25)  That Voice

Bernie would be the perfect town crier. It's not just the power of the voice (imagine him shouting 'Oyez! Oyez!)  but also the way it seems to proclaim key moments in City's history.

A quick recap:

He first announced himself to the world on the day the post-Hodge era began.

14 years later, on the day the fox appeared on our shirt, Bernie's gruff tones were part of the Filbert Street chorus for the first time.

Now, 14 years further on, comes another milestone. On December 5th 1962, early in our game at Wolves, Bernie's cry of support echoed around Molineux and was picked up by the BBC effects mic. It was broadcast across the UK later that night on 'Saturday Sport' (the forerunner of Match Of The Day).

It seems almost scripted - from Bernie's cry of 'Come on Leicester!', City sweep down field in style and score a thrilling team goal, setting up a 3-1 win that kicks off our famous Ice Kings winter.

You can hear it at 2.05 in this video.

Wolves v Leicester City 1962-3 - YouTube

26)  The Tank

Graham Cross, Leicester's record appearance maker, features prominently in the early 60s scrapbook. 

Here's the announcement of the first of those 599 appearances, in May 1961, with picture bottom left:

The article says: Graham Cross, the 17 year old Leicestershire lad, will make his first appearance in the League. He has bounded into the first team after making it plain he is a player of immense natural ability. He divides his time between Filbert Street and Grace Road, for he is a promising batsman on the staff of Leicestershire CCC.

Other articles that same week described him as 'in the John Charles pattern' and 'built along the lines of Duncan Edwards, with a similar style'.

Here he is again. Bernie clearly added the photo bottom right several years later:

27)  Bernie's Number One

When asked his all time favourite player, Bernie chose Dave Gibson. Here's a great article:

28)  Bernie and Noel

Bernie and Noel were great friends, and many of the tales told when Bernie died came from Noel's fond recollections. Here they are together in the early 60s:

Here's a short extract from the eulogy at Bernie's funeral:

When Noel was 15 and Bernie in his early 20s, they used to go to away matches together and Bernie would take a blue and white umbrella and hold it up outside the ground so people knew where to meet up.  A bit like a tour guide.  Noel still has that umbrella to this very day.

This photo in Bernie's collection is presumably the same umbrella:

29)  Wembley 1963

In our 1963 FA Cup run, Bernie cycled to both the quarter final at Norwich and the semi final v Liverpool at Hillsborough. Here's his precious ticket for the final:

Notice the date, May 4th, and the revised date of May 25th stamped across it. A record number of postponements in the bitter winter of 1963 led to the season being extended for three weeks.

It says 'Entrance H', which means City fans were at the end furthest away from the tunnel.

Here's a photo Bernie took that day

The reverse of the ticket gets a bit obsessive about the banning of cameras:

It makes you wonder what happened when Bernie arrived at the turnstiles. Did they try and confiscate his camera?

Was there an early example of the 'Bernie v Steward' confrontation that became such a feature of later years?

30)  Rosette

Cheaply manufactured, proudly worn, lovingly stored away for decades.

31)  On a Bernie RIP thread over on the Bentley's Roof forum, a poster called 'borebage53' remembered Bernie in his later years, and his 'song and dance in cabaret style on station platforms'. 

A fascinating observation, as the young Bernie harboured ambitions of becoming a variety entertainer. This is a letter from the early 60s:

Bernie was a regular at live events around that time, but only as an audience member, not as a performer.

As well as Louis Armstrong, he also saw The Beatles, plus Gene Vincent and Eddie Cochran, just before the car crash that only Gene survived.

32)  The Doog

Centre forward Derek Dougan was a showman who shared with our current number 9 a delight in winding up opposition fans. 

Here he is after we won at  Villa in the Cup in 1966:

The accompanying report explains what happened:

Dougan, cast off by Villa two years ago, sniped back at their fans who booed him every time he touched the ball. He was a goal scorer and goal maker in Leicester's 2-1 win, and finished the match prancing around the ground, one arm held high.

Here are those goals he scored and set up (for Mike Stringfellow):

33)  'The Best Goalkeeper In The Land'

Amazingly, that was what Liverpool fans chanted to Gordon Banks at Anfield in January 1966, as we learn from a report in the scrapbook. 

