LCFC Magazine: Inside The Club's Most Damaging Year
Many fans will remember the dark days between October 2002 and February 2003, when City went into administration and there was the very real prospect that the Club, which until the season previously had been in the Premier League, might cease to exist.
What fans perhaps are not aware of is that 62 years earlier, in 1940, the Club was in an even more parlous state. 1940 was arguably the worst year in our history.
That year, the board was split, the Club nearly went into liquidation and Filbert Street’s Main Stand was badly damaged by the Luftwaffe. Leicester City Football Club very nearly ceased to exist.
In September 1939, following the outbreak of the Second World War, the Football League programme was suspended for the duration of the war.
Leicester City, newly relegated to the Second Division, had only played three matches.
Two months later, three new directors had joined the Board at Filbert Street; Alf Pallett, Leslie Lovell Green and Len Shipman. These three were central figures in the events which unfolded over the next few months.
All three put new money into the Club; a financial restructuring was proposed in January 1940. Board members were asked to increase their own liability or resign.
Three long-standing directors did just that. It soon became clear to Pallett, Green and Shipman that they had joined a board bedevilled by personal intrigues, petty feuds and questionable practices.
Such were the divisions on the board that it sometimes took three hours for the directors (who chose the team in those days) to finalise their selection as the various factions on the board argued their case.
However, there were much more serious issues to worry about. These new board members very quickly became aware of some illegal practices.
The story still had several more chapters to tell until its conclusion. To read Hutchinson's article in its entirety, including much more, LCFC Magazine is available from the City Fanstore for £4 now.