| Birth name | Peter John Wheeler | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | 26 November 1948 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | London, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Peter John Wheeler, CBE DL (born 26 November 1948) is a former England international rugby union player who played hooker and was Chief Executive of Leicester Tigers.
Wheeler attended Brockley County Grammar School and went on to play for Old Brockleians Rugby Club and Kent for three seasons.
Wheeler was considered a tough and technically proficient hooker and was integral to Leicester's innovative and expansive style of play. [4] Wheeler captained Leicester Tigers to three consecutive wins in the John Player Cup from 1979 to 1981 and played 349 games for the club from 1969 to 1985.
He was an early advocate of league rugby in the 1980s. [5]
He made his England debut on 1 February 1975 against France, and his last appearance on 17 March 1984 against Wales, gaining 41 caps in between, including 5 as captain. [6]
He went on the 1977 British Lions tour to New Zealand and the 1980 British Lions tour to South Africa.
Wheeler coached Tigers in the inaugural league season which ended with them as champions. He then joined the Tigers organising committee.
When open professionalism was declared in 1996 he was appointed the Chief Executive of Leicester Tigers [2] and held the position until 2010 when he was appointed "Rugby Director", though this saw little change to his day to day role. [7] He retired in 2015 and was made a life member of Leicester, who he had served in various roles over 40 years. [8]
Leicester Tigers are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby.
Martin Osborne Johnson CBE is an English retired rugby union player who represented and captained England and Leicester in a career spanning 16 seasons. He captained England to victory in the 2003 Rugby World Cup, and is regarded as one of the greatest locks ever to have played, and one of England's greatest ever players.
Sir Clive Ronald Woodward is an English former rugby union player and coach. He was coach of the England team from 1997 to 2004, managing them to victory in the 2003 Rugby World Cup. He also coached the 2005 British & Irish Lions tour to New Zealand, losing the test series 3-0. He is currently a pundit for ITV Sport, working on their coverage of the Six Nations and Rugby World Cup.
Neil Antony Back MBE is a former international rugby union footballer for England and the British & Irish Lions who also played for Nottingham RFC, Leicester Tigers, and captained both England and Leicester during his career.
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Mark Regan MBE is an English former rugby union player. Nicknamed 'Ronnie', he played as a hooker for Bristol, Bath, Leeds Tykes as well as England and the British and Irish Lions.
William Wavell Wakefield, 1st Baron Wakefield of Kendal, known as Sir Wavell Wakefield between 1944 and 1963, was an English rugby union player for Harlequins, Leicester Tigers and England, President of the Rugby Football Union and Conservative politician.
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Dylan Hartley is a New Zealand-born English former rugby union player who played as hooker for Northampton Saints and has been named as Director of Rugby for the Dubai Sharks R.F.C in the United Arab Emirates. Hartley was the captain of England from January 2016 until the end of his international career in 2018. He is England's most capped hooker of all time, earning his first cap in 2008. Hartley captained England to the Grand Slam in 2016, the first time that England had done this since 2003, and to a 3–0 series win in the 2016 Cook Cup against Australia. He announced his retirement on 7 November 2019.
Paul Gustard is a former rugby union footballer who played for Leicester Tigers, London Irish and Saracens at flanker. He was captain of rugby and educated at the Royal Grammar School in Newcastle and is the son of former Gosforth favourite Steve Gustard, who was the club's leading try scorer for several seasons in the late 1970s. He gained Full County Cap honours with Durham County & was selected to captain the England u21 tour to Australia under Manager Jeff Probyn. An extraordinary honour as he was the only player not to be attached to a Premiership Rugby Squad.
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Leicester Lions are a rugby union club who currently play in National League 2 West – at tier 4 of the English rugby union system. The Lions are a leading amateur club in Leicester and along with Loughborough University and Hinckley are the senior clubs in Leicestershire after Premiership Rugby side Leicester Tigers. The club was formed as a result of an amalgamation between two local clubs in 1998, these being Westleigh RFC and Wigston RFC.
Dean Richards is a rugby union coach and former player for Leicester Tigers, England and British & Irish Lions. He was most recently the Director of Rugby at Newcastle Falcons, a position he held for ten years between 2012 and 2022.
Stephen Paul Redfern is an English former rugby union and professional rugby league player in the 1970s and 1980s. He played one test for England in 1984, and between 1976 and 1984 played club rugby for Leicester Tigers. His position was tighthead prop. He then played professional rugby league for Sheffield Eagles, but injury limited him to only 9 appearance.
Martin Alun Whitcombe is an English former rugby union footballer who played in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, and coached in the 2000s.
Robin James Cowling is an English retired rugby union player. He won 8 caps for England between 1977 and 1979, and played 216 games for Gloucester Rugby between 1967 and 1974 before playing 184 times for Leicester Tigers between 1974 and his retirement in 1981.
Ellis Genge is an English professional rugby union player who plays as a prop for Premiership Rugby club Bristol Bears. He made his international debut for England in 2016. Genge played 26 times for Bristol in a first spell between 2013–2016, before joining Leicester Tigers where he played 111 times between 2016–2022. He was Leicester captain as they won the 2021-22 Premiership Rugby title. He is known for his aggressive ball carrying and gain line success.
History of Leicester Tigers details the history of the rugby union club based in Leicester, England. Nicknamed the Tigers from 1885, Leicester have been a prominent club from the earliest days of organised English rugby dominating midlands rugby before the First World War; providing British Lions captains in 1930, 1936, 1997 and 2001; and winning 20 major titles since 1979 including a record 10 Premiership Rugby titles.
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