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And while we're at it, here's the most joyous track he (or anyone) ever recorded. Johnny Dodds' clarinet solo followed by his famous stop-time solo on trumpet.

More on 'When You're Smiling'. In the months before Louis Armstrong arrived in Leicester in 1934, a recent release of his was being reviewed in the press - a medley of recent hits: That could well have been one of the records featured in the 'recital' in Kingstone's Clock Tower store mentioned above. And it gives you a good idea of what his set-list would have been at the Opera House in Silver Street. It's an incredibly rare record now, but fortunately it's on youtube - uploaded seven years ago, only 15 views. It's magnificent: The version of When You're Smiling is great, though he does it fairly straight. The other two tracks give you an idea of why he was such an original. Ripping up the old melodies and replacing them with his own in-yer-face scat-rap. It's as shocking as Elvis in 56 or Johnny Rotten in 76. He just blew everyone else away. This is the lyric to St. James' Infirmary: I went down to St. James Infirmary, Saw my baby there, Stretched out on a long white table, So cold, so sweet, so fair. Let her go, let her go, God bless her, Wherever she may be, She can look this wide world over, But she'll never find a sweet man like me.

The forgotten parade? Do you remember Monday evening after the 2000 League Cup Final? I was there near the Clock Tower as the bus came past. I've been trying to find photos of it online and drew a total blank. How weird. Maybe I was looking in the wrong place. Then I remembered - there might be something in the programme from the game the following Saturday. And there was indeed a nice two page spread. Here's a few shots cribbed from there on my phone: On the next one you can see that old Dean and Dawson building mentioned above (on the right): And here too:

Like many others on here, the more I look into Steve Cooper's history, the more optimistic I feel about next season. Forgive me though if I don't write the usual retrospective. With Forest featuring so prominently I'll give it a miss this time. Instead, here's something a little different - the story of Keith Cooper - Steve's father, who was a top level referee. It's a tale @ADAMSKI97 and @Golden Fox have already alluded to, and as we'll see, it climaxes in a remarkable evening at Filbert Street in 1994. 1) Playing Career Cut Short Keith Cooper was brought up in the Welsh town of Rhydyfelin, on the eastern bank of the River Taff. His dream was to be a professional footballer, and in 1965, he was well on his way: He was at Ninian Park at the same time as future Leicester right back Peter Rodrigues, and he played in the same Cardiff youth team as John Toshack. But an ankle injury forced him to give up the game in the late sixties. He took up the whistle, and quickly made a name for himself in the local leagues around Pontypridd. No doubt his experience at Cardiff helped him build a rapport with players, and he made it on to the Football League list in 1975, when he was just 27: He was quickly promoted from running the line to being the man in the middle: Neil would soon have a brother. On Monday December 10th 1979, Steven Daniel Cooper was born. Welcome to Leicester Keith made his first visit to Filbert Street just after Steve's third birthday, on December 18th 1982. We were playing Oldham Athletic in a Division Two fixture, five months into Gordon Milne's reign at the club. On that day, Keith had a big decision to make before the game even started. The pitch was frozen, and both Milne and Oldham boss Joe Royle thought the game ought to be postponed. But Keith gave the go-ahead, and the 'lottery', as Bill Anderson in the Mercury called it, kicked off as scheduled. Ten minutes into the game, Royle shouted over to Milne in the home dugout - 'Let's call this off. We'll flip a coin for the points!' Perhaps he'd already noticed that Leicester were adapting better to the conditions. We won the game 2-1, though according to Anderson, the winning penalty from Kevin Macdonald was a bit lucky, 'referee Cooper failing to take into account the surface' when he judged that Paul Ramsey had been fouled. Milne was delighted with the points, but said: I had to tell them to forget all they had been taught and just keep knocking the ball up field all the time. The match was as good a case for summer soccer as I have seen. We had been down in 15th place at the start of the month, but the Oldham game was the third win in a row, taking us up to 6th. That good form continued, and Milne's side clinched promotion on the last day of the season. Up The Football League We Go Keith Cooper's career was heading in the same direction. In March that season, he achieved his ambition of taking charge of a game in the top flight. He was chosen for the game between Coventry and Spurs, and the Pontypridd Observer marked the occasion by sending a reporter to accompany him on the trip, setting off for Coventry before sunrise. His wife Gill did a fine job getting the kids up and dressed for the photo. You can see young Steve holding her hand. When the game started, 'the man from Ponty had an eventful opening ten minutes. Coventry's Gary Gillespie was the first to go into the book, and team-mate Mark Hateley was given the same punishment for dissent. Then, midway through the half, Coventry's Jim Melrose was sent sprawling in the penalty area. Keith instantly pointed to the spot, as Spurs keeper Ray Clemence gave him a rather pained look. Steve Hunt confidently dispatched the spot kick'. Melrose had recently been half of the swap deal that took Tommy English from Coventry to Filbert Street. Here he is in action that day: The game finished 1-1 - the first of hundreds of top flight matches Keith would take charge of in the next 15 years. He was quite a star in his home town. Since the demise of Pontypridd AFC (they played in the Southern League and came close to being elected to the Football League in the 1920s), fans of the round ball game hadn't had much to shout about. Cooper's presence at the highest level of the Engish game was some kind of substitute. The Observer would regularly report on his upcoming schedule, and often do in-depth features on his life as a referee. In one such feature, Keith talked about taking charge of the first game at Anfield after the Hillsborough tragedy: Under The Spotlight In another interview in January 1990, he said that an ambition of his was to be chosen for a game on live TV. That chance soon arrived. He took charge of Everton 4 Nottingham Forest 0, featured on ITV's 'The Match' in April 1990, with Tony Cottee scoring twice. In May 1994, he was given the honour of refereeing the League Cup Final, with Aston Villa beating Man U 3-1. Shortly after that came another big game - the second leg of the play-off semi-final between Leicester and Tranmere, which was quite an explosive night. This is a poor quality clip, but it shows David Speedie's winning goal, which came from a free kick Tranmere thought should never have been awarded. Shortly after that, it all kicked off: Keith sent off both Tranmere keeper Eric Nixon and David Speedie, who thus missed the play-off final against Derby. Just five months later, Keith was back at Filbert Street, and the drama was unrelenting. Having beaten Derby in that play-off final, we were now in the Premier League, and Sky chose our game against Coventry for their Monday Night Football slot. Here's the key moments: Gary Gillespie, you'll recall, was the first player Keith ever booked in a top flight match. After the game, the two managers both said it was time to introduce video replays. Coventry boss Phil Neal said; We should do what cricket has done - stop the game so the ref can see a vital incident again'. Brian Little agreed: 'Both players were unlucky. Videos are used to show things that refs miss, and perhaps that sort of evidence should be used to highlight incidents like this'. But it wasn't those comments that caused the fuss: Birch told us what happened next in his book: Sure enough, a few days later a letter dropped through the Filbert Street letterbox informing that the FA were considering charging me for bringing the game into disrepute. What a load of nonsense. I was hardly in a mood to back down, but against my better judgement I allowed a letter of apology to be submitted to the FA. As a result of this letter, no further action was taken against me. Now, what would Steve Cooper have made of all that? He was still at school at the time, approaching his 15th birthday. His classmates knew all about his dad's job, and, well, you know what schoolkids are like. This is what Steve said when asked whether he'd ever considered becoming a ref like his dad: The morning after that Leicester v Coventry game may have been the worst it ever got. It's good that he can laugh about it. But now that he's at Leicester, what would happen if his dad and Birch met up in the hospitality area before a game? Would it be awkward? Birch isn't the sort to bear grudges. And nor, in fact, is Keith. How do we know? Well, look what happened after the very last game he took charge of - Blackburn 1 Arsenal 1 in April 1996: Heart warming stuff, huh? Welcome to Leicester, Steve. And best wishes to your dad.

https://www.bentleysroof.co.uk/index.php?threads/looks-like-cooper-has-his-own-balague.26099/#post-311102

Shinji's becoming a manager. He's taken the job at Basara Mainz in the 6th tier in Germany. He helped establish the club in 2014/15 when he was at Bundesliga club Mainz 05 in the same city, just before he moved to Leicester.

It looks like he's wearing a keeper's jersey, doesn't it? But he was a winger. He scored a famous goal at Leyton in 1910 that put us into the FA Cup quarter finals for the first time.

Posts on here might give you an idea - especially some of the links. https://www.bentleysroof.co.uk/index.php?threads/panini-stickers-leicester-fosse-style.25945/

I mentioned those player profiles that accompanied the illustrations. They were great too - written by 'Old Fossil', a candidate for the best football writer in the history of the Mercury. Here's the profile of Jimmy Blessington:

Over on Bentley's Roof a poster called 'Channy6thswan' mentioned he'd actually got hold of a set of Fosse cigarette cards from way back when. They are from the 'Cope' company. Here they are: They're from five years after the Mercury illustrations. 1910/11 season.

Too right. It's amazing how old this debate is, and how old the terminology is. I was looking at match reports from 1906 (in relation to the Panini thread). Early in the season, Chelsea beat Leicester Fosse 1-0, and the report said this about their style: But the very next week, Chelsea lost 3-1 at Forest, and this was the response:

I mentioned that there were player profiles published alongside the illustrations, and it's a measure of the care taken over the project that the profiles and the pics would often match up. Here's an excerpt from the Joe Blackett profile: And in the picture you can see him doing just that - raising one leg and scraping the ball down with the sole of his boot:

Decided to pass over that one. It does tell you in Of Fossils and Foxes.

