'We Had A Good Blend' - Andy Peake's Foxes Memories

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'We Had A Good Blend' - Andy Peake's Foxes Memories

Earlier this month, former England Youth and Under-21s international midfielder Andy Peake spoke to Club Historian John Hutchinson about his career in football.

2026-02-18T17:00+00:00

by John Hutchinson

Published

18 Feb, 2026

'We Had A Good Blend' - Andy Peake's Foxes Memories

Earlier this month, former England Youth and Under-21s international midfielder Andy Peake spoke to Club Historian John Hutchinson about his career in football.

John Hutchinson

2026-02-18T17:00+00:00

'We Had A Good Blend' - Andy Peake's Foxes Memories

Earlier this month, former England Youth and Under-21s international midfielder Andy Peake spoke to Club Historian John Hutchinson about his career in football.

John Hutchinson

2026-02-18T17:00+00:00

'We Had A Good Blend' - Andy Peake's Foxes Memories

Earlier this month, former England Youth and Under-21s international midfielder Andy Peake spoke to Club Historian John Hutchinson about his career in football.

John Hutchinson

2026-02-18T17:00+00:00

'We Had A Good Blend' - Andy Peake's Foxes Memories

Earlier this month, former England Youth and Under-21s international midfielder Andy Peake spoke to Club Historian John Hutchinson about his career in football.

John Hutchinson

2026-02-18T17:00+00:00

This included a combined total of 11 seasons at Leicester City and Charlton Athletic, playing in the old First Division for both clubs for three years and four years respectively.

He also spent a year at Grimsby Town and four seasons at Middlesbrough, a spell which included the inaugural Premier League campaign.

Thinking back to the beginning of his football career, Market Harborough-born Andy began: “I was scouted by Leicester’s chief scout, Ray Shaw, while playing at Enderby, and I signed schoolboy forms when I was 14. When I was 16, I was offered an apprenticeship, so I left school and went full-time.”

On 6 January, 1979, Foxes Manager Jock Wallace gave Andy his debut as a 17-year-old, in an FA Cup Third Round home tie against Norwich City – when Keith Weller, in his last ever game for Leicester, famously wore a pair of white tights as protection against the cold.

“For my first few games, I was still an apprentice on £20 a week,” Andy remembered. “Eddie Kelly persuaded me to ask Jock Wallace for a professional contract, but when I did, Jock told me to get out of his office in no uncertain terms! About a fortnight later, he did offer me a contract, and I was virtually an ever-present for the rest of the season as a 17-year-old.”

That season, City, relegated from the old First Division 12 months earlier, finished 17th in the old Second Division, but, the following season, we were promoted as champions.

Explaining this, Andy said: “Jock Wallace was a brilliant manager. He was fantastic. You’d run through a brick wall for him, and you wouldn’t question why. His management was different class. We had a good blend of youngsters and experienced players like Eddie Kelly. I think we went up a year too early. After another year, we’d have had a little bit more experience.”

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At this time, Andy was also involved with England Youth: “I got 13 caps. My debut was in Denmark. Later, we flew to West Berlin, went through the Berlin Wall at Checkpoint Charlie and spent two weeks in Leipzig in East Germany, where we won the UEFA U18 Championship (in May 1980), beating Poland 2-1 in the final.

“Back at Leicester, we lost our first two games back in the old First Division and then we played Liverpool at home. As we were warming up, I could see Kenny Dalglish, Graeme Souness, Terry McDermott, Alan Hansen, Phil Neal and Sammy Lee, and I thought: ‘Oh my gosh!’ Then we beat them 2-0!”

Andy then described the spectacular long-rang goal that he scored in that match: “When Willie Gibson’s free-kick came to me, Terry McDermott came towards me almost on the half-way line. I managed to get past him and just hit it. Later that season, we beat them at Anfield, in their first defeat there for 85 games.

