What you are saying about: GOT, NOT GOT…

What people are saying about ‘GOT, NOT GOT – The A to Z of Lost Football Culture, Treasures & Pleasures…

* Well, what can I say – your book is a FINE piece of work! Honestly, I think its brilliant and I have seldom put it down since I picked it up…

* The best book about football written in the last 20 years.

* I found myself engrossed again in the trivia that so preoccupied my life between the age of 5 and 15 and laughing until my ribs hurt.

* Wonderful book, great illustrations and is a throw back to days when football was more important than anything else, Superbly written and put together.

* If there’s anyone in your life who attended football when it was still good (60s- 80s) buy them this book and they’ll love you forever.

* I don’t even follow football anymore but I love this book. It’s packed with memories of the game when it was a simpler more enjoyable (to me anyway) sport.

* Superb stuff. Anyone who grew up in the seventies with even a passing interest in football, let alone City, will love this book.

* I utterly and completely love it… so much stuff in there that I’d pretty much forgotten about, but which is a joy to rediscover.

Featuring: Aberdeen, Arsenal, Aston Villa, Birmingham City, Blackburn Rovers, Blackpool, Bolton Wanderers, Bristol City, Bristol Rovers, Brighton & Hove Albion, Burnley, Cardiff City, Carlisle United, Celtic, Charlton Athletic, Chelsea, Coventry City, Crystal Palace, Derby County, England, Everton, Fulham, Hearts, Hibs, Hull City, Ipswich Town, Leeds United, Leicester City, Liverpool, Luton Town, Manchester City, Manchester United, Middlesbrough, Millwall, Newcastle United, Northern Ireland, Norwich City, Nottingham Forest, Notts County, Plymouth Argyle, Portsmouth, QPR, Rangers, Reading, Scotland, Sheffield United, Sheffield Wednesday, Southampton, Stoke City, Sunderland, Swansea City, Swindon Town, Tottenham Hotspur, Wales, Watford, West Bromwich Albion, West Ham United, Wigan Athletic, Wimbledon & Wolves…

City Steel the Points

Sheffield United 0:1 Leicester City

City plundered three points at Bramall Lane last night with a backs-to-the-wall display that was at times desperate, after Andy King has given them an early lead…

Sven made just one change to the side that outplayed Millwall with new loan signing Patrick van Aanholt replacing Bruno Berner at left back.
A healthy travelling contingent didn’t have long to wait to celebrate a goal when King gave City the lead after just four minutes,picking up a ball from Yakubu on the edge of the area and calmly lobbing Simonsen.
United responded positively and City found themselves pegged back for long periods, unable to get out of their own half. Montgomery was first to test Weale with a thumping drive that the keeper tipped over at full stretch. There then followed a series of corners that City couldn’t clear properly but the Blades were lacking confidence in front of goal and although they were putting City under pressure, they weren’t creating many chances. 
On the half hour there was an incident that seemed to raise the temperature a little inside the ground when Mattock fell awkwardly in front of the City fans. As the City fans showed little sympathy to the on-loan full back, it became clear that he was seriously injured. The home fans in the adjacent stand voiced their anger at the unsympathetic City contingent (perhaps knowing little of the history of Mattock’s time in Leicester) as Mattock was stretchered off.
When the game resumed the atmosphere was very different and the home side responded and upped the tempo and they were unlucky not to level matters when a curling, Williamson free-kick came back off the post with Weale beaten and then the impressive Ben Mee blocked a goalbound Lowry shot.
The second half continued in the same vein. The expected improvement from City didn’t materialise and once again the match was played mostly in the visitor’s half. Bent blazed over when he should have hit the target and there was plenty of goal mouth action with Weale by far the busier keeper.
There was an unavoidable feeling amongst the travelling support that an equaliser was just around the corner, but it never came.
Sven replaced tired legs when Dyer and Abe were replaced with Gallagher and Oakley but the pattern of the game didn’t alter with City restricted to breakaway efforts and United having one last go at City as the minutes ticked away. Parrino thought he had equalised for Blades when his header beat Weale but Oakley was on the line to head clear and right at the death Ertl was the unlucky player as Weale produced a another superb fingertip save to tip over his snap shot following a corner.
Ironically it was City that had the last chance of the game when, late substitute, Waghorn crossed for Vassell who was unable to steer the ball in to a vacant goal and managed to lift his shot over. The final whistle brought huge relief to the City faithful who, in truth, cannot have enjoyed the performance they witnessed. City enjoyed some luck but they won’t care. What will be of more concern is the overall display and a complete failure to get the passing game going with passes continually going astray and possession given away in what was a poor performance. On the plus side, Ben Mee and Sol Bamba put in massive performances for City and Weale was faultless behind them.
Bramall Lane hasn’t always been a happy hunting ground for City and a long list of injustice, bad breaks and poor refereeing decisions was wiped off tonight as City had all of the luck going for a change. After all, at the end of the season when we are totting up the points, it isn’t ‘how’ that matters it is ‘how many’.