When we won 2-1 at Old Trafford a few weeks later, he was being hailed as the top keeper in the whole of Europe.

The timing was good for Gordon - with the World Cup approaching, he was cementing his position as Alf Ramsey's number 1. 

That win at Old Trafford was United's first home defeat in 40 games. Bernie kept six different reports of the game - including one from the 'Pink', the Manchester Evening News' Saturday results paper (below) - which suggests he was there in Manchester that day:

Here's another world class save - Bernie recorded this moment against United at Filbert Street earlier that season:

34)  El Bernie

Before that win at Old Trafford, United were the most talked about team in the land because of their 5-1 win at Benfica in the European Cup quarter final.

On the way home from Portugal, George Best was famously pictured in a huge sombrero, which led to him being dubbed 'El Beatle'. He was on his way to becoming the first real football celebrity. 

Around that time, Bernie came back from Mallorca with something very similar. 

Who's the fairest of them all? 

Sorry George, it's no contest:

35)  I Can Hold My Drink

Here he is in the same clobber.

36)  World Champion

That season ended with Gordon Banks a World Cup winner. Here he is at his own Town Hall reception:

37)  Leicester v Forest

From 1968:

38)  Bernie and Sylvia

July 27th 1968

39)  Seventies Heroes

After the late 60s there are a just a few items in the collection. Here's a couple:

40) Long Walk To Glory

Let's finish where we started - with the farewell to Peter Hodge and the arrival of Bernie. 

Go forward from that moment to 2021 and we finally win the Cup, with Bernie still around to see it. 

Go back 63 years from that moment to 1871 and you find two things happening almost simultaneously - the birth of Peter Hodge and the birth of the FA Cup.

So the 150 year history of that trophy was covered by the lives of those two City legends.

Only one of them got his hands on the Cup.

(the trophy isn't genuine, the joy is)

13)  The Two Year Gap

Bernie was called up for National Service and posted to Hong Kong.

While he was away, Leicester City finally hauled themselves out of Division Two.

14)  Back At The Top

Bernie arrived back in Sileby in time for City's first game in the top flight for 15 years, at home to Chelsea in August 1954. And he got straight back in the habit of posting the match previews in his scrapbook:

'The most improved Division One side of last season', the article says of Chelsea. They lived up to that billing. After a 1-1 draw at Filbert Street, they went on to lift the title for the first time, while City went straight back down.

15)  The Dynamic Duo

In 1955/1956, there were two players fighting for the top goal scorer's crown in Division  Two - Willie Gardiner and Arthur Rowley - and both were Leicester City players.

One report described the pair as 'the thin man with the rapier touch and the supreme physical specimen with the power house finish' (Willie and Arthur).

Here they are in the scrapbook:

In the end, Willie was top scorer in the Division, but add in Cup goals and they finished level with 35.

All those goals couldn't get City back in Division One, though. 

16)  Rowley's Record

A great article from December 1956 about Arthur Rowley breaking the post war goalscoring record (with the text enlarged underneath):

17)  Thumbing It To Edinburgh

That Doncaster win was the third in an amazing sequence of twelve League games in which we won ten and drew two.

But then on February 9th, Liverpool came to Filbert Street and were leading 2-0 at half time. It looked like the run was coming to an end, but in the second half City stormed back to win 3-2.

Press reports speak of fans 'going wild with delight, throwing caps in the air'. No doubt Bernie was among them. The win put us six points clear at the top of Division Two.

The City must have been buzzing with excitement - but then there was a frustrating wait of two weeks for the next League game. 

Bernie couldn't wait that long, and nor could Leicester. They hastily arranged a friendly in Edinburgh, and Bernie knew he just had to be there.

He hitch-hiked up the A1 to Scotland in the middle of winter, and was rewarded with another come-from-behind 3-2 victory.

18)  Division Two Champions Again

City went on to clinch the Division Two title with several games to spare. Here's a photo of the team that Bernie kept:

And accompanying that picture was captain Jack Froggatt's reflections on the season:

19)  Busby Babes

Back in Division One, Champions Manchester United were the visitors to Filbert Street on opening day.

