mediterranean Cup and the Campaign Cup.[3]

The available records do not establish a definitive date on which the organisation ceased competing.

== Development teams ==

London Tigers operated multiple tournament squads in addition to its principal professional team.

A contemporary entry list for the 2005 Campaign Cup recorded London Tigers in the Champions League and London Tigers AM in Division 1.[4]

By 2013, the organisation included additional squads identified as Tigers 2, Tigers 3 and Tigers 4.

The wider team structure was acknowledged in a statement published following the organisation's victory at the 2013 Bitburg Masters.[8]

== Notable players and personnel ==

Documented personnel associated with London Tigers include:

* '''Mark "Twizz" Dale''' – Coach associated with the team's 2013 championship programme.[7]
* '''Tony Brandon''' – Player listed in the team's 2013–2015 Millennium Series rosters.[3]
* '''Chris Fisher''' – Player listed in the 2011–2013 Millennium Series rosters.[3]
* '''Nicky Honing''' – Player listed in the 2013–2015 rosters.[3]
* '''Sam Keats''' – Player listed in the 2013–2015 rosters.[3]
* '''Richard Payne''' – Player listed in the 2010–2015 rosters.[3]

== Selected tournament results ==

{| class="wikitable"
! Year
! Tournament or series
! Division
! Result
|-
| 2005
| NPPL Commander's Cup, Miami
| Professional 7-man
| Quarter-finalists [1]
|-
| 2006
| Millennium Series
| CPL
| 16th overall [3]
|-
| 2007
| Millennium Series
| SPL
| 21st overall [3]
|-
| 2008
| Millennium Series
| SPL
| 10th overall [3]
|-
| 2012
| Millennium Series
| SPL
| 10th overall [3]
|-
| 2013
| Mediterranean Cup
| SPL
| 3rd [3]
|-
| 2013
| European Masters, Bitburg
| SPL
| 1st [3]
|-
| 2013
| London
| SPL
| 2nd [3]
|-
| 2013
| World Cup, Paris-Chantilly
| SPL
| 1st [3]
|-
| 2013
| Millennium Series
| SPL
| '''Series champions''' [3][6]
|-
| 2014
| Millennium Series
| CPL
| 12th overall [3]
|-
| 2015
| Millennium Series
| CPL
| 13th overall [3]
|}

== See also ==

* [[London Nexus]]
* [[Shockwave UK]]
* [[Millennium Series]]
* [[National Professional Paintball League]]
* [[List of historically significant paintball teams]]

== References ==

# [https://www.warpig.com/paintball/tournament/nppl/2005/miami/ WARPIG – NPPL Miami Commander's Cup, 4–6 November 2005].
# [https://www.warpig.com/paintball/tournament/nppl/2006/huntington/ WARPIG – NPPL Huntington Beach 2006, including the London Tigers professional position transfer].
# [https://millennium-series.epbf.info/team_profile.php?Team=London+Tigers Millennium Series – London Tigers, official historical team profile, 2006–2015].
# [https://www.pbhub.de/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10699 PBHub – Campaign Cup 2005 Team List, 4 September 2005].
# [https://www.luxfercylinders.com/co2-and-beverage/luxfer-sponsored-london-tigers-paintball-team-looks-strong-for-new-millennium-series-tournament/ Luxfer Gas Cylinders – Luxfer-Sponsored London Tigers Paintball Team Looks Strong for New Millennium Series Tournament, 6 February 2007].
# [https://eclipsehq.blogspot.com/2013/09/champions.html Planet Eclipse – Champions, 27 September 2013].
# [https://viewfromthedeadbox.blogspot.com/2013/10/psp-world-cup-day-1.html View from the Deadbox – PSP World Cup Day 1, 17 October 2013].
# [https://ready4paintball.blogspot.com/2013/06/vincitori-tappa-bitburg-cplspl.html Ready 4 Paintball – Millennium Series Bitburg 2013 CPL/SPL Winners, 1 June 2013].

== External links ==

* [https://millennium-series.epbf.info/team_profile.php?Team=London+Tigers London Tigers historical results, Millennium Series]
* [https://www.facebook.com/LondonTigersPB London Tigers on Facebook]

[[Category:Paintball teams]]
[[Category:British paintball teams]]
[[Category:Professional paintball teams]]
[[Category:Historical paintball teams]]