Sheff Utd: Simonsen, Ertl, Mattock (Kozluk 33), Lowry, Parrino, Doyle (Yeates 70), Williamson, Montgomery, Bent (Bogdanovic 75), Cresswell, Evans. Subs Not Used: Quinn, Ward, Lowton, Long.
Leicester: Weale, Bamba, Naughton, Mee, Van Aanholt, King, Dyer (Gallagher 63), Abe (Oakley 70), Wellens, Yakubu (Waghorn 87), Vassell. Subs Not Used: Berner, Logan, Hobbs, Howard.

Referee: David Webb (Lancashire). Attendance: 20,464.

City Scrape a Point Against Blades

Leicester City 2:2 Sheffield United

After a strong opening twenty minutes City somehow ended up relying on a 92nd minute Howard penalty to rescue a point against Sheffield United at Filbert Way on Wednesday night…

City, with one change to the side – Hobbs in for the injured Vitor – could hardly have got off to a brighter start against a struggling Sheffield United side. The lively Waghorn almost gave City a 2nd minute lead with a fierce near post shot that Simonsen just managed to block. 
City then took an 8th minute lead, when Waghorn was fouled on th eedg eof th earea by Bartley. Gallagher stepped up to deliver a perfect curling free-kick into the top left hand corner, giving Simonsen no chance.
King then had two half chances to extend City’s lead, with a Naughton through ball having a little too much weight on it, and a header glanced wide.
As it was, the Blades somehow managed to shake themselves out of an abject performance to take an unlikely lead in at the break. 
In the 29th minute City’s back line were caught out on the break and Reid squared for an unmarked Yeates, the former City man equalising with a simple finish.
This seems to knock City’s confidence and they looked shaky as United took the lead four minutes before the break.  
Yeates struck again from a free-kick, with a similar effort to Gallagher’s, and as the small band of visitors celebrated there was a rising sense of frustration among the home crowd.
The second half continued in much the same vein with City, being bullied all over the park and unable to get a grip on proceedings. Ten minutes into the half, with no sign of improvement Eriksson brought Dyer and Howard on for Waghorn and Vassell.  
Although Dyer was sporadically effective, United were still in charge and cynical fouls and time-wasting kept them on top. At one stage Reid was substituted and managed to do a jog that was slower than a walk.
Gallagher almost found the bottom right hand corner from a free-kick but Simonsen produced a fine save.
King went close and Howard couldn’t convert a cross that fell for him six yards out.
As the game entered four minutes of time-added-on it looked as though United would claim the three points but Yeates, their two-goal hero, provided a twist in the tale handling the ball in the penalty area.
Howard stepped forward to convert a confident spot-kick and rescue a point from a poor performance that had promised much.
Sven Goran Eriksson observed: “I think we were a little lucky but we showed a lot of character to chase the equaliser at the end. It was a strange game because we played good football and scored a good goal in the first 20 minutes. Everything looked like a nice evening, almost easy, but it is never easy in this division.”

Leicester: Weale, Davies, Hobbs, Naughton, King, Abe (Fryatt 74), Wellens, Cunningham, Gallagher, Vassell (Dyer 55), Waghorn (Howard 55). Subs Not Used: Berner, Logan, Moussa, Morrison.
United: Simonsen, Jordan, Nosworthy, Bartley, Lowton, Yeates, Britton, Quinn, Montgomery, Reid (Ertl 79), Cresswell (Bogdanovic 86). Subs Not Used: Wright, Kozluk, Calve, Taylor, Evans.

Referee: P Gibbs (West Midlands). Attendance: 20,445.


More Embarrassment for Leicester City

Once again, it appears that those in charge of Health & Safety at the Walkers Stadium are determined to turn our club into a laughing stock.

The following message appeared on Sheffield United’s official site regarding tomorrow’s game. Ridiculous as it might seem it is not a wind up or joke, but a genuine instruction:

“Blades fans intending to support us on Wednesday night should note that – on the instruction of Leicester City – banners of any type are banned from the Walkers Stadium.
Supporters wishing to take flags into the home of the Foxes require a fire certificate to be produced on the day of the match, upon entering the stadium.
In an effort to support Blades fans, United Safety Officer Steve Hicks has offered any fans who need a safety certificate for their flags to bring the flags to the club to be certificated and this information will be passed on to Leicester City.
Any fan who already possesses a fire certificate for their flag can email the certificate and a picture of their flag to info@sufc.co.uk for Steve’s attention. He will then forward them to the relevant person at Leicester City.”

This would appear to be the latest sideswipe at the Fosse Boys, who were recently refused entry to the ground with their new flag.

Football – RIP.

_______________________________________________________

To subscribe to The FOX for the 2010-11 season, get your Summer Special in the post right away, and claim your free limited edition print send a cheque for £14.00 to:

The FOX, PO Box No 2, Cosby, Leicester, LE9 1ZZ

or use the FOX SUBS button on the right to pay online via Paypal.

