On 31 October, 1908, Leicester Fosse, in their only season in the old First Division, played their first-ever league game against Aston Villa.
The programme for the game – The Villa News & Record – is in the Leicester City archive. It is a very impressive 16-page publication, costing one penny. It has a claret and blue cover, reflecting Aston Villa’s traditional colours.
Among many features relating to Aston Villa, the programme also contains a full-page portrait of Billy Bannister, Fosse’s captain and centre-half, who is described as a ‘great practical joker’.
There is also a very comprehensive article about Fosse. While crediting the Fossils ‘sheer merit and pluckiness in achieving promotion’. It nevertheless indicates that the football world was surprised by Leicester’s elevation to the top division.
It mentions that Fosse’s match that day against Villa is the biggest in the visitors’ history and that ‘if the Fosse come out of the game honourably, even if defeated, their position on the league ladder might not be a despicable one at the end of the season’.
There is a full-page team sheet detailing the Villa and Fosse players expected to be selected for the match that day, together with a note that in the event of any team changes ‘a board giving particulars will be sent round the ground’.
The First Division and Second Division league tables are published, with Leicester Fosse, after nine games, in 12th position out of 20 in the top tier. There is also a key to the scoring board which was displayed on the touch line at half-time. Each side playing a league fixture that day was allocated a letter of the alphabet alongside which the half-time scores were displayed.
Bannister’s picture is the only photograph in the programme. The pages of solid text are only broken up by the occasional advert for football-related items.
The result that day at Villa Park was a creditable 1-1 draw. Fosse then lost 13 of their next 17 games, winning only one and were relegated at the end of the season.