BARCLAYS PREMIER
Leicester City... 2 Swansea City... 0
Saturday 18th April 2015
@ The King Power Stadium, Leicester
Kick off 15:00
LOCAL HISTORY
You may of read or heard the story of the King of England who was found buried under a car park in Leicester in August 2012. King Richard the III the last of the Plantagenet dynasty was found by archaeologists excavating the ruins of the Grey Friars Church where it was believed he was buried after being killed at the battle of Bosworth field in 1485.
Richard had only been crowned King two years earlier when his late brother's son the twelve year old Edward V who was to be proclaimed King was found to be illegitimate and were imprisoned in the Tower of London with his brother Richard of Shrewsbury as his claim to the throne was now deemed to be invalid. In the light of this Richard III was crowned on the 6th July 1483 and the Princes in the Tower were never seen again allegedly killed at the orders of the new King.
Richard the III was portrayed in a play written by William Shakespear and one of the most famous lines supposedly spoken by the evil hunched-backed King was "A horse, a horse, my Kingdom for a horse", ironic really that he should be found buried under a car park that when full would have held a massive amount of horse power, you could say he got his wish.
He was re-buried at Leicester Cathedral at the end of last month after protests that he should have been re-interred at York in accordance to his wishes.
ORIGIN AND BRIEF HISTORY
Leicester were formed under the name of Leicester Fosse in 1884 and became known as Leicester City after the first world war when Fosse went into financial difficulties and the town of Leicester was given City status.
Their highest finish in the top tier was in the 1928/29 season when they were runners up to the team known as Sheffield Wednesday these days.
They have won the second tier of English football on a number of occasions the most recent being last season but their return to the top flight may be short lived as they are currently bottom of the league and expected to return to the Championship.
City have a number of players in the English hall of fame member list,
Arthur Rowley who played for Leicester between 1950 -58 and scored 251 goals in 303 appearances. He also holds the record for scoring the most goals in one season, 44 in 42 league matches in the 1956/7 season.
Gordon Banks who was named the IFFHS second best goalkeeper of the 20th century. He earned 73 caps for his country including every game of the 1966 World cup glory and who can forget that fantastic save he made from Pele in the 1970 World Cup. Banks played for Leicester between 1959 and 1967 when he was sold to Stoke City for £50,000.
Peter Shilton another goalkeeper but this time one who came through the local ranks at schoolboy level and made his début in 1966 for the Foxes and eventually forcing the exit of Gordon Banks from the club when he was sold to Stoke City. Shilton earned a record 125 caps for his country and also holds the record for most competitive appearances.
Gary Lineker is another youth product from Leicester starting in the main team in 1978 at the age of 17 and scoring 95 goals in a seven year spell. He moved to Everton in 1985 for a season scoring 30 goals in 41 appearances moving on to Barcelona for a three season spell netting 42 times in 105 games. Lineker made 103 appearances for Tottenham between 1989/92 scoring 67 goals before ending up at Nagoya Grampus Eight to finish his footballing career. He currently holds England's second highest scoring record of 48 goals behind Bobby Charlton on 49 but has Wayne Rooney in hot pursuit with 47 goals at the time of writing.
RUN UP TO GAME
Last Saturday Leicester travelled the short distance to West Bromwich on a special day for their hosts. Albion wore a replica kit from the 1968 cup final to commemorate one of their great players Jeff Astle but after leading the game 2-1 with ten minutes remaining let it slip and aloud Leicester a much needed win with an injury time winner from Jamie Vardy. Nigel Pearson makes three changes for today's game Marcin Wasilewski the Polish defender who signed a contract in September after joining Leicester on a freebe takes the place of Ritchie De Laet who sits it out on the bench, Andy King replaces Matty James who's also on the bench and Andrej Kamaric the Croatian international takes the place of David Nugent who got injured in the warm up to today's game.
Swansea were at home at the Liberty Stadium last weekend and came back from a goal behind to earn a 1-1 draw with Everton. Gary Monk makes two forced changes from that game, the 23 year old Spanish national Jordi Amat steps in for the suspended Neil Taylor who picked up his tenth yellow card of the season against Everton and received a two match ban starting today. Bafetimbi Gomis pulled up with a hamstring injury in the same game and is out for at least four weeks and is replaced today with Nelson Oliveira the Portuguese striker brought in on loan from Benfica after the departure of Wilfried Bony.
THE MATCH
Leicester came out of the traps with gusto from the starting whistle and hustled Swansea who seemed startled at the way the Premiership relegation favourites intimidated them into making mistakes, you would have thought that these two teams had swapped positions in the league as Leicester looked the far better team and it wasn't long before they took the lead. A long ball was played into the box and Wes Morgan held off his marker to allow Leonardo Ulloa to smash the ball into Fabianski's right hand corner of the net.
