Graphics courtesy of Lee at https://twitter.com/lcgraphix2018
Our season started with a win over Coventry. More matches from August in comic strip format on page 10 onwards.
This is intended to be a monthly publication, filled with paid content from Foxes fans. There will be a mix of nostalgia, humour and banter as well as current football commentary. We actively seek contributions from Leicester fans, whether text or graphic/images.
Enquiries : MarkNessfield [AT] gmail [DOT] com
Youri Tielemans has left Leicester City. Like other players at Leicester the season 22/3 was not one to be proud of, but we remember now his skills over previous seasons.
1 Alan Young left LCFC in 1982 Which club did he join?
2 Who was manager at the club that Young joined?
3 Which ex Leicester player worked on barn-building, before ending up coaching in the US at Nashville?
4 In a promotion year, Leicester won the last game of 2008/9 three-nil, away to which team?
5 Which Leicester star made his full-time debut against Oldham Athletic on New Year's Day 1979?
6 Which team did Frank Worthington join, when he left Leicester City in 1977?
7 Whose auto-biography is called "A little is enough"?
Answers on page 15
After an early goal conceded in the Coventry game, tom27111 posted
But after we took the lead...
“Live scenes from HMS Piss The League...”
Seems some of our support were into goading the opposition (seen @AwayDays_ on twitter)
A quick response from the Cov account @covcept
- we won the game 2-1 !!!!
A Liverpool fan, a trifle upset that Caicedo preferred a Chelsea move instead of Liverpool.
Never mind @purple991166 you can still bid for KDH...
Alan Shearer , happy that his PL goal scoring record is no longer under threat, offers Kane a lift.. on his @alanshearer twitter feed.
Come on Harry it’s time to go!
Some Leicester fans already won over by Enzo... [seen on Facebook]
Lads, it’s Spurs....
Ok not a football meme, but may raise a laugh...
Overleaf comic strip - Matchday2 (Huddersfield 0 Leicester 1) and Matchday3 (Leicester 2 Cardiff 1)
Relive the music, football and more from April 1980. Will Jock Wallace's aces bounce back with promotion?
Next page - Damon Carter’s review of the Foxes in August
After spending a summer desperately trying to ignore all things Leicester City, we all knew settling down into the 2023-2024 season was never going to be an easy task. Not only did we have a new managerial set-up and a whole host of new players replacing the old We must now look for our highlights package on ITV4 on a Saturday night and pay even more attention when Owynn Palmer-Atkin learns about the next opponents on the “When You’re Smiling” podcast.
What worse kind of hell for a return to the Championship than playing a resurgent Coventry City who can’t stand us and are showing signs of returning to former glories? The foxes had lost some massive names (Maddison, Barnes, Tielemans, Soyuncu) and had some notable names not included in the matchday squad strongly linked away. Bizarrely the likes of forgotten man Jannick Vestergaard started alongside some new names like Mads Hermansen, Stephy Mavididi and promising prospect Kasey McAteer.
The Sky Blues started off strongly and were finding themselves in dangerous areas but were restricted to long range efforts and blocked shots. Early in the second half Kyle McFadzean exposed Leicester’s terrible set piece defending with a header from a corner to leave the home end wondering when their nightmare would end. But Enzo Maresca’s men seemed far more assured and stuck to the game plan of intricate possession football trying to tease the opposition out of position. The mostly patient fanbase were rewarded when Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall rose like a salmon to head in an equaliser from Dennis Praet’s cross, releasing relief around the King Power. Later Dewsbury-Hall found himself with too much room in the box and curled a left footed shot into the top corner to send the home support crazy at something they hadn’t seen in a long time, a late winner.
REMARKABLE STAT – Including West Ham last season these were the first consecutive home league wins for over a year
9th August – Brewers 0-2 Foxes – Carabao Cup 1st round
Goals from Kelechi Iheanacho and Wilfred Ndidi gave us a comfortable win, that with only 3 shots on target is almost perfectly efficient.
REMARKABLE STAT – Iheanacho has scored 10 career league cup goals
12th August – Terriers 0-1 Foxes - Championship
Nothing says ‘You’ve arrived back in the Championship’ like a game against a Neil Warnock eleven. Their style backfired though as Leicester created various chances. Stephy Mavididi was a constant threat as he chipped away on his wing. Dewsbury-Hall played him in with the game ticking into the 73rd minute. Mavididi sold his opponent a stepover which opened enough space for him to blast a shot through goalkeeper Lee Nicholl’s legs and send the away fans delirious and Warnock clutching at cliches.
