When Time Stopped Still – Leicester Beat Palace At Wembley
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On this day in 1996, Leicester City secured promotion to the Premier League in extraordinary circumstances, beating Crystal Palace in the First Division Play-Off Final, and commencing a vintage era.
City went into the 1995/96 campaign combining the disappointment of suffering relegation from the Premier League with a steely resolve to make amends as quickly as possible.
A troublesome season in the top-flight, which saw Brian Little leave the Club for Aston Villa in November, also ended with the Foxes finishing 19 points adrift of safety in 21st place. In the summer which followed, the financial hit of relegation was bypassed somewhat by the £3.25M sale of Mark Draper to Little’s Villa, but £500,000 of that went to his former club, Notts County.
