'City Fans Loved His Bravery' - Remembering Frank Large

Next Match | Saturday 22 August Sat 22 Aug

BAL

(H)

03 D

22 H

42 M

12 S

Interviews & Features

Heritage

Photos

'City Fans Loved His Bravery' - Remembering Frank Large

Fearless striker Frank Large achieved cult status at both Northampton Town and Leicester City in the 1960s.

2026-08-18T15:00+01:00

by John Hutchinson

Published

1 Hour 17 Mins Ago

'City Fans Loved His Bravery' - Remembering Frank Large

Fearless striker Frank Large achieved cult status at both Northampton Town and Leicester City in the 1960s.

John Hutchinson

2026-08-18T15:00+01:00

'City Fans Loved His Bravery' - Remembering Frank Large

Fearless striker Frank Large achieved cult status at both Northampton Town and Leicester City in the 1960s.

John Hutchinson

2026-08-18T15:00+01:00

'City Fans Loved His Bravery' - Remembering Frank Large

Fearless striker Frank Large achieved cult status at both Northampton Town and Leicester City in the 1960s.

John Hutchinson

2026-08-18T15:00+01:00

'City Fans Loved His Bravery' - Remembering Frank Large

Fearless striker Frank Large achieved cult status at both Northampton Town and Leicester City in the 1960s.

John Hutchinson

2026-08-18T15:00+01:00

In conversation with Club Historian John Hutchinson, Frank’s son Paul reminisced about his father’s remarkable career which included a combined total of nearly 300 games for the Foxes and the Cobblers.

In the 67/68 season, centre-forward Frank Large became a Leicester City cult hero, playing in the old First Division. He also had three spells at Northampton Town.

These were the Third Division promotion season of 62/63, the Second Division relegation season of 66/67 and, towards the end of his career, three seasons in the Fourth Division between 1969 and 1972. Frank, who played a total of 286 games for Northampton and Leicester, scoring a 97 goals, is fondly remembered by both clubs.

Frank sadly died, aged 63, in 2003, but his son Paul, the author of a book about his father’s career called, ‘Have Boots, Will Travel’ has spoken to us at length about his Dad.

When Frank signed for City in November 1967, he was 27 and had never played in the top division, having spent his career at Halifax Town, Queens Park Rangers, Northampton Town, Swindon Town, Carlisle United, Oldham Athletic, and Northampton again.

Reflecting on this, Paul told us: “Six months into his first season at Loftus Road, my Dad moved again (in February 1963), this time to Northampton Town, who were going for promotion to the Second Division.

“He felt that there was a different attitude to the game in the south, including at QPR. He said that they didn’t appreciate his hard-working endeavour as much as they certainly did in the north. It was said of Frank that he was cheered in the north, jeered in the south and loved in the Midlands. The fans certainly took to him at Northampton and at Leicester.”

Three months after signing for Dave Bowen’s Town in February 1963, the Cobblers won the Third Division title, winning promotion to the second tier for the first time in their history.

“Northampton’s manager Dave Bowen got my father almost by accident,” Paul continued. “He was trying to sign another forward, but he was injured so he put in an offer for my Dad instead. It was the Big Freeze that year and his goals for the rest of that season helped Northampton secure the Third Division Championship.”

In March 1964, Frank moved to Swindon for six months, before signing for Carlisle in September 1964, helping them to win the Third Division title in 1965.

Paul then recalled how Frank moved to Oldham Athletic in December 1965: “The famous Ken Bates (later to become owner and Chairman at both Chelsea and Leeds United) signed him. My Dad did very well at Oldham. I think he scored a goal every two games and he was loved by the fans.

“Then, a year later (in December 1966), he was just sold out of the blue. Northampton, who had just been relegated after one season in the old First Division and were now trying to stay in the Second Division, wanted him back. Ken Bates, being the businessman that he was, sold him for a £5,000 profit.”

Northampton were relegated from the Second Division at the end of Frank’s first season of his second spell with the Cobblers, but in November 1967, he suddenly found himself catapulted from the Third Division to the top flight of English football when he signed for Leicester. City were not having a good season at that point, sitting 18th in the First Division.

Reflecting on Frank’s move to Leicester, Paul continued: “Graham Carr was a team-mate of Dad’s at Northampton. He’s the father of the comedian Alan Carr, and he later managed the Cobblers and became an associate director of the club.

