Links With The Past: Leicester Fosse's Last-Ever Teamsheet

The Club went to some lengths to acquire it about five years ago. It is special because it is the last-ever Leicester Fosse teamsheet. It was issued not long before the Club was restructured as Leicester City in the summer of 1919. 

It was also the teamsheet for the last match played at Filbert Street before the peacetime Football League resumed on 30 August, 1919 following its suspension due to the First World War. 

The fixture was against Birmingham City. It was played on 26 April, 1919, bringing to a close the Wartime Football League Midland Section in front of a crowd of about 6,000 fans. 

Printed at the top of the teamsheet is the instruction that each club had to send the match result, together with the names of the competing players and the officials, to the league secretary within four days of each match. Failure to do so would result in a 10 shilling (50p) fine. 

The details of the fixture were handwritten on the teamsheet by the Club’s secretary, Harry Linney, a Fosse director who had held the post throughout the War. Linney recorded that the match kicked off at 3.30pm, that Leicester Fosse lost 4-2, and that the total number of matches played by the Club that season was 30. 

The referee and the linesmen (assistant referees) were named, as was the last team ever to play for Leicester Fosse: Bown, Watson, Currie, King, J.Harrold, Smith, Horton, Richmond, Nock, Whitfield and S. Harrold. 

The players’ positions were listed as goal, backs (right and left), half-backs (right, centre and left) and forwards (outside right, inside right, centre, inside left, and outside left). These positions reflected the 2-3-5 formation, which was prevalent at the time. Needless to say, there were no substitutes.