Leicester should have extended their lead before the break but couldn't capitalise on a dazed looking Swansea who looked lacking in the final third without preferred front man Gomis.
After the break Leicester kept up their domination with fine chances from Albrighton and Kamarik which came to nothing.
At the other end Swansea started to come into the game a little bringing some fine saves from Kasper Schmeichel which would have made his Dad a proud man thinking he was a real chip off the old block.
Nerves were jangling amongst the Leicester City faithful as the Foxes pushed forward and squandered some great opportunities, they just couldn't seem to kill off this Swansea side a scene that the fans have have had to tolerate too many times this season with dire consequences.
A penalty appeal was turned down by referee Lee Probert when Jamie Vardy was clean through on goal and was clattered from behind by Ashley Williams, it seemed to be a stalwart, blatant penalty and everyone in the colours of blue and white could only wonder why the appeals went upon deaf ears.
The tension was quelled in the last minute when a powerful free kick from Esteban Cambiasso was fumbled by Fabianski into the path of Andy King who side footed the ball into the back of the net and sent the home fans wild and very happy as they made their way home.
THE KING POWER STADIUM EXPERIENCE
Another beautiful sunny afternoon to watch football on although it was still a little chilly especially in the shade of the King Power Stadium stands. I was glad that I took my coat but only wished that I had put a jumper on underneath it.
I travelled by train again with no disruptions to the journey for the second time running which is a most welcome relief. It is a 25 minute walk at a steady pace from the station to the ground with lots of busy roads to cross. I passed the Leicester Tigers ground on the way, shame they are a rugby club and I can't cross them off my Venues To Visit list.
The crowd were absolutely electric and generated a lot of noise almost for the whole ninety minutes. It was reminiscent of the Luton game last season when they where on the brink of returning to the football league and the fans were in a mood to party unlike Leicester who have been in the bottom three for most of the season and looking like candidates for a quick return to the Championship, mind you, after winning today they are now off the bottom and in 18th place on level points with Hull with a great possibility of regaining their top flight place next season.
The King Power stadium is a 32,500 all seated, fully covered and totally enclosed ground that was almost filled to capacity today and for a club that was bottom of the league at the start of the game that's speaks volumes for their supporters. Built in 2002 to replace their former home for the previous 111 years Filbert street, in almost the same location.
The East stand and the West stand run along the touch lines with the Spion Kop and the Family stand at each end behind the goals. The away supporters are allocated a corner in between the family stand and the East stand but is stretched further into the East stand if the away following is great. I watched the game from the West stand almost in the corner level with the goal line, the view wasn't brilliant but at a cost of £32 was adequate for my purposes, I could have had a seat in the East stand with a marvellous view but at £48 it was well over what I was willing to pay for a game of this calibre. The cheapest seats were at the other end of the West stand at pitch level and were £26 but it would have been virtually impossible to take in the majority of the game from this vantage point.
I have to mention that the seats were quite comfortable with adequate leg room but could have done with being a little wider as it did seem to get quite cramped after sitting there a while. The toilets were modern and clean which is a big plus in my book.
If you asked me if I thought I had value for money then I must say that I think I paid a little over the odds, between £25 and £28 especially for where I was sitting would have been a reasonable price.
Match Details
You may of read or heard the story of the King of England who was found buried under a car park in Leicester in August 2012. King Richard the III the last of the Plantagenet dynasty was found by archaeologists excavating the ruins of the Grey Friars Church where it was believed he was buried after being killed at the battle of Bosworth field in 1485.
 |
| Leicester Cathedral new resting place of Richard III |
Richard the III was portrayed in a play written by William Shakespear and one of the most famous lines supposedly spoken by the evil hunched-backed King was "A horse, a horse, my Kingdom for a horse", ironic really that he should be found buried under a car park that when full would have held a massive amount of horse power, you could say he got his wish.
 |
| Statue of Richard III erected outside Cathedral |
ORIGIN AND BRIEF HISTORY
Leicester were formed under the name of Leicester Fosse in 1884 and became known as Leicester City after the first world war when Fosse went into financial difficulties and the town of Leicester was given City status.
Their highest finish in the top tier was in the 1928/29 season when they were runners up to the team known as Sheffield Wednesday these days.
They have won the second tier of English football on a number of occasions the most recent being last season but their return to the top flight may be short lived as they are currently bottom of the league and expected to return to the Championship.
City have a number of players in the English hall of fame member list,
Arthur Rowley who played for Leicester between 1950 -58 and scored 251 goals in 303 appearances. He also holds the record for scoring the most goals in one season, 44 in 42 league matches in the 1956/7 season.
Gordon Banks who was named the IFFHS second best goalkeeper of the 20th century. He earned 73 caps for his country including every game of the 1966 World cup glory and who can forget that fantastic save he made from Pele in the 1970 World Cup. Banks played for Leicester between 1959 and 1967 when he was sold to Stoke City for £50,000.
