Remembering When James Saved City From The Drop

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Remembering When James Saved City From The Drop

To mark the recent launch of the Club's newest retro shirt, LCFC.com takes an in-depth look back at Leicester City’s dramatic 'Great Escape' story from the beginning of the 1990s.

2022-06-13T08:06:00.000Z

by Sam Jones

Published

13 Jun, 2022

Remembering When James Saved City From The Drop

To mark the recent launch of the Club's newest retro shirt, LCFC.com takes an in-depth look back at Leicester City’s dramatic 'Great Escape' story from the beginning of the 1990s.

Sam Jones

2022-06-13T08:06:00.000Z

Remembering When James Saved City From The Drop

To mark the recent launch of the Club's newest retro shirt, LCFC.com takes an in-depth look back at Leicester City’s dramatic 'Great Escape' story from the beginning of the 1990s.

Sam Jones

2022-06-13T08:06:00.000Z

Remembering When James Saved City From The Drop

To mark the recent launch of the Club's newest retro shirt, LCFC.com takes an in-depth look back at Leicester City’s dramatic 'Great Escape' story from the beginning of the 1990s.

Sam Jones

2022-06-13T08:06:00.000Z

Remembering When James Saved City From The Drop

To mark the recent launch of the Club's newest retro shirt, LCFC.com takes an in-depth look back at Leicester City’s dramatic 'Great Escape' story from the beginning of the 1990s.

Sam Jones

2022-06-13T08:06:00.000Z

Rewind to just over 30 years ago and Leicester were in a precarious position, with relegation from the old Second Division on the cards.

When assistant Gordon Lee replaced David Pleat in the manager's hot seat in January 1991, the Club looked set to drop into the third tier of English football for the first time in their history.

The Foxes entered the campaign with optimism, but winning the opening game of the season 3-2 at home to Bristol Rovers proved to be a false dawn.

Under Pleat, the team quickly slipped down the table, losing the next seven league games. Pre-season hopes of promotion were replaced by relegation worries.

City went out of all cup competitions in the first round they entered, losing 2-1 at Millwall in the FA Cup Third Round after a 3-1 aggregate defeat against Leeds United in the League Cup Second Round.

There was also a Full Members Cup Round One (Northern Area) exit at the hands of Wolverhampton Wanderers, losing 1-0 at Filbert Street in November.

Following a 3-1 defeat by Blackburn Rovers on 26 January, 1991, Pleat left the Club. Chairman Terry Shipman also departed at the same time, with Martin George coming in and Foxes skipper Ali Mauchlen assisting Lee with coaching duties.

The new manager had an immediate impact, winning his first two home games in charge against Plymouth Argyle and Barnsley respectively.

But a difficult season continued, and after failing to win any of their final three away games of the season, it all came down to the last fixture of the campaign, against Oxford United on 11 May, 1991.

City's fate was out of their own hands. They needed to better West Bromwich Albion’s result to preserve their status as a Second Division club for another season.

Some 19,011 fans packed into Filbert Street to create Leicester’s highest attendance of the season and hoped to witness a miraculous escape from relegation, while the Baggies travelled to face Bristol Rovers.

Leicester piled on some early pressure, particularly from set pieces, but Alan Judge was in fine form in the Oxford goal, making several saves in the first half as tension increased around the ground.

David Kelly’s 14 league goals had helped keep the side in contention of surviving, but it was centre-half James who scored what proved to be a crucial strike.

Making the breakthrough from Kevin 'Rooster' Russell’s corner after the ball bounced around the box, he flicked it into the roof of the net to send the Spion Kop into rapture.

Failing to hold on to leads had been the story of Leicester’s season, but they had no trouble when it really mattered, as one goal was enough to secure the most crucial of three points.

Leicester’s narrow 1-0 victory, coupled with West Brom’s draw at Bristol Rovers, sparked wild celebrations among the Filbert Street faithful, who spilled out onto the pitch at full-time to celebrate with the players.

Meanwhile, at Twerton Park, the Baggies were consigned to relegation to the Third Division, alongside Hull City.

The final league table saw City finish with the record of 14 wins from their 46 games, ending the season 22nd in the 24-team league and two points ahead of Albion.

The escape was even more remarkable considering Leicester spent the majority of the campaign in the bottom two and ended the season with a league-high 24 defeats.

Shop the full retro range HERE, or by visiting the Foxes Fanstore at King Power Stadium, where you can exclusively purchase the 1990-92 Bukta home shirt. Please note that limited stock is available in-store.

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