Former Players Remember: Richie Norman & Davie Gibson
The Foxes continue their European campaign in February with a two-legged clash against Danish side Randers in the UEFA Europa Conference League.
Norman and Gibson, meanwhile, went on several trips to Germany. Sitting in one of the lounges at King Power Stadium, Richie recalled: “We toured all over Germany. Over the years we went to places like Schalke, Brunswick, Kaiserslautern, Dusseldorf, Stuttgart, Hanover, Dresden and Munich. We always seemed to play well against German teams.”
One trip, to Dresden, which in those days was behind the Iron Curtain in Communist East Germany, was particularly memorable.
“It was in May 1965,” Norman continued. “We were due to fly from Copenhagen to Dresden but as we were sitting in the airport lounge, we were told that we were not going to go by plane after all. This meant we had to catch a ferry across the Baltic and then go overland.
“It was about 9 o’clock at night but we booked a ferry. We had three bunks to a cabin. I was sharing with Gordon Banks and Ian King.
“We played Dresden the next day and drew 2-2. We were given some spending money after the game, but nowhere was open. One of the Dresden directors arranged for a Dresden China shop to be opened for us. We had to spend our East German money there because we couldn’t change any unspent money once we were out of the country. I spent my money on a china ballerina statuette. Unfortunately, when I got back home one of the ballerina’s legs was broken!”
City’s visit to Dresden was at the height of the Cold War and Richie recalled the atmosphere in the city.
“Dresden was still badly bomb damaged from 20 years earlier,” he explained. “It seemed dark and mysterious to us. I remember us sitting in the hotel lobby trying to spot spies! The next day, we travelled by train to East Berlin and went through the Berlin Wall.”
In April 1967, Leicester played a Borussia Dortmund side which contained three players from the previous year’s West German World Cup Final side defeated by England. These were goalkeeper Hans Tilkowski, attacking midfielder ‘Siggi’ Held and striker Lothar Emmerich, who had beaten Banks to score late on.
A week before this game against Borussia Dortmund, Banks had moved from Filbert Street to Stoke City, enabling Peter Shilton to start on his long career as City’s first team goalkeeper. Derek Dougan had also recently left the Club.
Leicester City won 6-0, the heaviest defeat suffered by the German side for 10 years. Richie was up against ‘Siggi’ Held.
He said: “I’d watched him in the World Cup and was interested in how Ray Wilson had played against him. I was interested to see what I could do. Before the game, I had wondered, that if I had been playing in the final, could I have held him? I was on top of him throughout the game, so why not?!”
Gibson also has vivid memories of this game because, for probably the only time in his career, he played at centre-forward. Paul Matthews took over his midfield role. Davie, who scored City’s third goal just before half-time, remembers the game not so much for his goal, but for his tactical acumen.
He told us: “In those days, every German team played with a sweeper like Franz Beckenbauer. I decided that I would just stand a couple of yards in front of the centre-half. You need two players to mark the sweeper. Then they can’t get the ball back to him. It stumped their passing.
“They had to pass to someone else and then our guys would get stuck into them. When Leicester got the ball and wanted to play it upfield to me, this guy would try to play me offside but I was too smart for him. Playing at centre-forward like this against a British side wouldn’t have worked.
“I would have been flattened. I’m not going to blow my own trumpet, but nobody ever said to me what a brilliant idea this was!”
Davie has several other memories of tours to Germany. He remembers how impressive David Nish was in completing a lap of the running track surrounding one of the pitches in Germany (either at Schalke or at Borussia Dortmund) in only one minute.
He was also impressed when, after a game at Eintracht Brunswick, the players were each given a pair of cufflinks: “They were absolutely great. I think they ought to present this sort of thing after cup finals. Nearly 50 years later I still wear them with my tuxedo. They have a crest on with a lion rampant.
“They still look brand new. I wonder if the other guys still have their cufflinks.”
One of the great things about Leicester City is the affection that ex-players have for the Club. Several of the 'other guys' referred to by Davie, and who took part in the games against German sides in the 1960s, are still regular visitors on matchdays at King Power Stadium.