Cottee, Morgan, Wallington, Claridge, Schmeichel & More – 2021 In Interviews On LCFC.com
As we approach a New Year – the 138th in the Foxes' story – we revisit some of those conversations with key figures past and present. From tales of play-off success, to Premier League title glory, making history in the women's game, and May's FA Cup triumph, this is their story in snippets...
'I'm just very, very lucky and very, very honoured' – Claridge's play-off memories
During lockdown early in 2021, Steve Claridge, the scorer of goals which secured promotion via the play-offs in 1996 and the League Cup crown less than a year later, spoke to LCFC.com over the phone to recall his short but historic spell at Filbert Street.
“Just talking about it makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end,” the fondly-remembered former Foxes striker said, looking back on his extra-time strike against Crystal Palace in the play-off final of 1996. “That flush goes through your body. It's just incredible.
“I mean to score a goal at that stage, if you look at the goal and if you look into the crowd, the crowd don't react instantly. Most times, crowds react before something happens. This time, I don't think anyone could believe it.
“Maybe they couldn't believe it because it's me hitting a shot outside the area, that's probably what it was! But there was a delay in the crowd's reaction. It's amazing.
“I'm actually wheeling away before anybody reacts in the crowd. It's just a culmination of a long, hard season and to win it like that and being lucky enough to score the goal that does that, I'm just very, very lucky and very, very honoured.”
'I want to be playing regularly for Leicester' – KDH's hopes for the future
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, who joined the Club aged eight, used to watch the likes of Richie Wellens and Matt Oakley play on Filbert Way. Speaking at Esquires Coffee in Leicester this autumn, City's No.22 took stock on his rise with the Foxes and outlined his aspirations for the future.
“In the next year or two, I’m just hoping to be playing in the Premier League for Leicester,” Kiernan explained. “I believe I can do it. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t believe that. I wouldn’t deserve to be here if I didn’t believe that.
“I know my ability and I know, if I get in, I can keep my place and play in the Premier League for the club I’ve been at since I was eight years old.
“I’ve got aspirations to play for my country. That’s always been an aspiration. I know, especially now, you see a lot of young players getting into the England squad. It’s not a million miles away. If you start playing regularly in the Premier League and if you’re doing well, you’ve got a chance and you go from there.
“I want to be playing regularly for Leicester and then you never know.”
'I play for something bigger than me' – Plumptre's promotion reaction
Like Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, defender Ashleigh Plumptre is Leicester through and through. After playing a pivotal role in LCFC Women's promotion to the Barclays FA Women's Super League, she told us how much it meant to help the Foxes reach the WSL.
“I literally looked at the badge before I walked out and then, with five minutes to go, I looked at it again and I ended up tearing up when I was on the pitch with five minutes left!” the 23-year-old said.
“It just means more because I'm playing for something bigger than me. I don't just play football just because I want to do well in it. I like to represent something that's bigger than me and I've grown up here.
“I had to go away and then to America and then I've come back I've been able to come back to the only team that I wanted to come to. I've managed to do it with literally my hometown team. I have shirts [from] when I was like four years-old, going to games when the men were in the Championship.
“Now to think I'm representing my club, where I'm from, and to win… like I said, I play for something bigger than me and I play to win and to think that I've done that here, I literally cannot ask for anything better.”
'You are the go between' – Wallington on being Leicester captain
In the summer, goalkeeper Mark Wallington, who made a Club record of 331 consecutive appearances, caught up with Leicester City's official website to discuss his spell at Filbert Street, which included taking ownership of the captain's armband.
“Jock Wallace made me captain and I think, as a senior player, as I was, it was a privilege,” he recalled. “Because you don’t just captain the team on the field, there is a lot of work that goes on in the running of the Club that you are a part of as captain.
“Particularly the welfare of the youngsters, you look after all the players. You are the go between if you like between the management and the players and the supporters, it’s a very pivotal role being captain.