“Shortly after my goal against Liverpool, we beat Leeds and then played West Brom in the League Cup. In a 50-50 challenge with Remi Moses, I cracked my tibia. Big Jock told me to run it off, but my leg just collapsed. I was out for about seven weeks.”

Wallace’s young side were relegated at the end of the season. “We had some good players, but we just didn’t have that consistency,” Andy reflected.

Next season (81/82), Andy spent October in Australia: “Because we’d won the U18 Championship,” he explained, “we qualified for the 1981 FIFA World Youth U20 Championship in Australia. We reached the semi-final but then lost to Qatar.”

Back at Filbert Street, and back in the old Second Division, Andy was a regular in Wallace’s side, which were beaten by Tottenham Hotspur in the FA Cup Semi-Final at Villa Park in April 1982, after overcoming Shrewsbury in the famous three-goalkeeper game in the last eight.

“The atmosphere was fantastic,” Andy remembered. “We were only one game away from Wembley and I think we froze a little. They had [Glenn] Hoddle and [Osvaldo] Ardiles in their side.

“Later that month, I played for the England Under- 21s side against Poland at Upton Park and the game went really well. Then, in the close season, Jock left. It was such a shock. He was replaced by Gordon Milne, who was an excellent manager. He really knew his stuff. Tactically he was really good.

“We got promoted in his first season (82/83), but I missed most of it with a very bad ankle ligament injury which I got in a pre season friendly at Plymouth. When I came back for a couple of games at the end of the season, the ankle went again. In every game I played after that, until the end of my career, I always had my ankle strapped.”

Andy spent two more seasons at Filbert Street as the team consolidated its position in the top flight with Gary Lineker, Alan Smith and Steve Lynex scoring over 100 goals between them. Andy also netted another memorable goal against Liverpool in April 1984: “When I whacked a half-volley from about 20 yards and it just flew in!”

In August 1985, Andy moved to old Second Division outfit Grimsby Town.

He added: “I was struggling with my fitness and, because I was a bit in and out of the side, I felt I needed a good full season to get really match fit. This worked. I played 40 games for Grimsby, got properly match fit and then, early the following season (in September 1986), Charlton Athletic came in for me. Grimsby needed the money, so they sold me. Charlton’s manager was Lennie Lawrence. He was brilliant. I respected him big time. Charlton had just been promoted to the top flight and I made my debut for them against Liverpool.

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“I was there for five and a half years and, for five of them, we played at Selhurst Park, before we moved to Upton Park. It seemed strange not being able to play at our old home ground at The Valley. The fans were brilliant though, trekking across south London to watch us. I’m so pleased that they eventually got back to The Valley.

“At the end of my first season at Charlton, we finished fourth from the bottom of the old First Division and we had to play old Second Division Ipswich and Leeds in the play-offs to see which of us would be in the top division the next season. We beat Ipswich but the final against Leeds was a marathon. We won 1-0 at Selhurst, lost 1-0 at Elland Road, and in the third, deciding game we beat them 2-1 after going 1-0 down in extra-time. We stayed up!

“We spent the next three years in the top division. We had good players like Alan Curbishley, Rob Lee, Peter Shirtliff, Mark Reid, Garth Crooks and others. I was really happy at Charlton. We were relegated in 1990. A year later, Lennie Lawrence became Middlesbrough’s manager and (in November 1991) he signed me. I think I’m the only player he ever signed twice. We got promoted at the end of that first season, so we played in the inaugural Premier League.

“Middlesbrough were relegated in 1993, although I was voted the Players’ Player of the Year, which was probably my best individual honour. If the players vote for you, it means something. At the end of the following season, Middlesbrough offered me a year’s contract or a free transfer, but Lawrence had left. He offered me a coaching job at Bradford City.

“I also had offers from John Barnwell at Northampton and from Terry Neill, the old Arsenal manager, to play in Hong Kong. However, I’d applied to the Leicestershire Police force the year before and I’d put it off, but they couldn’t keep the offer open forever so I retired from football and embarked on a career in the police force.”

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