Iconic Shirt Numbers: The No.10s Who Stole Headlines

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Iconic Shirt Numbers: The No.10s Who Stole Headlines

When James Maddison inherited the No.10 shirt shortly after joining Leicester City, the talented midfielder was following in the footsteps of some of the Club's most admired former players.

2020-05-13T07:55:00.000Z

Iconic Shirt Numbers: The No.10s Who Stole Headlines

When James Maddison inherited the No.10 shirt shortly after joining Leicester City, the talented midfielder was following in the footsteps of some of the Club's most admired former players.

2020-05-13T07:55:00.000Z

Iconic Shirt Numbers: The No.10s Who Stole Headlines

When James Maddison inherited the No.10 shirt shortly after joining Leicester City, the talented midfielder was following in the footsteps of some of the Club's most admired former players.

2020-05-13T07:55:00.000Z

Iconic Shirt Numbers: The No.10s Who Stole Headlines

When James Maddison inherited the No.10 shirt shortly after joining Leicester City, the talented midfielder was following in the footsteps of some of the Club's most admired former players.

2020-05-13T07:55:00.000Z

Iconic Shirt Numbers: The No.10s Who Stole Headlines

When James Maddison inherited the No.10 shirt shortly after joining Leicester City, the talented midfielder was following in the footsteps of some of the Club's most admired former players.

2020-05-13T07:55:00.000Z

In 1925, City manager Peter Hodge completed the Club record £3,300 signing of forward Arthur Lochhead from Manchester United as Leicester looked to settle in the old First Division.

Lochhead started his career with Scottish outfit Hearts after returning from First World War service to watch the Edinburgh side in action, before demanding a trial and insisting he could do better.

Alongside Harry Graham, Lochhead became a star of the side, scoring 19 goals in just 22 outings north of the border, attracting the interest of English side Manchester United.

More success followed that £530 plus Tom Miller exchange deal for the Scotland-born forward in Manchester, netting another 50 goals in new surroundings.

While Arthur Chandler was City's top goalscorer for seven consecutive seasons, Lochhead nonetheless played a key role too as Leicester finished third and second in 1928 and 1929 respectively.

Such was Lochhead's force of personality, when Hodge tragically died in 1934, the scorer of 114 goals for the Club was appointed as Leicester City's new manager, a tenure which lasted two seasons.

In 1950, meanwhile, City completed the transfer of a man who would go on to become the most prolific player the Football League has ever known, and second only to Chandler in City's charts.

That man was Arthur Rowley, procured by manager Norman Bullock, and his signing in fact attracted criticism from Filbert Street regulars who deemed him a poor replacement for the popular Jack Lee.

However, by the time the Wolverhampton native left Leicester eight years later, he would do so as the scorer of 265 goals in all competitions, with 251 contributing to his eventual Football League tally of 434.

Indeed, Rowley was the Foxes' top scorer in all eight of his seasons in Leicester, including a staggering 16 hat-tricks in blue, and an astronomical season tally of 44 strikes during the 1956/57 campaign.

Most of his time at the Club was spent in the old Second Division and his tally of 'just' 20 goals in 1957/58 led second tier champions Leicester to sell him to Shrewsbury, where he became player-manager.

'Gunner' was just eight goals short of Chandler's goalscoring record at Leicester, but he nonetheless went on to break Dixie Dean's figures in English football and Jimmy McGrory's British record with 434 goals.

That magnificent final total included goals in all four divisions (50 in the First Division, 232 in the Second Division, 114 in the Third Division and 38 in the Fourth Division), but he never featured for England.

The Club's first-ever victory in a major competition, meanwhile, came with the help of popular inside left Davie Gibson, another Scotsman to impress in Leicester's colours during the mid-20th century.

When Matt Gillies completed the transfer for £25,000, however, Gibson still had to complete his National Service, but it wouldn't take long before he would become an essential member of the Foxes squad.

Former Hibernian midfielder Gibson turned full-time for City in 1962, forging an iconic partnership with Mike Stringfellow, while he also scored in both legs of the 1964 League Cup Final triumph over Stoke.

Fans of that era will remember him as one of the best left-sided players to ever represent Leicester across its entire history and a useful source of goals as well - netting 53 times for City.

While the Foxes were unable to add more trophies to their collection during a nostalgic period in their history, Gibson was still able to represent the Club in the 1965 League Cup and 1969 FA Cup finals too.

One man who needs no introduction to City fans of any age of Alan 'The Birch' Birchenall who now represents Leicester as Club Ambassador following a colourful and successful playing career.

Birchenall spent just six seasons of his 20-year career as a Foxes player, but his impact on Jimmy Bloomfield's swashbuckling side was an enormous one, planting the seeds for his future role in Leicester.

While Alan's goals in blue were few and far between, ending on a tally of 14 between 1971 and 1977, they nonetheless tended to be extraordinary finishes, including a stunning effort at Leeds in October 1973.

Following a move to Notts County at the end of his City playing career, the Birch later represented American sides San Jose Earthquakes and the Memphis Rogues, before rekindling his Leicester love affair.

Initially, Birchenall entered the shoe trade, also becoming the landlord of the Griffin pub in Swithland, before becoming a central part of the matchday experience at both Filbert Street and King Power Stadium.

In 2003, meanwhile, Alan was awarded an MBE for his services to local charities, raising over £1M across 39 End of Season Runs, while he also works closely with The Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha Foundation.

Another figure to have endeared himself uniquely to the Blue Army is Academy graduate and winner of the top three divisional titles in England during his City career - Wales midfielder Andy King.

Handed his debut in the Championship by former manager Ian Holloway, it was under Nigel Pearson's guidance in which King truly began to establish himself as a key figure for the Foxes from 2008 onwards.

Initially as a floating midfielder with a keen eye for goal, King starred on 45 occasions as City lifted the Sky Bet League 1 (old Third Division title) in style during the 2008/09 season.

He quickly became regarded as one of the best players outside the Premier League, making 190 second tier appearances before the Club was finally promoted as Championship champions in 2014.

Despite stepping up another level, 'Kingy' continued to be an important man for Pearson and then Claudio Ranieri in the top flight, starring on 24 and 25 occasions across two notable seasons in City's history.

Firstly, despite sitting bottom of the table in April, the Foxes won seven in nine to sustain their Premier League status before going even further in 2016 to lift the English title for the first time ever.

Not only is King the only player to win those three titles with one club, he also helped Wales reach the semi-finals of UEFA EURO 2016, and continues to be an authoritative presence at Belvoir Drive today.

As King enjoyed loan spells with Swansea City, Derby County, Rangers and Huddersfield Town over recent seasons, Maddison - signed from Norwich City in 2018 - has become of the Club's most exciting prospects.

Since joining Leicester, initially under the management of Claude Puel, the 23-year-old continues to impress all with his dedicated midfield play and precise eye at set-plays for Brendan Rodgers' men.

Over 73 appearances for the Club, Maddison has netted 16 goals, many memorable efforts from distance, while he also earned a debut for England's senior side in 7-0 win over Montenegro in October 2019.

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