REMARKABLE STAT – The first 3 league wins in a row since January 2021
19th August – Foxes 2-1 Bluebirds – Championship
The performances kept improving albeit in small increments. The visit of Cardiff City seemed to tick along relatively smoothly with the foxes patient and precise passing game drawing the opposition out. Kelechi Iheanacho smashed a beautiful curling shot onto the upright before Wanya Marcal hammered in his first ever professional goal The team were making openings and hitting their stride in comfortable fashion in the first half. However, Aaron Ramsey hit a goal of unreal quality in a half Cardiff City hadn’t had a sniff of The Bluebirds inevitably grew in quality in the second half and if Yakou Meite had been more composed, Cardiff might have left the King Power with more than a point. But even that was wishful thinking when debutant Cesare Casadei smashed home the winner.
REMARKABLE STAT – The first time the club has ever opened the season with 4 wins in a row – remarkable that they can exist for nearly 150 years and only have just got around to this.
26th August – Millers 1-2 Foxes – Championship
A visit to the New York stadium for the first time for Leicester City and another seemingly tight game with Maresca’s boys continuing to stick to the plan by threading careful passes through the opposition lines It started off in bleak fashion with Rotherham’s Jordan Hugill heading the lead from a set piece (yes that old habit is becoming a reoccurrence) before the linesman ruled it out Minutes later Leicester delivered a sucker punch when Kelechi Iheanacho dinked a perfect cross to the back post for Kasey McAteer to head home and send the team into the break with a lead.
Leicester’s ponderous nature led to Rotherham’s equaliser from a teased cross that Fred Onyedinma glanced in. But patiently Leicester probed and late on, once again found their opening. Callum Doyle found some space on the left-hand side and cooked up a delicious cross field pass to McAteer who after a few unsure touches turned inside on his left foot and powered a curling shot into the corner in front of the net in front of a fervent away following
REMARKABLE STAT – The first time Leicester have won 5 league games in a row since 2019.
29th August – The Rovers 0-2 Leicester City – Carabao Cup – Round 2
A rematch of the Wembley League Cup final in 2000, but a much more muted affair and one that the foxes kept reasonably comfortable. Harry Winks nearly opened his Leicester City account with a fizzing long range half volley Whilst the Foxes tried to get into gear, Tranmere saw their own longrange efforts from Dan Pike, Josh Hawkes and Kieran Morris saved smartly and comfortably by Stolarczyk.
Into the second half Casadei set up Wilfred Ndidi for a nonchalant pinged finish in off the post, before the Nigerian sat up a lovely cross for the familiar sight of a Jamie Vardy header greeted gleefully by the blue army faithful Into the next round and a perfect August completed without really showing the true potential of the squad. Regardless of where we end up, it’s just nice to see the team winning again.
Alongside a dedicated page focussed on the Foxes, our website features recommended reads, latest releases and football books coming soon.
Next page comic strip - Matchday4 (Rotherham 1 Leicester 2)
Andy Wells.
Before describing this publication, I have a confession to make. I’m not really interested in the wearing football shirts aspect of following a team. The last time I wore a shirt was probably down at Filbert Street in the early 80s, and I’ve not followed the shirt scene since. Even at the time of their greatest success I had zero interest in the Admiral brand, even though they were based in Leicester - Wigston to be precise.
I do however like to read nowadays why companies succeed or fail, and given that the replica shirt business changed the whole football industry (to the extent later that huge transfer fees for ‘galaticos’ were justified by potential shirt sales) then there were aspects to this story that piqued my interest. Add in a huge amount of nostalgia (you can guess from my Filbert Days videos I’m really a sucker for that), and the fact that the book is written by an old drinking friend in the 80s, then it became inevitable that I purchase this book.
I’m really glad that I made the decision to obtain this publication. As alluded to earlier, the people at Admiral were responsible for starting a billionpound industry that previously really didn’t exist. Clubs used to buy team kits in a certain colour, without branding, and then wash the same kit week after week. The two main suppliers in British football at that time were Bukta and Umbro, none of those foreign giants like Adidas or Le Coq Sportif.
