What’s harder to believe – that Leicester City were in League One not so long ago or that they’ve since won the Premier League? You could even throw the idea of us playing them into the mix if you want. But that ain’t all that hard to believe is it? Nope – we did come up against ’em. The first time we played them was in 2008-9 FA Cup First Round – but we were well-beaten by the Foxes that day. It was at that point they were a League One side at that point, providing our memory isn’t failing us. Must’ve been something we said or did that spurred them onto Premier League glory – we reckon…
Leicester City: The Facts
King Power Stadium
Filbert Way, Leicester, LE2 7FL
First, as ever, is to find out who the Fox are the Foxes. Soz. A little potato ROFL there for you. Here’s one of those clubs with a long ol’ story to tell and a lot of detail to include. We know you’re busy folk, so we’ll pick out the highlights and let you fill in the gaps.
After starting life as Leicester Fosse in 1884, the Football League brought the Foxes into the fold 10 years later. In those early years, there was one season in a fledgling top flight (1908-9). But it went pretty badly. In ending up bottom and going straight back to Division Two, the club let in 102 goals; including the still-record 12-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest. And the bumpy road wasn’t over there.
Fosse ran into money worries at the end of World War One. And, it seems, they stopped being a thing. But the club reformed right away as the Leicester City we now know today. And the Foxes started to find their feet; spending more time in the top flight in those inter-war years. You can argue, however, that it would be the 1960s when they had their (first) heyday. In the league, being the fourth-best side in England is as good as it got.
But the cups were a different story; denied in the 1960-1 FA Cup final by Spurs’ Double winners and then going on to win the 1963-4 League Cup. They almost defended it the next year too.
Most of the time after that until the invention of football in 1992 would be spent in the top flight. But the Foxes, at first, missed the cut for the Premier League; eventually making it up in 1994. While their time in the Premiership lasted just one season to start with, there was no hanging around; Martin O’Neill taking ’em back in 1996 and establishing the club as a tough proposition. There were also two more League Cup titles in that time too.
Why do we know Leicester City?
The new century didn’t mean new fortunes for the Foxes. Or, if it did, those fortunes were bad ones. After tumbling out of the Premier League in 2002, they went straight back up – only to get relegated again. That second time was a little more permanent too. In fact, the club entered the doldrums for a bit after that; each of the next three campaigns ending up in mediocre lower-half finishes.
The fourth season after the Premier League? It was even worse. In 2008, the Foxes were relegated to League One. For the first time since they joined the Football League in 1894, the club would play their football outside the top two tiers. That’d mean starting their 2008-9 FA Cup run at the First – not Third – round stage too. And after we (eventually) got past Horsham in the Fourth Qualifying Round, our reward would be a trip to the King Power.
How to get to Leicester City – Travel Information – Distance: 80 miles
By Road
After travelling north on the M1, you’ll be wanting to exit the motorway at Junction 21 for the M69/A5460. Take the third option at the roundabout; this not only saves you travelling towards Coventry, but takes you into Leicester too. Helpful. After three miles travelling along the A5460, turn right into Upperton Road and continue across the River Soar and onto Raw Dykes Road, which curves round to the right. The stadium will be ahead of you.
Are you a fan of street parking? You might be in luck if you’re early enough – but watch out for resident schemes in the immediate area. Your options for parking also include a trip to Leicester Tigers Rugby Club at Welford Road (£10 a pop) or even the club’s own car park if you pre-book (£17).
By Rail
Station: LEICESTER
Services to: PETERBOROUGH
It’ll be a 1.5-mile walk from the station to the King Power Stadium, taking you about 30 minutes on a good day. Leave the station in a south-west direction on Station Street towards London Road, before turning left and passing the New Walk Museum and Art Gallery.
Turn left onto London Road, before a quick right for Aylestone Walk past a Toyota dealership and then left for Aylestone Road. As you come along side a Leicester College campus, turn right into Brazil Street and then left once again for Burnmoor Street. You’ll come to Bristol Street Motors on your right, where you’ll essentially be confronted by the stadium straight ahead.
We use cookies. Who doesn't? But we have to be boring and make sure you're fine and dandy with it. Cookie SettingsGo On Then
Cookies Policy
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are as essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Cookie
Duration
Description
_ga
1 year 1 month 4 days
Google Analytics sets this cookie to calculate visitor, session and campaign data and track site usage for the site's analytics report. The cookie stores information anonymously and assigns a randomly generated number to recognise unique visitors.
_ga_*
1 year 1 month 4 days
Google Analytics sets this cookie to store and count page views.
CONSENT
2 years
YouTube sets this cookie via embedded YouTube videos and registers anonymous statistical data.
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Cookie
Duration
Description
VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE
6 months
YouTube sets this cookie to measure bandwidth, determining whether the user gets the new or old player interface.
YSC
session
Youtube sets this cookie to track the views of embedded videos on Youtube pages.
yt-remote-connected-devices
never
YouTube sets this cookie to store the user's video preferences using embedded YouTube videos.
yt-remote-device-id
never
YouTube sets this cookie to store the user's video preferences using embedded YouTube videos.
yt.innertube::nextId
never
YouTube sets this cookie to register a unique ID to store data on what videos from YouTube the user has seen.
yt.innertube::requests
never
YouTube sets this cookie to register a unique ID to store data on what videos from YouTube the user has seen.
