It was a Saturday at the end of August 1919, and it was a day of new beginnings for Leicester City Football Club. The day, just over 102 years ago, was filled with a wealth of fresh starts. So much so that it might just be quicker to list them.
On 30 August, 1919, players up and down the country laced up their boots, pulled on their kit and began their pre-match rituals once again. It had been a long four-year wait for the Football League to make its comeback - it’s suspension, following the end of the 1914/15 season, made in reaction to the growing unease surrounding the First World War - and the restoration of peacetime finally allowed the resumption of competitive football.
Leicester, alongside other Football League clubs, played their very first post-war match that Saturday afternoon. On 30 August, 1919, after 34 years playing as the popular Leicester Fosse, the players emerged onto the Filbert Street pitch sporting a brand new name.
The Fosse reinvented themselves as ‘Leicester City Football Club’ and played their very first match as such. The financial misery that had burdened Filbert Street over the years disappeared unitedly with the Fosse, while the disappointing league finishes before the war were almost a fading memory.
The slate was wiped clean, and there was a new dawn at the Club. The city of Leicester could believe that, just perhaps, this was the beginning of a new era. The start of something special. On 30 August, 1919 however, Leicester City lost to Wolverhampton Wanderers.
The defeat was kept to a dignified two goals to Leicester’s one, and the match report in the Leicester Daily Post highlighted some positives - namely for George Douglas (pictured), the scorer of City’s first-ever goal.
Still, it wasn’t quite the jubilant opening ceremony perfect for the history books - and it would take Leicester City a grand total of five fixtures to register their first victory, with a further six seasons before they achieved promotion to the First Division.
But the 30 August, 1919 goes down as a significant date in the ‘Leicester City Firsts’ calendar. A historic day that signalled good times were still yet to come.