This pilot project was a partnership between Soft Touch, Historypin and the University of Leicester Library to create a digital archive of photographs and ephemera about Welford Road Stadium, home of the Leicester Tigers rugby union club.
The focus of the project was the traditional Christmas-time fixture between the Tigers and the Barbarians, played every year from 1909 until the end of the twentieth century.
The matches were a great occasion for both the club and Leicestershire as a whole, and have become part of rugby union folklore.
Photographs are taken mainly from the Leicester Mercury Archive at the University of Leicester. The project is creating a web-based memory bank and is collecting sporting memories from Leicester Tigers Fans. On 18 March 2014 we ran a drop in event at 50 New Walk, inviting fans to come bring in with their memorabilia and share their memories about the annual ‘Ba-Baas’ match.
Before the event we’d already had some fun memories shared on Facebook, including the identification of Pete Curtis, famous for getting drunk and climbing things from cross bars to lamposts – anyone remember him? The hunt is still on for a photo of one of his escapades.