We’ve become so accustomed to it that the song's history and origins largely elude the Foxes faithful. Some believe it’s played because of Leicestershire’s association with fox hunting, while others may never have even given it a single thought. Whichever camp you fall in, we’re here to set the record straight.
The name of the melody derives from the actual instrument itself. Called a ‘post horn’, the brass instrument was used during the 18th and 19th centuries to herald the arrival of mail coaches and warn off pedestrians for the approaching horse-drawn carriages. Then, in 1844, the instrument fell into the spotlight with its very own solo, and the Post-Horn Gallop was born.
The composition first rang out at Filbert Street in 1941 when the Club opted to use it to announce the arrival of the teams on the pitch, just as it was used to announce the mail for decades prior. Its debut on Filbert Street came a few years before Leicester City first incorporated the fox in the crest. So, reluctantly, it seems we can discount the theory that it is linked to foxes.
The Post-Horn Gallop was sometimes used at football matches nationwide over 100 years ago, played by brass bands as part of the half-time entertainment. One such game was the first-ever game at Highbury in September 1913, and the opponents that day were Leicester Fosse. It’s perfectly reasonable to assume that was the first occasion Leicester players heard it.
But the piece became scarcer and scarcer in 20th century football, as clubs up and down the pyramid opted to blare out contemporary tunes in an effort to spur both the players and crowd on for 90 minutes of play. Now, over 100 years after that day in Highbury, Leicester City are the only team in the English football league system to take to the field to the ring of the post horn.
The Club has resisted outside pressure to update the entrance music to something a little more fiery, and for very good reason: the Post-Horn Gallop is the unchanged soundtrack to Leicester City, through the good times and the bad. It wouldn’t be a matchday on Filbert Way without it.