“On the pitch, I think with the experience, Jock thought I would do a good job and at the same time, goalkeeper Dino Zoff was captain of Italy who went on to win the World Cup, so I think it was something that people looked at.
“Skippers from the back, as [Kasper] Schmeichel is now, where he can see everything, he can relay communications to the front men via the players and you’ve got a detached view of things from a certain degree. So, I think being skipper from a goalkeeping position is a good move.”
'It meant everything to me' – Steve Walsh's Wembley memories
Between 1986 and 2000, centre-back and occasional striker Steve Walsh made 450 appearance for the Club. Surely his most famous (although there are some other contenders) was the day he scored a brace to a seal play-off final victory over Derby County in 1994. Here's his memories of that day.
“Out of nowhere, [Gary] Coatsworth floated the ball into the box,” he explained. “I saw Iwan Roberts in the area too, but I thought: 'I'm just going to try this one myself'. After the injury I'd had, I couldn't really jump.
“You just can't do it. For the rest of your life really, you can't do it. It's hard to do, but it's also risky. But on that occasion, I gave it a go, and I was able to get the height I needed.
“I just got my head on the ball and nodded it at goal. Iwan had his arm across [Martin] Taylor, the Derby 'keeper, and then Paul Williams was on the line for them.
“I'm not sure how he wasn't able to just head my header off the line, but there was a bit of spin on the ball and it just drifted over him! I was already wheeling away and then I had to look back just to make sure that it had actually gone in!
“I just looked up and the fans were going crazy. We'd done it. My whole Leicester career up until that point was about about getting back in the top league and we'd done it. It meant everything to me.”
'I don’t really want to say goodbye' – Fuchs' farewell message for the Blue Army
In the summer, left-back Christian Fuchs, who won both the Premier League and the Emirates FA Cup over six years in the East Midlands, bid an emotional goodbye to the Leicester City family.
“I don’t really want to leave,” he admitted. “It’s been the best time of my playing career over here with the Foxes. At the same time, I never made a secret of what my end goal is and where I want to be. I’m trying to get to my family as soon as possible.
“My wife knew that she had to share me with Leicester City. Meanwhile, she supported me all the time when I was signing for another year and another year and another year.
“Honestly, it’s been very tough over such a big distance with children and everything. I don’t really want to say goodbye, but on the same side, I’m looking forward to finally being a normal father with my family, to spend some time with them and to see my kids grow up.”
'I've got to be honest, it just hits me' – The Birch's gift from Khun Vichai
Alan 'The Birch' Birchenall marked 50 years of involvement with Leicester City earlier this year. Either as a player, mic-wielder, Herculean charity fundraiser or Club Ambassador, The Birch has left his mark on the Foxes. But one gift from from Khun Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha left him uncharacteristically speechless.
“I love this football club,” he said. “I might not have been born into Leicester City, but I've been adopted into it and I'm proud to say I'm still here 50 years on. I realise how lucky I am. You only have to look at my wall at Seagrave and look at all those great players who were better than me.
"I've got a glass decanter on my mantel piece which the Boss gave to me a few years ago. It says I've got a contract for life at Leicester.
"I didn't actually read it at the time because I'd just finished one of my runs, but Hutch (John Hutchinson), our Club Historian, he hasn't heard of anything like it at any club. When I look at it, I've got to be honest, it just hits me. I must have done something right. That means the world to me.”
'I was the happiest man in the world' – Morgan on lifting the title
Captain Wes Morgan departed Leicester City in the summer, after adding the Emirates FA Cup to an honours list which also includes the Premier League and Championship titles. Before enjoying retirement, the centre-back sat down with LCFC.com to reflect on the day he lifted the Premier League trophy.
“Sometimes, when I think about it, it feels surreal,” he laughed. “But it did actually happen, I know! Everything that comes with the final day, when you get your hands on the trophy, was fantastic. The atmosphere in the stadium, the events that were put on, all the fans who turned up, the way the game went… then you’ve got the walkout on the carpet.
