An Evening To Celebrate Leicester City’s Centenary In 1984

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An Evening To Celebrate Leicester City’s Centenary In 1984

Continuing a new summer series, Club Historian John Hutchinson looks back at some memorable stories from past close seasons.

2021-08-04T11:37:00.000Z

by John Hutchinson

Published

04 Aug, 2021

An Evening To Celebrate Leicester City’s Centenary In 1984

Continuing a new summer series, Club Historian John Hutchinson looks back at some memorable stories from past close seasons.

John Hutchinson

2021-08-04T11:37:00.000Z

An Evening To Celebrate Leicester City’s Centenary In 1984

Continuing a new summer series, Club Historian John Hutchinson looks back at some memorable stories from past close seasons.

John Hutchinson

2021-08-04T11:37:00.000Z

An Evening To Celebrate Leicester City’s Centenary In 1984

Continuing a new summer series, Club Historian John Hutchinson looks back at some memorable stories from past close seasons.

John Hutchinson

2021-08-04T11:37:00.000Z

An Evening To Celebrate Leicester City’s Centenary In 1984

Continuing a new summer series, Club Historian John Hutchinson looks back at some memorable stories from past close seasons.

John Hutchinson

2021-08-04T11:37:00.000Z

Thirty seven years ago this month**,** on 13 August, 1984, Leicester City Football Club devoted an evening to nostalgia. To commemorate the Club’s centenary, two football matches were staged at Filbert Street. These involved many great names from the Club’s past and present.

The first game of the evening was between a Leicester City side from the 1960s playing against their counterparts from the 1970s. This was followed by a match between Gordon Milne’s First Division Leicester City side against Alex Ferguson’s Aberdeen, who had just won the Scottish League, the Scottish Cup and the European Super Cup.

To mark the occasion, Aberdeen presented the Club with a cut glass bowl, inscribed: ‘Leicester City Football Club, 1884-1984, from Aberdeen Football Club'.

In addition, other famous ex-players who felt that they were too old to play were also guests of the Club. They were presented to a very appreciative Filbert Street crowd. The biggest cheer was reserved for Arthur Rowley, who was the greatest British goalscorer of all time.

No other player in the history of the British game has surpassed his record of 433 league goals, 251 of which he scored for Leicester City in the 1950s, mostly with his explosive left foot. The Leicester Mercury described his presence on the evening as “unsmiling but nevertheless charismatic”.

In the first game, the 1960s team included many of members of the 1961 and 1963 FA Cup Final sides. In the changing room beforehand, most of the players expressed a preference to play at the back including Frank McLintock, who had misgivings about playing in his old midfield role.

Nevertheless, he turned in the sort of energetic midfield performance that many older fans remembered from his heyday. Howard Riley’s runs up the right wing also evoked fond memories. Eddie Kelly, playing for the 1970s side, said that he was prepared to come on at any time in the last five minutes!

The presence of Ken Leek was unexpected. Not only had his jet black hair turned snow white, it was quite a surprise to see the player who was so sensationally dropped on the eve of the 1961 FA Cup Final and who had left the Club under a bit of a cloud soon afterwards.

Even more surprising, and touching, was his handshake on the pitch with Matt Gillies, the manager who had so controversially dropped him for that final.

The current Leicester City squad, about to embark on another season in the top division under Milne’s management, watched the game from the tunnel.

Long-time Leicester fan Gary Lineker, recently capped by England for the first time, provided the commentary for his team-mates. The final score was 1-1, with Jon Sammels scoring a particularly fine goal for the 1970s side.

The main competitive action of the evening was the game between the Leicester City first team and an Aberdeen side which included Jim Leighton, Willie Miller, Alex McLeish and Eric Black. Ian Andrews was in Leicester’s goal as a late replacement for Mark Wallington. Steve Lynex’s 38th-minute penalty, following a foul on Mark Bright, was equalised by Black’s goal in the second half.

The result, though, was always going to be of secondary importance. The main object of the evening was not to win a football match but to provide a feast of nostalgia to celebrate the Club’s centenary.

For the record, the past and current Leicester City players present at Filbert Street for this centenary match were:

George Dewis, Ken Chisholm, Norman Plummer, Charlie Adam, Ted Jelly, Jimmy Harrison, Johnny Anderson, Arthur Rowley, John Ogilvie, Derek Hines, Howard Riley, Jimmy Walsh, Ken Leek, Richie Norman, Albert Cheesebrough, Graham Cross, John Sjoberg, Ken Keyworth, Frank McLintock, Ian King, Colin Appleton, Bobby Roberts, Jimmy Goodfellow, Alan Tewley, Tom Sweenie, Peter Rodrigues, David Nish, Alan Woollett, Allan Clarke, Clive Walker, Carl Jayes, Jeff Blockley, Jon Sammels, Alan Birchenall, Joe Waters, Steve Whitworth, Len Glover, Eddie Kelly, George Armstrong, John O’Neill, Andy Peake, Steve Lynex, Gary Lineker, Paul Ramsey, Alan Smith, Kevin MacDonald, Mark Bright. Bobby Smith, Ian Andrews, Ian Wilson and David Rennie.

Also present were Gillies and Bert Johnson, who were the manager and coach at Filbert Street between 1958 and 1968.

Between them, these players had appeared for Leicester City in the 1949, 1961, 1963 and 1969 FA Cup Finals, the 1964 and 1965 League Cup Finals, the UEFA European Cup Winners Cup and the promotion sides of 1954, 1957, 1980 and 1983. They had also amassed hundreds of appearances in the top two divisions of the Football League.

The evening was a unique occasion. It brought together, for the first and last time, this group of great players who had played such an important part in Leicester City’s history.

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