United won 3-0, with a hattrick from Billy Whelan. 

Six months later, Whelan was one of the players killed in the Munich air crash.

Bernie posted this article from the Evening Mail in his scrapbook:

20)  Could You Sign This Please, Louis?

Bernie was a great music lover, and in 1959 he got to see one of his idols in concert at the De Montfort Hall.

Here's his ticket:

Here's a report from the concert that Bernie kept:

'A hopeful fan trying to get an autograph', says the caption.

Do you recognize that hopeful fan?

It is of course, the man himself.

When he saw the article, Bernie sent off for a copy of the photo:

21)  When You're Smiling

We need a close-up:

Louis seems to be pointing at his trumpet. No doubt he's saying, "No problem, sonny, you hold this while I write the message. Who shall I sign it to?  Oh sure, you go ahead and play a tune!"

There is, unfortunately, no trace of a Louis Armstrong signature, nor the concert programme he was invited to sign, in the Bernie collection.

We do know, however, that one of the songs he played that night was 'When You're Smiling'. 

The story of how that became City's song goes like this: on a Friday night in the Three Cranes pub in the late sixties, a group of City fans heard it being sung, then at Filbert Street the next day they sung it themselves. 

But I think we can allow the makers of the movie a little artistic license, and a scene in which it is in fact, Bernie, fresh from this concert, that starts it all off at the following home game in 1959.

22)  Photographer

Around the turn of the 60s, Bernie started taking a camera to matches. 

Here's an early example:

Bernie didn't label his pictures, but we can pin this down to a specific occasion 

It's Craven Cottage, and Ken Leek and Gordon Wills (the City players) are walking towards the dressing room with manager Matt Gillies squeezing through the coppers on the right. The Fulham player is Jim Langley, who's wearing socks with a pattern that the club only wore for one season - 1959/60 - which tells us it must be the 1-1 draw on April 9th 1960.

Here's another shot from the same day where you can see those unique socks more clearly:

23)  Back to Wembley?

City had a great Cup run that season, culminating in a quarter-final v champions Wolves at Filbert Street. Bernie took his camera to that game too.

Here he is getting close to the stars again, snapping Wolves and England left half Ron Flowers as he steps off the coach.

Then he parked himself in a good spot behind the goal at the Kop end to take this fine action shot of Wolves keeper Geoff Sidebottom:

City lost 2-1, but they wouldn't have to wait long for another trip to Wembley. 

Good action from the game here:

24)  Town Hall Reception

There are no cuttings at all for our FA Cup run in 1961, when we played Spurs in the final. That match was lost, and so, it seems, were the cuttings.

There is just one photo, which Bernie seems to have ordered specially again:

Despite losing the final, there was still a bus tour and a reception at the Town Hall. This photo had appeared in the Evening Mail two days after the final - so why did Bernie send away for the original? 

Could it be that, like the Louis Armstrong photo that he ordered, he is there in the shot?

Looking closely, there is one candidate in the crowd:

Is that him?

We know he traveled into Leicester from Sileby that day as he was at the De Montfort Hall for a concert:

1)  A New Era

Bernard Henson's unique life began, appropriately, at that moment when hopes for the future are brightest - the first day of a new season.

Pretty special for a football fan. But August 25th 1934 had an extra relevance. It marked not just a new season, but the birth of a whole new era for the club.

Before the 1-1 draw against Wolves at Filbert Street, 20,000 City fans, still feeling the shock of manager Peter Hodge's death a few days earlier, stood in silent tribute. 

The first chapter of the LCFC story (post 'Fosse') had been the Hodge era. In the 1920s he built our first great side, then after leaving for Manchester City, came back in 1932 to rescue us from the threat of relegation. In the season just ended he'd taken us to our first FA Cup semi-final. Things were looking good.

Then suddenly he was gone. 

The photo shows the scene that day.

Of course, when they make 'Bernie: The Movie', these two moments will overlap perfectly.

Just as the minute's tribute is drawing to a close, a baby's scream will shatter the silence, signaling new life and new hope.

What a scream it must have been.

