Links With The Past: A Prestigious Filbert Street Occasion's Programme
This rare and valuable programme, which is almost a century old from the Club’s archives, was produced for a fixture between the Football League and the Scottish League played at Filbert Street on Saturday 19 March, 1927.
Inter-league games between England and Scotland took place almost annually between 1892 and 1976. For many years, these matches between the two nations were only second in importance to the full international fixtures.
In his notes inside the programme J. McKenna, the President of the Football League, wrote that this fixture was ‘the most important that Leicester has ever been favoured with’ and that it was ‘a great honour for Leicester City FC to be asked to stage a match of such importance.’
The choice of City’s home ground as a venue reflected the Club’s growing stature. Filbert Street boasted a new Main Stand, which had been erected in 1921 and extended in 1925, and the team was one of the best in England, finishing third in the old First Division that season, and finishing second a year later.
Leicester's centre-forward, Arthur Chandler, who went on to become the Club’s record goalscorer with 273 goals, was selected for this match, which attracted a crowd of 26,000 people.
He was the second City player to represent the Football League. The first was his international team-mate Ernie Hine. Others included, in subsequent years, Hughie Adcock, Sid Bishop, Sep Smith, Derek Hogg, Arthur Rowley, Tony Knapp, Gordon Banks, Colin Appleton, Peter Shilton, David Nish, Keith Weller and Frank Worthington.
On this occasion, Chandler did not score, the goals coming from Tottenham Hotspur’s Jack Elkes and Aston Villa’s Billy Walker in a 2-2 draw.
On the same day, Leicester defeated Sheffield United 3-0 at Bramall Lane. Playing in Arthur’s place in the City attack was Bert Heathcock who, in his only game for the Club, scored two goals, badly injuring himself as he scored the second.