Bill Shooter: 1925-2021

Bill, a chartered accountant who had a business on Fosse Road Central, was a unique figure in the history of Leicester City Football Club.

Not only was he a fan of 88 years, he also served as a director from 1979 until 1996. He was on the PLC board from 1999 to 2003 and was a club Vice-President between 2003-2008. His knowledge of the Club and his memories were truly remarkable.

Bill’s first game was a reserve match in 1933. He was taken to the game by his Aunt Dinah, who worked in a shoe factory and whose outlet was football.

She would stand with Bill and a friend of hers behind the Filbert Street goal. Remarkably, Bill possessed a Leicester Mercury photograph of the three of them standing in this spot prior to a game in the 1930s. 

In that 1933/34 season, Leicester City reached the FA Cup Semi-Final against Portsmouth at St. Andrew's Stadium. Dinah was there for the game. Bill didn’t go, but he remembers cutting out photographs of the game and putting them in a scrapbook.

Leicester lost 4-1. In this match, City's Sep Smith played against his two brothers.

Bill started to watch the first team in 1934/35. Unfortunately, this was a relegation season. The great players from the 1920s, like Adam Black, Hughie Adcock and Arthur Chandler, were at the end of their careers.

However, Bill did see the team promoted again in 1937 following the remarkable goalscoring feats of Jack Bowers, aided by crosses from Eric Stubbs.

A very vivid pre-war memory of Bill’s was seeing Stanley Matthews, playing for Stoke City at Filbert Street, being effectively handled by Leicester’s full-back, Maurice Reeday. Bill also remembered two successive seasons watching Leicester play the famous Arsenal side of the 1930s.

In both games, City's reserve goalkeeper, Joe Calvert, saved a penalty from the great Cliff ‘Boy’ Bastin. 

Before he joined the RAF a few days after his 18th birthday in November 1943, Bill watched war-time football at Filbert Street. Ahead of a posting to India, he recalled seeing the future Wolverhampton Wanderers and England stars Billy Wright and Jimmy Mullen playing for Leicester.

When league football resumed after the war, Bill would listen to matches on the Forces Radio in Sri Lanka. He returned to Leicester in February 1947.

He went to Leicester City’s victorious FA Cup Semi-Final against league champions Portsmouth in 1949, when Don Revie scored two of the goals in front of Field Marshall Montgomery, who was supporting Pompey.

Back in Leicester during the 1950s, Bill witnessed two promotions to the top flight, in 1954 and 1957, and had clear memories of City's star players from that era. These included all-time Football League record goalscorer Arthur Rowley, fellow striker Derek Hines and mesmeric left-winger Derek Hogg.

The 1960s evoked fond memories of a decade playing at the top level, three FA Cup Finals, two League Cup Finals, one of which Leicester won. He described manager Matt Gillies, with whom he later became friendly, as a true gentleman.

Bill watched Jimmy Bloomfield’s sides of the 1970s when stars like Keith Weller, Jon Sammels and Alan 'The Birch' Birchenall transformed City into one of the most attractive sides in England.

He joined the board in 1979. For this, he is indebted to the Shipman family. When Terry Shipman asked him to join the Board to keep an eye on the Club’s finances, he later said that he 'nearly fell through the floor'.

With four of the long serving directors, in their 70s, becoming life members after giving the Club marvellous service for decades, Bill joined the board with Tom Smeaton. He stayed for 17 years, until 1996.

Jock Wallace was the manager when Bill joined the board. He got on well with him and was sorry when he left to go to Motherwell. 

Bill was involved in David Pleat’s appointment. Speaking in 2014, Bill recalled: “David’s knowledge of football was second to none. We directors always used to travel on the team coach in Jock’s time but David stopped that. Initially, David did very well indeed at the Club, but when he started to change the team, things started to go wrong. My experience as an independent councillor for 25 years taught me to listen to the fans, who obviously wanted Pleat out. We then had success with Brian Little who turned the club round, with three successive Play-Off Finals and promotion to the Premier League."

Bill then recalled the Martin O’Neill era: “We had interviewed him 12 months before. This time, we interviewed him and Mike Walker. When Martin came to his first board meeting after his appointment, I questioned his desire to spend £1M on Steve Claridge. This irritated Martin, but I went with the majority decision and told him that I would fully support this. We went on to become good friends.

“When I was 71, I went into life membership and retired from the board. Eventually, an EGM was called at Castle Donington in 1999. I was proposed for the PLC board at this meeting. Birch seconded my nomination. He said: ‘He’s 74 and he runs around the pitch with me!’”

Bill, who became a Vice-President of the Club from 2003 until 2008, rarely missed a match. Well into his 90s, he was a regular visitor to the gym and was an inspiration to us all. He was one of the very few people who could justifiably be called Mr. Leicester City. 

The thoughts of all at the Club are with Bill’s wife Tricia, his family and his friends at this sad time.