Peter Shilton another goalkeeper but this time one who came through the local ranks at schoolboy level and made his début in 1966 for the Foxes and eventually forcing the exit of Gordon Banks from the club when he was sold to Stoke City. Shilton earned a record 125 caps for his country and also holds the record for most competitive appearances.
Gary Lineker is another youth product from Leicester starting in the main team in 1978 at the age of 17 and scoring 95 goals in a seven year spell. He moved to Everton in 1985 for a season scoring 30 goals in 41 appearances moving on to Barcelona for a three season spell netting 42 times in 105 games. Lineker made 103 appearances for Tottenham between 1989/92 scoring 67 goals before ending up at Nagoya Grampus Eight to finish his footballing career. He currently holds England's second highest scoring record of 48 goals behind Bobby Charlton on 49 but has Wayne Rooney in hot pursuit with 47 goals at the time of writing.
RUN UP TO GAME
Last Saturday Leicester travelled the short distance to West Bromwich on a special day for their hosts. Albion wore a replica kit from the 1968 cup final to commemorate one of their great players Jeff Astle but after leading the game 2-1 with ten minutes remaining let it slip and aloud Leicester a much needed win with an injury time winner from Jamie Vardy. Nigel Pearson makes three changes for today's game Marcin Wasilewski the Polish defender who signed a contract in September after joining Leicester on a freebe takes the place of Ritchie De Laet who sits it out on the bench, Andy King replaces Matty James who's also on the bench and Andrej Kamaric the Croatian international takes the place of David Nugent who got injured in the warm up to today's game.
Swansea were at home at the Liberty Stadium last weekend and came back from a goal behind to earn a 1-1 draw with Everton. Gary Monk makes two forced changes from that game, the 23 year old Spanish national Jordi Amat steps in for the suspended Neil Taylor who picked up his tenth yellow card of the season against Everton and received a two match ban starting today. Bafetimbi Gomis pulled up with a hamstring injury in the same game and is out for at least four weeks and is replaced today with Nelson Oliveira the Portuguese striker brought in on loan from Benfica after the departure of Wilfried Bony.
THE MATCH
Leicester came out of the traps with gusto from the starting whistle and hustled Swansea who seemed startled at the way the Premiership relegation favourites intimidated them into making mistakes, you would have thought that these two teams had swapped positions in the league as Leicester looked the far better team and it wasn't long before they took the lead. A long ball was played into the box and Wes Morgan held off his marker to allow Leonardo Ulloa to smash the ball into Fabianski's right hand corner of the net.
 |
| Players prepare to shake hands before kick off |
After the break Leicester kept up their domination with fine chances from Albrighton and Kamarik which came to nothing.
At the other end Swansea started to come into the game a little bringing some fine saves from Kasper Schmeichel which would have made his Dad a proud man thinking he was a real chip off the old block.
Nerves were jangling amongst the Leicester City faithful as the Foxes pushed forward and squandered some great opportunities, they just couldn't seem to kill off this Swansea side a scene that the fans have have had to tolerate too many times this season with dire consequences.
A penalty appeal was turned down by referee Lee Probert when Jamie Vardy was clean through on goal and was clattered from behind by Ashley Williams, it seemed to be a stalwart, blatant penalty and everyone in the colours of blue and white could only wonder why the appeals went upon deaf ears.
The tension was quelled in the last minute when a powerful free kick from Esteban Cambiasso was fumbled by Fabianski into the path of Andy King who side footed the ball into the back of the net and sent the home fans wild and very happy as they made their way home.
THE KING POWER STADIUM EXPERIENCE
Another beautiful sunny afternoon to watch football on although it was still a little chilly especially in the shade of the King Power Stadium stands. I was glad that I took my coat but only wished that I had put a jumper on underneath it.
I travelled by train again with no disruptions to the journey for the second time running which is a most welcome relief. It is a 25 minute walk at a steady pace from the station to the ground with lots of busy roads to cross. I passed the Leicester Tigers ground on the way, shame they are a rugby club and I can't cross them off my Venues To Visit list.
 |
| The Family stand |
The King Power stadium is a 32,500 all seated, fully covered and totally enclosed ground that was almost filled to capacity today and for a club that was bottom of the league at the start of the game that's speaks volumes for their supporters. Built in 2002 to replace their former home for the previous 111 years Filbert street, in almost the same location.
 |
| The Spion Kop end |
I have to mention that the seats were quite comfortable with adequate leg room but could have done with being a little wider as it did seem to get quite cramped after sitting there a while. The toilets were modern and clean which is a big plus in my book.
If you asked me if I thought I had value for money then I must say that I think I paid a little over the odds, between £25 and £28 especially for where I was sitting would have been a reasonable price.
Match Details
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