Birch Loves Currie

From a June 1975 issue of Shoot! magazine…

Boxing Day Treat at Filbert Way

Leicester City 2:1 Sheffield United

City survived a defensive re-shuffle to claim all three point against Sheffield United at Filbert Way on Boxing Day…

Nigel Pearson made two changes to his side with Neilson and McGivern returning for Berner and Brown; Hobbs and Morrison forming the centre-half partnership. Hobbs went down injured in the first minute but recovered after lengthy treatment.
An exciting, end-to-end game unfolded in front of a decent sized Boxing Day crowd. Former City-player Jordan Stewart should have put the Blades ahead early on when he had a sight of goal and some space, but his shot thumped straight into Weale’s chest.  
At the other end a wild slice from Montgomery was heading for the top left hand corner but Bunn managed to tip it over the bar at full stretch. 
Bunn had to perform another fine save in the 25th minute when Morrison connected beautifully with a shot from 35 yards. The resulting corner was delivered from the left byOakley; Bunn came out to claim it and missed, and Morrison muscled his way in to head home at the far post.
Eight minutes later City made it 2-0. Fryatt found himself some space on the right and cut into the area. He beat one challenge and was then heading away from goal when he was tripped by Montgomery. The ref pointed straight to the spot and Fryatt confidently stroked the ball into the bottom right hand corner with Bunn diving the wrong way.
City almost took a 3-0 lead down the tunnel when Wellens sent a looping 20 yarder crashing onto the crossbar.
Both sides made a change at the break: O’Neill coming on for Hobbs who was still feeling his early knock, and Camara coming on for the Blades.  
This immediately had an impact on the scoreline. While City’s unfamilar backline were still getting organised, Camara poked the ball over the line from close in with his first touch. 
With the new defence having failed its first test City’s lead was looking fragile, but they managed to regain their shape and were soon putting Bunn under pressure. A great run and shot from Dyer was tipped away by the Blades keeper; then Neilson’s driven cross was missed by a couple of inches by King.
Bunn then saved good efforts from Howard and then Fryatt, Howard sending the rebound sailing into the Kop.
At the other end Weale parried a fierce effort from Ward over the bar.
In a nervy ending Morgan glanced a header wide when it looked easier to score and City took all three points.   
City moved up to fourth place and Nigel Pearson commented:  “I’m pleased we are still in the play-off picture but I am sure there are 10 or 12 managers who think they still have a chance. It’s very tight and it only takes a couple of bad results to drop out of it.”

Leicester: Weale, Hobbs (O’Neill 46), Neilson, Morrison, McGivern, King, Dyer (Gallagher 89), Oakley, Wellens, Fryatt, Howard. Subs Not Used: Berner, Logan, N’Guessan, Adams, Kermorgant.
United: Bunn, Morgan, Kilgallon, Taylor (Camara 46), Stewart, Walker (Geary 49), Quinn, Montgomery (Evans 73), Harper, Cresswell, Ward. Subs Not Used: Bennett, France, Reid, Little.

Referee: D Deadman (Cheshunt). Attendance: 23,999.

Top Ten Moments at the Walkers…

We know we are guilty of mourning Filbert Street’s passing on here, so let’s have Ten Great Moments since the move from Filbert Street to Filbert Way…

1.  10/8/02 - Opening Day – the first 30,000 plus crowd in many years, the excitement of being in our new home, and a great 2-0 win over Watford thanks to two goals from Brian Deane.

2. 14/12/02 – Despite Stevie Claridge’s first minute goal, City thrash Dennis Wise’s Millwall 4-1. 31,904 City fans fill the ground, but away fans are banned.

3.  27/4/03 - Micky Adams and his side celebrate promotion to the Premiership after a 1-1 draw against Norwich City.

4. 15/9/03 - City stuff Leeds 4-0 and Lilian Nalis scores a magnificent opener, all in front of the Sky cameras.

5. 8/11/04 - Craig Levein’s first home game in charge brings a 3-0 win over neighbours Coventry with goals from Nalis, Tiatto and Heath.

6. 26/11/2005 - An otherwise drab season is lit up by a fine 4-2 win over Sheffield United, Hume (2), Smith and Hammond finding the net.

7. 4/3/06 - City win a thriller against Hull 3-2, with Joey Gudjonsson scoring from the half way line.

 

8. 25/8/07 - It all clicks together for Martin Allen’s side as they beat Watford 4-1, with goals from Hume, Campbell, Sheehan and De Vries. 

9. 13/4/09 - Steve Howard’s late header against Leeds brings a 1-0 win and huge step towards the League One title.

10. 24/4/09 - Nigel Pearson’s side are presented with the League One trophy after a 2-2 draw with Scunthorpe, bouncing back from Division Three at the first attempt…