My Top Five LCFC Performances

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After Leicester City’s stunning 5-3 victory over Manchester United on Sunday, Davie Gibson, that great Foxes star of the 1960s, phoned me up from his Dorset home to say that, in his opinion, this was the best he had ever seen Leicester City play. 

To score four goals in 20 minutes in the last half an hour of the game, against some of the biggest names in world football, turning a 3-1 deficit into a 5-3 victory, was unbelievable. I would definitely place this game in my personal list of the top five all-time great Leicester City games that I have watched over the last half century. 

What were the other four? 

Leicester City 4 Manchester United 3 - 16 April, 1963 

This victory took Leicester City to the top of the table with only five games to go. The previous day the two sides had drawn a League match 2-2 at Old Trafford. The gates at Filbert Street were locked an hour before kick-off. 

Leicester City took the lead in the 29th minute when reserve Terry Heath, in for the injured Mike Stringfellow, shot home a rebound past United’s Harry Gregg. 

Two minutes later the legendary Denis Law equalised, scoring from two yards out, from a cross from Nobby Stiles. 

Early in the second half, the game really boiled over. Four goals were scored in a pulsating six minutes. 

In the 50th minute, Howard Riley crossed the ball to Leicester City centre-forward Ken Keyworth who nodded it into the net. 

Two minutes later, Law, with his back to the goal, scored a dazzling equaliser with a scissor kick. 

Two minutes after that, Riley crossed another ball to Keyworth who forced the ball over the line. 

Unbelievably, two minutes after that, Keyworth completed his six-minute hat-trick when he back headed in yet another Riley Cross. 

Leicester City were rampant. However in the 69th minute Law completed his hat-trick when he thumped home a rebounded shot past Gordon banks to make it 4-3. 

The final 20 minutes were nerve wracking as United went all out for an equaliser. Leicester held on. It was terrific football, with thrill after thrill. Unforgettable! 

Leicester City 4 Manchester City 3 - 19 February 1968 

Leicester City beat Manchester City 4-3 in a fourth round FA Cup replay in a match that roused the 40,000 Filbert Street crowd to a frenzy. The game was described at the time as the most exciting Cup-tie seen at Filbert Street in years.

The game at Maine Road had ended in a 0-0 draw in front of a crowd of over 51,000 with Leicester under constant pressure and lucky to escape with a draw. Two days later, on the Monday night, nearly 40,000 people turned up for the replay at Filbert Street. 

The game turned out to be an unforgettable classic. 

The visitors went ahead after six minutes when Francis Lee, scored from the spot. Manchester City continued to look dangerous and after 22 minutes went further ahead when Colin Bell put through a ball to Mike Summerbee who slipped the ball into the net past Peter Shilton. 

That looked to be the end of it. 

However Leicester stunned their opponents and the huge crowd by scoring an incredible four goals in one of the most remarkable twenty minutes in Leicester’s history to take a 4-2 lead. 

The breakthrough came seconds before half time. The Manchester City defence failed to clear a high ball headed into the box by Frank Large. Young Rodney Fern, playing only his third game for Leicester, seized on this and cracked home a superb goal just before the referee blew for half time. It was a superb goal and it couldn’t have come at a better psychological moment. 

When the sides came out for the second half, the huge crowd sensed an upset. They didn’t have long to wait. Within five minutes, Large, who was already a cult hero at Leicester following his signing three months earlier, had a shot cleared off the line. He then lashed home an equaliser after a shot by Fern had been blocked. 

The momentum was now with Leicester. Eight minutes later, David Nish smashed in a third goal through a crowded goalmouth. Soon afterwards, Bobby Roberts had one of tremendous trade-mark free kicks saved. The fourth goal came in the 64th minute, when Large headed in a curling corner kick for his second and Leicester’s fourth goal. 

The huge Filbert Street crowd went berserk, and the fact that the game was under floodlights added to the atmosphere. The fans were celebrating the fact that in an incredible, crazy, thrill-packed twenty minutes, Leicester had been irresistible. They had scored four goals and it could easily have been six. 

Colin Bell did get a goal back in the last minute for Manchester City, but this didn’t detract from what had been an unforgettable achievement. 

Leicester City 3 Liverpool 2 - 30 August 1972 

This is a game that I will never forget. Keith Weller scored a truly memorable hat-trick against Liverpool in an evening match at Filbert Street. 

Contemporary reports at the time said that the match “reawakened faith in the British game” and that it would “live long in the memories of those privileged enough to see it.” This was a very sound prophecy. 

Liverpool were destined to become League champions at the end of the season, and , on a summer’s evening, against a Leicester side playing in their new all white strip, the Reds quickly took a two-goal lead, with John Toshack scoring in the ninth and 17th minutes. It was difficult to see how Leicester would recover. 

However in the 25th minute Lenny Glover made a great run down the left wing before crossing to Worthington in the goalmouth. Liverpool were in trouble and Weller cracked the ball home. 

It got better. Six minutes later, Weller equalized with a superb volley from just outside the box after Liverpool’s full-back Lawler made a poor clearance from a ball floated forward by Alan Woollett. 

Five minutes after half time, the Filbert Street went mad after Weller completed his hat-trick. A City attack was partially halted by a tackle on Stringfellow who was playing as a double spearhead with Worthington. Eventually Weller got possession to shoot home. The excitement didn’t stop there. The pace of the game grew even faster. Glover smashed a shot against the post, and Liverpool started to come back into the game. Woollett and Cross had their work cut out marking Keegan and Toshack, Emlyn Hughes was a constant threat with his cannonball efforts, and Peter Shilton had to play superbly to keep Liverpool at bay. 

If this wasn’t enough, three minutes from the end, Toshack hit the post, but Leicester held on to achieve a famous win. 

It was thrilling stuff and a great all round performance by Leicester. Weller was magnificent. He was everywhere, preventing goals as well as scoring them. Worthington’s control and distribution were first class. Stringfellow almost stole the show. Shilton was brilliant, Sammels was at his best and Glover constantly had Lawler in trouble. 

Leicester City 5 Sunderland 2 - 5 March 2000

This match against Sunderland marked Stan Collymore’s home debut for Leicester City. He was told only an hour before kick-off that he would be playing. Martin O’Neill instructed Stan to go out and run at the defenders, which is exactly what he did. 

Collymore’s total of seven goals for Villa had cost his previous club £1million apiece. He had not scored a Premier League goal for an astonishing 484 days. That afternoon he scored a stunning hat-trick, evoking memories of his glory days. 

Emile Heskey and Collymore clicked as though they had been playing together for years. 

Collymore opened the scoring in the 17th minute. It was a goal out of the top drawer. He hit a 20-yard right-footed volley from Heskey’s header. 

Ten minutes before half time, Lennon won a tackle and threaded ball through to Heskey, who held off two challenges before scoring. 

Kevin Philips pulled a goal back for Sunderland eight minutes into the second half, but eight minutes after that, Collymore scored another brilliant goal. It was a magnificent header from 16 yards out, from Lennon’s delivery. It left the Sunderland goalkeeper grasping thin air. 

Niall Quinn curled in a shot from 12 yards out to bring the score back to 3-2, but in the 88th minute, Collymore completed his hat-trick. Heskey broke along the right flank, and Collymore arrived to score his third, from close range. He actually miskicked the ball from about a yard out but he still managed to connect with Heskey’s cross and the ball bobbled over the line. 

Steffan Oakes completed the afternoon by scoring with a deflected free kick right at the end of the game. 

On the final whistle, Collymore grabbed the match ball, saluted each of the four stands in turn and milked the applause all the way back to the dressing room.