Remembering The Start Of Heskey's Leicester City Journey

In the space of three years, Emile Heskey went from a ballboy at Wembley, as Leicester City suffered play-off heartbreak at the hands of Swindon Town in 1993, to becoming a fully-fledged member of the Club's first team squad.

2021-03-08T09:54:00.000Z

In the space of three years, Emile Heskey went from a ballboy at Wembley, as Leicester City suffered play-off heartbreak at the hands of Swindon Town in 1993, to becoming a fully-fledged member of the Club's first team squad.

2021-03-08T09:54:00.000Z

Remembering The Start Of Heskey's Leicester City Journey

In the space of three years, Emile Heskey went from a ballboy at Wembley, as Leicester City suffered play-off heartbreak at the hands of Swindon Town in 1993, to becoming a fully-fledged member of the Club's first team squad.

2021-03-08T09:54:00.000Z

Remembering The Start Of Heskey's Leicester City Journey

In the space of three years, Emile Heskey went from a ballboy at Wembley, as Leicester City suffered play-off heartbreak at the hands of Swindon Town in 1993, to becoming a fully-fledged member of the Club's first team squad.

2021-03-08T09:54:00.000Z

Remembering The Start Of Heskey's Leicester City Journey

In the space of three years, Emile Heskey went from a ballboy at Wembley, as Leicester City suffered play-off heartbreak at the hands of Swindon Town in 1993, to becoming a fully-fledged member of the Club's first team squad.

2021-03-08T09:54:00.000Z

Perched on the sidelines of the famous turf beneath the Twin Towers at the national stadium, a teenage Emile was already emerging through the Foxes' Academy ranks at Belvoir Drive.

On this day 26 years ago, on 8 March, 1995, his big moment finally arrived. Still only 17 and a first-year trainee, Heskey was named in manager Mark McGhee's starting XI for a visit to Loftus Road to tackle Queens Park Rangers.

It didn't matter to Heskey that City were both hit by injuries and stricken by several cases of flu for the clash in the capital. He'd just become the Club's youngest-ever Premier League player, up until that point. The first line of his story in the senior professional game had been written.

“A few people came down sick,” Emile remembered in a recent interview. “I’d played in a pre-season game at Notts County. I got injured, then I came back to play in the youth team and the reserve team and started travelling with the first team on the bus.

“I didn’t have any notice for the Queens Park Rangers game so I didn’t have time to overthink things and get nervous although I don’t think I did particularly well.”

Relegation from the Premier League would eventually follow for City but in the context of Heskey's development, a year in the old First Division would give him an opportunity to exhibit his unquestionable abilities.

“I didn’t even know I was in contention,” he added. “I was basically making the tea and helping with the kit and then I saw my name on the board! It wasn’t the best of debuts but it was a start of going on to better things.”

The ambitious Leicester-born forward would have to wait until 23 September for his next outing in Leicester's colours - another defeat, 3-1 against Southend United, blotting an otherwise encouraging start to the 1995/96 season.

It was intriguing time to be a Foxes fan in the mid-1990s. After two successive play-off final defeats, Brian Little's men eventually gained entry to the top-flight at Wembley in 1994, only for Little to leave mid-season, for Aston Villa. Relegation would follow shortly afterwards.

Managerial strife struck again in 1995, too, as McGhee departed Filbert Street for 'sleeping giants' Wolverhampton Wanderers, citing the Molineux club's greater chances of promotion and eventual consolidation in the top tier among his rationale.

By this time, Heskey had netted his first goal for the Club, securing a last-gasp 1-0 win over Norwich City from the bench in late September, and he sampled a host of run-outs for his hometown team, but would the new man keep the faith with him?

Despite rumours suggesting long-time target Mike Walker, a former manager at Norwich and Everton, would replace McGhee, by the time the Canaries visited Filbert Street on 17 December, 1995, their dugout was also empty following the resignation of Martin O'Neill.

A few days later, O'Neill would be revealed as the 24th manager of Leicester City Football Club. Heskey needn't have worried about falling out of favour. He would go on to miss just two games under the charismatic Northern Irishman until the end of the season.

From O'Neill's debut as manager, a 2-2 draw away at Grimsby which saw Steve Walsh both find the net for the Foxes and score an own goal at Blundell Park, Heskey was now a key figure in Leicester's squad.

His brace at Wolves on 30 February, 1996, meanwhile, ended a run of seven games without a victory following O'Neill's appointment and, although it would continue to be a stop-start season, it was a three points which would end up helping the Foxes make a late dash for the play-offs.

Winter signing Steve Claridge's arrival did little to prevent Heskey from continuing to be an important player for City, alongside Welshman Iwan Roberts in attack, and the Academy graduate would end the 1995/96 campaign on seven goals.

It was his pace which struck onlookers immediately, but Heskey's poise in possession and ability to link up play for his team-mates set him apart from other youthful upstarts as young Emile proved he also had the composure to make it as a striker.

In time, we'd come to see even more from Heskey as he developed into a scorer of great goals at Filbert Street and a future England international.

A final-day header from little-known Muzzy Izzet, on loan from Chelsea, was enough for City to squeeze into the play-offs at Watford, while Garry Parker's emphatic half-volley at Stoke City secured the Club's place in the showpiece.

Heskey was back at Wembley three years since his last appearance. Instead of collecting stray balls from the running track, though, he was one of 11 starters entrusted with guiding the Club back to the Premier League.

It may have gone unnoticed among the Blue Army, especially as they toasted Claridge's 120th-minute shinned winner against Crystal Palace, but for Heskey it was even more special. In just three years, his life had changed forever. He'd gone from schoolboy to Premier League striker.

'Heskey 9' and 'Heskey 11' are two of the shirts he donned during his time at the Club, and are available now on LCFC.com/shop while stocks last.

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