The book explains how the management at Cook & Hurst (to trade as Admiral) had the idea of supplying branded shirts to top football teams, with the aim of then selling replica shirts at a premium price in retail stores. The initial offer, to Don Revie’s Leeds was to sponsor them for £7,000 (which was then changed to £10,000) to supply officially branded kit. Looking back, that doesn’t seem like a huge amount of money, given the millions that shirt deals bring in now. However it must have been a huge gamble at the time, and even today I’ve known people who allege to be in business who baulk at investing a few hundred pounds in a new concept. Nevertheless the main players at the company, Bert Patrick and John Griffin went ahead with the project, and for several years Admiral had great success, even supplying the official England kit at one stage. Andy describes how the designs were made, the people behind the scenes, and the near-misses and failures encountered along the way.
It’s no secret that the title gives away the decline of the company, which appears to be down to an underperforming England team (in Admiral kit) and restricted credit from banks. Despite having a full order book, the Midland Bank pulled the plug on their overdraft facility. This wasn’t the complete story, as with a Dutch partner they tried to relaunch, but given clubs were scenting trouble and seeking out bigger, more stable kit providers, the end was not far away. Manufacturing generally (and textiles in particular) was struggling in the 80s economy, and banks were not going to risk any money lending to the sector. Andy also describes how Admiral had a reputation for losing stock through the back door, and how bigger competition like Adidas and Umbro were moving in on the sector that Admiral had pioneered.
To summarize, I found this purchase was enjoyable to read, and well laid out. Plenty of graphics and images from years gone by, and I have to praise Conker Editions (another Leicester based outfit) for such a well-made book. I despair sometimes at the poor quality of some paperbacks issued today (are you listening Penguin?) so it’s good to come across a publisher that produces books with good material (in both senses). I loved this book for taking me back in time to the 70s and 80s, and also for giving a glimpse into why a clothing firm from the East Midlands could succeed so well for a while, but then meet the same fate as other manufacturing firms in the 80s. Plenty of shirt photos from the time too, if you’re into that kind of thing! The best part of the book for me was the encounters and dealings with soccer bosses of the era. We learn that Don Revie (often called ‘Don Readies’ at the time) was actually quite straightforward in his commercial dealings, and he made sure that his players received their fair share of any financial deal. Tommy Docherty however was a totally different kind of operator, but you’ll have to read the book to find out the extent of his dodgy antics. This is the type of book that would make a great present for those of us who lived through that era, whether they’re into football shirts or not.
Conker Editions ISBN 9781739 770525.
Bonus comic strip next 2 pages, Cup wins over Burton Albion and Tranmere
As a football fan, we all want our team to do well and win trophies. But it’s rarely the case most seasons, and in fact if you follow a team for long enough you will experience managerial sackings, crisis, and relegation. I’ve seen the “bigger” teams like Manchester United, Chelsea and Leeds be relegated, so am under no illusion that it can happen to our beloved Foxes. In fact we were known for many years as a “yo-yo” team and relegation was a common event (luckily it also meant promotion seasons as well). We were not known as a team that won big trophies (our limit was the League Cup); additionally we as supporters had to cope with the jibes from East Midlands neighbour clubs. Derby County and (in particular) Nottingham Forest fans would look down at our lack of trophy success. However, nothing remains the same forever, and we’ve ruled the roost in the Midlands since the 2016 Premier League win, and we’ve also (at last) won the FA Cup. Perhaps this has led to unrealistic expectations. It’s certainly the case that as fans we feel uneasy with the poor results this season, and the very real possibility of relegation. The reality is that failure and disappointment are essential parts of being a football fan. They make the glory days all that much more enjoyable and desirable.
For a long time previously, when asked by a stranger which team I followed, I would answer with a joke “well my second team is Real Madrid” (I had worked in Madrid for a time so it was actually my closest team, Atleti were in the southern part of the city), before admitting that my team was Leicester City. That joke fell flat when City won the Premiership and made me look like the supreme gloryhunter. We may be approaching the point where I can make that joke answer again. But, as Leicester fans, we’ve had plenty of experience of getting through lean times. It’s a good life lesson as well. We know we’ll be back. Foxes never quit!
Mark Nessfield Editor