“I was the last one and everyone’s ready to go. You get that chilling feeling through your body and I’ll always remember that. When I grabbed the trophy, before I lifted it, I closed my eyes, just to take a mental picture, so I remember it for life. When I lifted the trophy, everyone was screaming and I was the happiest man in the world.”
'It was just a phenomenal time' – Heskey's Foxes spell
After being a ballboy at Filbert Street and at Wembley as Leicester City suffered play-off heartbreak against Swindon Town in 1993, striker Emile Heskey emerged through the Club's Academy to win promotion to the Premier League, play in European competition and lift two League Cups.
“I was a young lad, playing for my hometown team, enjoying my football, playing with some great players and some fantastic individuals, getting better and better, getting stronger, getting wiser, getting quicker, playing international football at this stage as well,” he said. “It was just great, everything was good and this is what football brings to you.
“If you'd have told me as a kid that I was going to do this, this, this and this with my hometown Club, I would have probably said you were lying! But everything ran so smoothly and it was just great.
“We were riding a wave, we had a great manager and we had a great bunch of lads that worked really hard to win the trophies that we did and to be consistent as we were, not just in the Premier League, but in the cups as well. It was just a phenomenal time to be involved at Leicester City.”
'When you experience these highs, you want more' – Schmeichel on winning the FA Cup
Goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel is one of the most decorated players to ever adorn the Leicester City shirt. In the summer, the Denmark shot-stopper marked 10 years at King Power Stadium and took stock on his Foxes career to date - just weeks after he lifted the Club's first-ever FA Cup.
“After 137 years of trying, to be able to write our names in history as the first Leicester City team to do it, it’s amazing, and to share it with the fans and with each other on the pitch and in the dressing room was fantastic,” he told us. “Having won the Premier League, that feeling just gets amplified.
“When you experience these highs, you want more. This should be a taster of what we want to be doing every season – we want to be competing in every season. We’ve showed the youngsters what is possible. When you work together as a team, you might not be favourites, but you can come out on top.
“It’s all a bit of blur right now. I’ve held that trophy before when my father won it, so to be able to lift it ourselves was an amazing feeling.”
'I realised it was Martin' – Cottee's League Cup journey
Tony Cottee is one of English football's most deadly strikers, but a trophy had always eluded him. In 1999, he was at Leicester City when they reached the final of the League Cup, but the Foxes were beaten in heartbreaking circumstances by Tottenham Hotspur. One man believed they'd be back, though.
“I had my head in my hands and I wanted people to just leave me alone,” the former Foxes striker recalled. “Marshy (Ian Marshall) came up to me and put his arm around me. Ian Walker, the Spurs goalkeeper, was good to be fair. I then had another arm around me. I just wanted to be in my own space.
“Let me have a little moment and then I’ll come back into the real world. An Irish accent said: ‘Don’t worry, we’ll be back next season’. I realised it was Martin [O'Neill] and I said: ‘Gaffer, I’m 33, that’s it. I’m done. It’s not going to happen again for me’. He went: ‘I promise you, we’ll be back next year’.”
'To be able to give them that moment was special' – Rodgers' Wembley joy
No manager in Leicester City's history had ever won the FA Cup before Brendan Rodgers achieved that feat in 2021. The Foxes had suffered defeat in four finals previously and the Northern Irishman was delighted to be able to give the Blue Army new memories at the national stadium.
“We know Youri can do that,” the manager said. “He’s a wonderful striker of the ball. We seen it hundreds of times. To score a goal of that level in a game like this, it was a classic FA Cup final-winning goal and it was a goal I’ll remember for the rest of my life.
“For the supporters, for the first time in their history, they can now say they’re FA Cup winners. I’ve heard all the stories since I’ve been here, of the glorious failures and how unfortunate it’s been, so to be able to give them that moment was special.
“For Khun Top and his family and what they’ve given this club, I know this was a dream of Khun Vichai’s, so to be able to deliver that today is a good feeling.”