“He was a good friend of dad’s and he told me that just before he signed for Leicester, Dad had played in an away game at Barrow. He said it was the worst fixture in the league, because it was in the middle of nowhere, it took ages to get there, and it was always very cold.

“Graham said that they’d had a few drinks the night before the match and the next day, Dad had a stinker and the team lost 4-0. Graham’s view was that if Leicester Manager Matt Gillies had seen him playing that game, he wouldn’t have signed him!”

Frank was signed by City for a fee of £20,000, a few days before his Foxes debut. We were in our 11th successive season in the top division with some very good players such as Peter Shilton, Peter Rodrigues, David Nish, Bobby Roberts, John Sjoberg, Graham Cross, Davie Gibson and Mike Stringfellow. In addition, winger Len Glover signed shortly after Frank arrived at Filbert Street.

“Signing for Leicester from Northampton was a great move for Dad,” Paul reflected. “Despite their position, Leicester were one of the most successful sides in England in the 1960s, reaching three FA Cup Finals, two League Cup Finals, doing well in the league and playing in Europe. Once again, the move came out of the blue. I was five when he got to Leicester and it was only then that it dawned on me that he was quite famous!”

Frank was only at Filbert Street for six months, but his exploits during that time mean that his name will forever be remembered by City fans who loved his bravery. His bustling, aggressive, no- nonsense, barnstorming style intimidated defenders. He had great energy.

“He worked very hard. He was great in the air. He was as strong as a lion and ultra-competitive. He was fearless. He would run through brick walls as his badly broken nose testified. He was also tough. Hardly surprisingly, he quickly became a crowd favourite at Filbert Street, particularly after his heroics in an unforgettable FA Cup tie victory over Manchester City.

Frank only missed one league and cup game from the day he signed for Leicester until he left Filbert Street in June 1968. He didn’t let injuries bother him. On a YouTube video about his father, Paul provided a quote from the Daily Express which summed up Frank’s attitude to the game which so endeared him to the fans and his fellow players.

The Express report said: ‘Large strolled into Filbert Street with a broken nose, double vision, a black eye, stitches in a cut eyebrow and battered legs. I’ll be OK for Saturday’s match at Chelsea, he told assistant manager Bert Johnson. Don’t worry’.

In June 1968, circumstances dictated that Frank left Leicester to sign for Fulham, who had just been relegated from the top flight.

Thinking back, Paul said: “It broke his heart to leave Leicester. Bert Johnson wanted him to stay, but Matt Gillies wanted to pay a British record transfer fee to Fulham for their striker Allan Clarke. This put Dad under pressure to go to Fulham as part of the deal to bring Clarke to Leicester. In those days you didn’t have an agent to look after your interests. At the end of the season, Fulham sold him to Northampton (in August 1969) for £14,000.”

Frank’s third and final spell at Northampton, who were then in the Fourth Division, lasted for three seasons. He later played for Chesterfield, Baltimore Comets and Ron Atkinson’s Kettering before retiring in 1974, having achieved cult status at both Leicester City and Northampton Town.

LATEST HEADLINES

‘A Dominant Performance’ – McSweeney On Plymouth Win Coach Leon McSweeney praised the way our Under-21s went about their business in Friday’s 3-1 victory over Plymouth Argyle.

4 Hours 47 Mins Ago

Academy Graduates Commit To Next Stage Of Development We can confirm a number of young players have agreed new terms with us, while several Academy talents have also taken the next step in their journeys by signing professional contracts.

6 Hours 17 Mins Ago

‘Joining An Ambitious Team’ – Pritchard Eager To Get Started LCFC Women have completed the permanent signing of Poppy Pritchard, with the young forward arriving from Manchester City and eager to help the Foxes push for promotion back to WSL 1.

22 Hours 12 Mins Ago

Poppy Pritchard Joins LCFC Women Poppy Pritchard has today completed a permanent move to LCFC Women from Manchester City, subject to league approval.

22 Hours 17 Mins Ago

LATEST PHOTOS

Notts County 1 Leicester City 1

15 Aug, 2026

Set For Our Season Opener Imagery from training this week as we prepare for the visit to Notts County in Sky Bet League One.

14 Aug, 2026

Leicester City 1 Northampton Town 0 Images from our Carabao Cup First Round victory over the Cobblers on Filbert Way.

08 Aug, 2026

Leicester City 0 Genoa 1 A look at our final pre-season fixture, as we took on the Italian side at King Power Stadium.

01 Aug, 2026