Leicester City In 100 Players: Peter Rodrigues

In December 1965, Leicester City paid Cardiff City a Club record fee of £42,500 for Wales international right full-back Peter Rodrigues.

As a youngster, Peter was selected to represent both Cardiff and Wales schoolboys, before joining Cardiff City as a 17 year-old in May 1961.

After six first team games, Peter became a Wales Under-23s international. He made his full international debut in 1965. He was a fixture in Cardiff City’s first team for three years, playing in the European Cup Winners’ Cup Quarter-Final in 1965 when the Welsh club was narrowly defeated by Real Zaragoza.

Later in 1965, Cardiff City refused to let Peter sign for Tommy Docherty’s Chelsea but, in December 1965, manager Matt Gillies signed him for Leicester City.

Peter made his Leicester debut on New Year’s Day in 1966 at Filbert Street against Stoke City. He   quickly made his mark by laying on a cross for Derek Dougan to head in the only goal of the match. He pacey overlapping full-back play, combined with his mastery of the sliding tackle, quickly endeared him to the fans.

For the next five years, Rodrigues was the regular first-choice right-back. He also won 16 more full international caps (out of a total of 40), including two against Brazil, when he marked the legendary Garrincha.  

During the 1968/69 season, Peter was hindered by an ankle injury but, with Frank O’Farrell now in charge, he recovered and was involved in every tie in the run to the 1969 FA Cup Final, when the team lost 1-0 to Manchester City.

Three weeks after, Leicester City lost 3-2 at Old Trafford in the last game of the season and were relegated after 12 seasons in the top flight.

The next season, when the Foxes very narrowly missed promotion back the top-flight, Peter had a clash with O’Farrell and he requested a transfer. In October 1970, after making 171 appearances for the Foxes, he moved to Sheffield Wednesday, where he spent the next five years.

In July 1975, Peter moved to Second Division side Southampton and, at the end of his first season at the Dell, famously captained the Saints to an FA Cup Final victory over Docherty’s Manchester United.

He retired a year later, and has since worked as a publican in Hampshire and Wales and set up a Soccer School in Tenby before retiring first to Spain and then to the south coast.