Links With The Past: Jimmy Walsh's Shirt & Tracksuit Jacket
This shirt and tracksuit top were worn by Leicester City captain Walsh at the 1961 FA Cup Final. This was the game which qualified the Foxes for their first-ever European competition too.
This came about as, although Leicester lost the final to Tottenham Hotspur, they nevertheless qualified for the recently-established European Cup Winners’ Cup because Spurs had also won the league that season and therefore competed in the European Cup, which was the forerunner of the UEFA Champions’ League.
City’s first competitive European fixture was an away tie on 13 September, 1961 against Irish Cup winners Glenavon at Windsor Park in Belfast.
When Walsh scored the first of his two goals in a 4-1 victory, this strike went down in history as the Club’s maiden goal in Europe.
Jimmy was a key player for the Foxes. Following his transfer to Filbert Street from Celtic in 1956, he made 199 appearances and scored 92 goals for the Club, until he became player/manager at Rugby Town in 1964.
He sadly died in 2014. More recently, in 2016, the Walsh family kindly loaned to the Club his 1961 FA Cup Final shirt and tracksuit top. These are now on display in the reception area of King Power Stadium.