The Week In History: Don't Go Martin!

Fourteen years ago this week, on 19 October 1998, there were unprecedented scenes at a packed Filbert Street for a Monday night Premier League match against Tottenham Hotspur.

Before the game, as manager Martin O’Neill took his seat in the dug out, thousands of fans all around the ground, in what was a capacity crowd, brandished ‘Don’t Go Martin’ banners, while their verbal backing for the manager rose to a deafening crescendo. There had probably never been a comparable demonstration in the history of English football.

The drama didn’t end there. Under the floodlights, the team put on a superb performance. Emile Heskey and Muzzy Izzet both scored stunning goals in the 2-1 defeat of Spurs. Muzzy’s goal, a spectacular volley, will live forever in the memories of those of us who were fortunate enough to witness it. At the end of the game, with the crowd once again deafeningly hailing the manager, O’Neill raised his hand in salute. The crowd went home wondering if it was a farewell wave.

These incredible scenes, unique in the Club’s long history, were the culmination of an unfolding drama that had started 19 days earlier.

On Friday 1 October 1998, Leeds manager George Graham had been unveiled as Tottenham’s new manager, replacing Christian Gross. O’Neill, along with Gordon Strachan and David O’Leary, the Leeds number two, were instant favourites to succeed Graham, although Strachan quickly ruled himself out. Leicester issued a stern ‘hands off’ warning to Leeds Chairman Peter Ridsdale.

Two days later, on Sunday 3 October, Leicester defeated Leeds, (under the temporary charge of O’Leary) at Elland Road, with Tony Cottee scoring the only goal. The next day, reports suggested that the Leeds board, perhaps influenced by this result, had unanimously decided that O’Neill was their favoured candidate.

On Wednesday 6 October Ridsdale asked Leicester Chairman John Elsom for permission to speak to Martin. This request was refused. Both Elsom and PLC Chairman Sir Rodney Walker pledged to keep their manager at Filbert Street.

Two more approaches were also rebuffed but then, a week later, on Wednesday 13 October, Martin said that he would like to have the opportunity to speak to Leeds, as he felt that he had a gentlemen’s agreement with Leicester, allowing him to do this.

John Elsom called a press conference to deny this. It looked as though the only way that Martin could have his wish and speak to Leeds was for him to walk out on Leicester. Martin said he wouldn’t do this, although he was still going to try to persuade Elsom to change his mind.

Leeds then put the matter on hold until the following week, until after their UEFA Cup tie with Roma, with O’Leary staying in temporary charge.

This meant that O’Neill would still be Leicester’s manager for the now famous occasion of the Monday night game against Spurs on 19 October. On the Saturday before the game he held a meeting with his players. Steve Walsh later went on the record as saying that at this meeting, O’Neill didn’t really give any clues about whether he’d be staying or leaving and that the players went into the Spurs match not knowing for certain if it would be his last game in charge.

If Martin was still in two minds, the reaction of the fans and the performance of the players on that memorable night 14 years ago this week definitely helped swing his decision. Pontus Kaamark, Leicester’s Swedish international defender, said that it was only at half-time, after witnessing the pre-match demonstration, that O’Neill gave the first indication that he might, after all, be staying. 

Even so, the suspense didn’t end until two days later. On the morning of Wednesday 21 October, Martin O’Neill told a packed press conference that he was going to stay at Leicester. Martin said a heartfelt public thank-you to the supporters. He said that he was genuinely moved by the fans’ reception before the game and that this had had a significant bearing on his decision to stay at Filbert Street. He also mentioned the stream of letters and faxes that he had received from fans imploring him to stay and said that he would get round to answering them all.

If you received one of these letters from Martin O’Neill, we would be interested in having a scanned copy for the club’s Digital Archive. If you can help with this, please contact .