2)  Historian

If decibels were the decider, Bernie would have beaten us all to the title of 'Leicester's Greatest Fan'. But that part of him, the one most of us remember, is but a single dimension of the Bernie character. There was another, much quieter side to him.

That was Bernie the historian. He'd have beaten us on quiz night, too. He had an encyclopedic knowledge of the club's past, and spent hours cutting out Leicester City reports from newspapers, pasting them into scrapbooks

Sadly, towards the end of his life, much of his collection appears to have got lost, especially when he moved into a care home after his beloved wife, Sylvia, passed away.

When Bernie himself died with no surviving relatives, his friend Denise had to buy the remaining scrapbooks at auction.

It's highlights of that material that will be presented here.

3)  Sileby Boys

Bernie's family lived in Wellbrook Avenue, Sileby, eight miles north of Leicester.

You can see it marked on this map from just after war:

His address is a key part of this tale because Bernie was brought up on the same street as Leicester's star striker.

In the 1940s, Jack Lee, dashing number nine, City hero, future England star, was another Wellbrook Avenue resident. 

Lucky Bernie.

It would be like a young boy today living on the same street as Jamie Vardy. Except back then, footballers were members of the community.

Jack didn't have a car. He'd walk to Sileby station and get the train into Leicester every morning, past the well-wishers and autograph hunters. 

He would probably have known Bernie by name. 

This brings us to the oldest item in the Bernie collection...

4)  So Close

Football matches played during the War aren't part of 'official' statistics. Those matches, we are told, didn't really count.  But it didn't seem like that in May 1941, with a capacity crowd at Filbert Street, and hundreds locked outside.

It was the second leg of the 'Football League War Cup' semi-final against Arsenal, who were one nil up after the first match.

There's Jack Lee at number nine, and Billy Wright, guesting on the right wing! Jack had only joined City six months before, and it was he who put Leicester on the verge of their first ever national cup final with an early goal. 

Then Arsenal fought back to win 2-1, and City were  denied that trip to the final.*

That one-sheet programme is in the Bernie collection, but he wasn't at the game. He was just six years old, and he didn't go to his first match until he was almost 14. 

Was it a relative who got the programme? Who knows, perhaps it was a present from the Leicester number nine.

This is a wonderful short clip of the game. Spot the fans on the roof of the Popular Side:

*historical footnote. Most Leicester histories say we'd have made our first ever trip to Wembley had we won. The final did indeed take place at Wembley, but only because Arsenal beat Leicester in this semi-final. Had City got through, it would have been played at Maine Road, Manchester, mainly due to wartime concerns about long distance travel (Preston were the other finalists).

5)  Dreaming Of The Final

Here's Bernie in 1946, aged 12:

The earliest newspaper cutting in the collection is from the same year. It's the FA Cup Final, in which Derby beat Charlton 4-1.

Clearly the occasion had captured Bernie's imagination. 

Derby had finally overcome the famous 'gypsy curse' to win the trophy. Now there was just one big East Midlands club that had yet to do so... 

6)  First Game

August 21st, 1948. Leicester City v Leeds United. Bernie's first match, in the week he turned 14.

Was it a birthday treat? Well, looking at the extraordinary events surrounding that match, you can't help thinking that the footballing gods themselves planned the whole day to make it as special as possible.

City had spent a huge sum on a new pitch. No more mud heaps, now there was a shining expanse of green to greet Bernie as he came through the turnstiles for the first time. 

Before the game, local hero T Lloyd Johnson was introduced to the crowd. He had just won a bronze medal at the London Olympics in the 50 km walk, and the Melton man received huge acclaim as he did a celebratory lap of the ground in his unique style. 

Bernie had probably seen him in training along the roads of North Leicestershire, perhaps planting a seed in his mind about the joys of long distance walking, and he could never had imagined that, decades later, he himself would be introduced to the Filbert Street crowd (by Alan Birchenall), and invited, like Lloyd Johnson, to march around the ground.

Finally the players of Leicester and Leeds ran out, and the crowd saw for the first time a badge decorating that blue City shirt. It featured, of course, a fox:

When the game started Don Revie put City ahead within two minutes, and after a breathless first half it was 2-2.

Of course, Jack Lee had to be part of the script, and in the second half he scored twice as City won 6-2.

