Cottee On Records, Jamie Vardy & The 2019/20 Campaign
- Tony Cottee reflects on Leicester City’s 2019/20 Premier League season
- Cottee picked out the 9-0 win over Southampton as one of the Club’s outstanding performances
- The former City striker highlighted the consistency of Premier League Golden Boot winner Jamie Vardy
Records were broken and awards won by City and their stars as they secured European football for only the fifth time in their long history after finishing fifth in England’s top tier.
Cottee, often on duty for LCFC TV and LCFC Radio, whether that be at games or providing analysis of the Foxes’ performances, watched on closely as Brendan Rodgers’ side produced some fine moments in the Northern Irishman’s first full season as manager.
“It’s such mixed emotions because if you said at the start of the season, Leicester will get to the semi-final of the League Cup, the quarter-final of the FA Cup and they’re going to finish in fifth position, then generally, most Leicester fans would say that’s really, really good season,” reflected Cottee to LCFC TV.
“It was, and you have to keep things in perspective with football. You can’t get too high or too low. The Club were in that top three position and come the final game of the season, they just lost out, so of course there’s disappointment from a Champions League point of view, but let’s be positive and upbeat.
“I genuinely think it was a fantastic season for the Club. There were lots of great individual performances, and as a team, up until the final furlong, it was a great performance. Everyone at the Club should be really, really proud.”
Cottee’s involvement with the Club’s media output meant he was in attendance for two of City’s biggest Premier League victories.
First, in late September, they beat Newcastle United 5-0 at King Power Stadium, before a sensational 9-0 win over Southampton followed in October as they registered the largest away triumph in the history of the Football League’s top division.
Cottee remembered: “I was very impressed. It was eight league wins on the trot around that time, and it was an incredible run of not just results but performances as well.
“To get 24 points out of 24 was just an incredible achievement by the team, and I think in that period I worked a lot for the Club in terms of commentary.
“It’s great for me as an ex-Leicester player to be involved. I was there when they beat Newcastle United 5-0 and then they won 9-0 at Southampton.
“It was an amazing period for the Club, and that run really propelled them into that top three position. For the Leicester fans, there’s been some wonderful memories over the last 25 years, and that run of form was a great time to be a Leicester fan.”
Like many of those involved with the Football Club – whether they’re players, staff or fans – the 9-0 win at Southampton evokes fond emotions for Cottee, who on a rainy night in Southampton provided co-commentary on LCFC Radio from the St. Mary’s Stadium pressbox.
“What a night of football,” he said. “It was a Friday night, and what else would I be doing on a Friday night? Sitting home having a cup of tea or going down to the pub to have a couple of pints.
“Instead, I went to St. Mary’s Stadium and we didn’t expect what happened. How can you expect a record away win, not just for Leicester, but for the Premier League? It was just an unbelievable evening.
Cottee: A Season Of Great Moments & Memories
Foxes legend Tony Cottee reviews City's 2019/20 season with LCFC TV presenter Dan Bates.
“It was pouring down with rain, I know Southampton had 10 men, and that didn’t help their cause, but sometimes teams with 10 men raise their game. You have to factor that in, but for Leicester, nine goals away from home and two hat-tricks, it was just a case of: ‘Wow, when is this going to end?’.
“Those games come around once in your career and that’s been proven by the Premier League. It’s 28 years-old and we’ve never, ever seen a performance like that. It’s one of those nights that you’ll never, ever forget.”
Cottee is a great admirer of Jamie Vardy, who became the first player in Foxes history to win a Premier League Golden Boot after scoring 23 times in 2019/20.
Vardy, who also won the Club’s Player and Players’ Player of the Season accolades, enjoyed a memorable campaign in which he finished top of the Premier League’s goalscoring charts and surpassed the 100-goal mark in England’s highest division.
“I think I’ve lost superlatives for Jamie,” said Cottee.” I’ve got nothing but admiration for him, mainly from the point of view of how he was rejected as a youngster and he’s come back to prove everyone wrong.
“He came through Non-League football, got to Leicester and won the Premier League. We’ve seen players in the past win the Premier League, have a couple of good seasons and fade away – but not Jamie Vardy.
“He’s been doing it season in, season out consistently – and that’s the key word. Above all, you have to score goals, and if you can do that consistently and get a varied amount of goals, Jamie gets all sorts of goals.
“They’re not just the tap-ins that I used to get! He’s getting better and better with age. To get the Golden Boot tells you all about that word ‘consistency’.
“He’s scored week in, week out, or once every few games, and it was a wonderful performance for Jamie Vardy this year.”