You can imagine Bernie's joy after the game, his head already full of glorious memories, knowing that he'd discovered a passion that would stay with him for the rest of his life.

7)  Buff and Green

In January 1949, the government lifted the restrictions on newsprint that had been in place since the end of the War. 

This was perfect timing for City fans. It had been difficult to get hold of the Saturday evening sports paper, but just as we set off on an historic Cup run, the Leicester Mercury and the Leicester Evening Mail were free to print as many copies as they wanted, with as many pages as they wanted.

It's clear from his collection that Bernie would often buy both of these papers - the Buff and the Green 'Un. 

Here they are from February 12th 1949, after our 5-5 draw at Luton in Round Five.

This was Jack Lee's most famous match - the equaliser in the last minute of extra time his fourth of the game. 

Buff and Green reports from the quarter final win at Brentford have also survived - but sadly, nothing remains from the semi-final and final.

8)  The Heroes' Departure

For Jack Lee and Don Revie, 1949/50 would see their last appearances before big money transfers. 

Bernie records Revie signing for Hull:

That's manager Raich Carter looking over Revie's shoulder.

There are no cuttings about Jack Lee's shock transfer to Derby County, but the move had a big impact on life in Sileby. 

Dozens of people who had previously been City supporters decided to go and watch Derby instead, setting up regular coach trips to the Baseball Ground. 

More than 30 people from the village also made their way over to Belfast to see his England debut.

9)  Rhymes With Journey

Here's Bernie's father encouraging him to take up cycling:

Bernie certainly took the hint:

On Saturdays when Leicester were playing at home, the trains from Sileby would be full of fans heading for Filbert Street. But for Bernie, matchday was about adventure. He loved to cycle or walk to games. We know he would walk to Coventry, Derby or Nottingham,  and that he pedaled as far as Luton, Grimsby and Norwich. For even longer trips he might hitch-hike.

10)  Who Are Ya?

In his later years, Bernie's taunting of opposition fans became legendary (and thankfully, Forest, Derby, Leeds and all the other fans took it largely in good spirit). From Bernie's scrapbooks, though, a very different side of him is apparent. 

Most of the surviving cuttings from the 1950s are match previews, in which the main content is player profiles and photos of the opposition.

Here's an example from 1949/50 - a preview of the Southampton game from the Evening Mail:

There's no post-match report from this game in the collection (it finished 2-2, with Jack Lee scoring again) - and it's the same throughout the 50s - lots of this kind of preview, very few reports. 

It's possible of course that the reports have been lost, but the fact that all these previews were kept suggests that Bernie's sense of history wasn't limited to the Leicester City heroes he'd seen in action, but extended to opposition greats too.

11)  Parade of Legends

And to follow that up, taken from all those match previews,  here are composites of some of the players Bernie saw in the 50s.

Future England Managers (and coach):

Footballers Of The Year:

Tom Finney won it in 1954 and 1957

Syd Owen in 1959

Don Revie in 1955

Future TV Personalities:

Legendary Brothers:

Goalscoring Greats:

Post-war, Charlie Wayman has scored more goals against City than any other player - 17 (for Newcastle, Southampton and Preston)

All Time Great Inside Forwards:

Peter Doherty of Doncaster Rovers (Man City pre-war)

Jimmy Hagan of Sheffield United

12)  Jack Who?

The sale of Jack Lee to Derby caused huge resentment among City fans (though not for some in Sileby, as we have seen), and they were not convinced by this new Rowley fellow from Fulham, who we signed to replace Lee on the same day.

Two years later, Rowley had removed any doubts about the wisdom of that switch. When he scored twice in a 4-1 win at home to Rotherham,  he equaled Arthur Chandler's club record of 38 goals in a season.

Bernie again put the preview in his scrapbook, but let's cheat here and show the match report instead, taken from online archives. There's Arthur heading the first:

Here's another key moment from that season. Bernie records the arrival of Matt Gillies:

By the end of that season, Bernie had been following City for four years, but they were still stuck in Division Two. There follows a two year gap in the scrapbooks between 1952 and 1954 - and we know the reason. Bernie was having a whole new adventure.