OK, so Panini Stickers weren't around in the Edwardian Era. But there were cigarette cards. And also, in 1906/07, these wonderful illustrations published in the Leicester Mercury. There was one a week, every Saturday between November and February, alongside a profile of the featured player. As far as I know, they haven't been published anywhere in the intervening years. But I think they're just great. They really are works of art, drawn with great care, especially the Filbert Street scenes in the background, in which you get a good impression of how the ground looked 120 years ago, just before Archibald Leitch was brought in to make a series of improvements (after we won promotion for the first time the following season). I don't know if anyone cut them out and arranged them on a page back then, but if they did, they'd have made a fine little display on the bedroom door or the factory wall. I've collected them all together here:

Hmmm. Not sure. Between 1978 and 2004 we were relegated six times. Saints not at all.

Do you remember much about Old Trafford? Did Liverpool have the Stretford End or did we?

One more could be added to the list. In 1969 it was very nearly Leicester City v Birchenall's Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-finals. In the quarters we won at Mansfield, while Chelsea faced holders West Brom at Stamford Bridge. Early on Birch won a free kick from which Dave Webb headed the home side in front. But then goals from Tony Brown and Jeff Astle put Albion through to the semis - where they lost to Allan Clarke's goal for us at Hillsborough.

The picture of the Christmas card is from the book 'Bring Back The Birch', which deserves a place on every City fan's shelf. Here's another - an injured Birch at Old Trafford before that 1974 semi-final where we missed his presence so badly:

When you're talking about Leicester City all-time greats, you have to think of people who've made contributions off the pitch as well as on it. And in some cases, both. Take Alan Birchenall, for example. He received the MBE for his charity work. But we shouldn't forget what a fine player he was. On February 16th 1974, we won 4-0 at Luton in the Fifth Round of the FA Cup - a performance that no City fan will ever forget. It certainly made an impression on Malcolm Allison, the most forward-thinking coach of the era. After the game, he went to our dressing room and said he'd never seen a more complete display of attacking football. Frank Worthington was imperious that day, and Keith Weller scored ITV's Goal of the Season. Both would soon win their first England caps. But who was named Man of the Match? Alan Birchenall. Two days later we were drawn away at QPR in the quarter-finals and there was a growing feeling that this was our year. After four Wembley defeats, this team would surely bring home the Cup. It didn't quite work out like that, of course. And what happened to Birchenall was a key part of the story. With the Cup Final coming up this weekend, it's a good time to have a look back at Birch's Wembley Dreams - three occasions when the Leicester legend had his eyes on the Twin Towers. 1) World Cup Final, 1966 The greatest day in English football? Nothing to do with Birch, surely? Well, let's have a look at what happened. It's December 1965 and the condition of Jimmy Greaves is giving Alf Ramsey cause for concern. For the first time in his career, illness has laid him low. He's been out of action for several weeks with hepatitis, and with no-one sure when he'll return, Ramsey is on the look out for potential replacements. It was then that an envelope landed on the doormat at the home of 20 year old Alan Birchenall. Inside was a Christmas card, with World Cup Willie on the front, and Ramsey's signature inside. What a fantastic present. Birchenall's club Sheffield United were the surprise package in that season's title race. His goals had already earned him a call-up to the Under-23 squad, and the card he was holding told him all he needed to know. With the World Cup Finals just months away, he was in the manager's thoughts. A friendly game against Poland was scheduled for January, and two days before Christmas the squad was announced. Greaves' name wasn't included, and the headlines were all about the uncapped striker called-up for the first time - a man called Geoff Hurst. It would have been entirely understandable if Birchenall's heart had sunk just a little when he heard the news. Hurst didn't play against Poland, but made his debut against West Germany in another friendly in February. Birchenall had to settle for the Under-23s, and in April he made his first start at that level against Turkey at Ewood Park. Alongside him on the left hand side that evening was another uncapped player called Martin Peters, who used this opportunity to convince Ramsey he could be a key member of the senior side. Birchenall also made an impression on the manager that night - but not in the way he would have wanted. In the first half, a Turkish player did something Birch had never experienced before. He spat in his face. Birch was so incensed that he chased his opponent half way round the pitch, never quite managing to catch up with him. At half-time, as he later recalled, 'Ramsey slaughtered me'. Three months later and those late-comers Hurst and Peters were the goalscorers as we lifted the Jules Rimet trophy at Wembley, with Jimmy Greaves on the bench feeling completely left out. How was Birchenall feeling? We got a clue a few years later. When he was at Leicester, he drove down for an awards ceremony in London with several members of our squad. Bobby Charlton was there too, and after Birch had had one too many, there was some kind of incident. In his book, Birch allows Lenny Glover to tell the story: On our way out of the hotel, we saw Bobby holding court with some reporters on the steps. Birch suddenly got the arse, rushed up to him and clipped him smartly over the head! Unfortunately, Birch was a little worse for wear and stumbled down the steps after his assault on the soccer legend. Bobby looked around and couldn't believe it. The following morning, Birch was quite subdued. We asked him why he'd clipped Bobby but he wouldn't answer. After much persuasion he finally blurted out the truth. 'He cost me my England place. If it hadn't been for him I could have been a World Cup winner with Sir Alf!' We all cracked up in hysterics. 2) 1970 FA Cup FInal Friday April 10th. One of the most famous headlines in the history of the Daily Mirror: Paul Is Quitting The Beatles. After months of speculation, the rumours were confirmed. The group was splitting up. That morning, from his office in Savile Row, Derek Taylor put out the last ever Beatles press release, short and sweet: 'Spring is here, Leeds play Chelsea tomorrow and RIngo and John and George and Paul are full of hope'. That's how big the FA Cup Final used to be. Back in 1967, a year after our World Cup victory, Alan Birchenall had moved to Chelsea for a big fee, and he quickly established himself as a key member of Dave Sexton's side. Here he is scoring on his debut at Roker Park: Two years later and Chelsea made it to Wembley for that classic match against Leeds, a team Birch always loved playing against. He'd scored against them in the League Cup the previous October, but that was also the game where he picked up a knee injury that sidelined him four months, ruling him out of the early rounds of the FA Cup. On February 25th, four days after Chelsea had won 4-2 at QPR in the quarter-finals, Birch made his comeback in a League game against Newcastle. He was desperate to stake a claim for a place in the semi-final against Watford, but the fates were against him. Early in the second-half, Alan Hudson put over a high a cross that Birch and Newcastle keeper Ian McFaul challenged for. The keeper's studs made contact with Birch's leg just above the knee, opening a huge gash that saw him carried off the field and taken to hospital. Two weeks later Chelsea won that semi-final 5-1 at White Hart Lane, and Birch faced a race against time to get himself back in contention for a Wembley place. In the run-up to the final, this photo was taken of the Chelsea squad, Birch front left: But he was after more than a squad place. On April 4th, a week before the final, he got his chance to impress. He was back in the line up as Chelsea beat Spurs 1-0 at Stamford Bridge. It was too late though. Sexton was no doubt aware of his fine record against Leeds, but he stuck with the eleven who'd got them to Wembley. Birch spent Cup Final day as a spectator, and it was the same at the replay three weeks later. 3) Liverpool v Leicester City, FA Cup Semi-Final 1974. Two months after Chelsea beat Leeds in that replay at Old Trafford, England started their defence of the World Cup in Mexico with a 1-0 win against Romania. Geoff Hurst was still around, and he scored England's goal. Alan Birchenall wasn't paying too much attention to the World Cup that night. He was talking to Crystal Palace manager Bert Head about a move from Stamford Bridge to Selhurst Park. The following day, the deal was completed and at the start of the new season, Birch helped the newly-promoted Palace take the First Division by storm. A third of the way through the season they were in the leading pack. But then it rapidly went downhill, and at the start of the following season Birch joined Leicester City - a move he later called 'the best decision I ever made'. Two years later came that famous 4-0 win at Luton, with Birchenall now in a midfield role. In this clip City, who are already 3-0 up, decide to rub it in: A week later, and Birchenall's fine form continued. In a League game against Sheffield United at Filbert Street, Worthington's goal gave us the lead, but it was Birch who was running the show. The Daily Mirror reporter was purring about his ability, and how he 'judges the distance and direction of passes'. But then the curse struck again. He picked up a thigh injury, 'collapsing on the field and having to be carried off by his teammates'. Without him, we also collapsed. 'The transformation was amazing', the report said, 'and United came back to draw 1-1'. Birch was ruled out of the quarter-final at Loftus Road, and his replacement Joe Waters is remembered chiefly for his sensational debut that day - his two goals taking us through to the last four. Not quite so well recalled is Waters' performance in the semi-final against Liverpool. Birch still wasn't fit, and the young Irishman stood in for him again. Sadly, the game completely passed him by. Liverpool totally controlled the midfield, and only a world class performance from Peter Shilton kept them out. Four days later at Villa Park we lost 3-1, though we actually played better than in the first match, with Ray Clemence making a crucial save from Weller at 1-1. Who knows what might have happened with Birch in the team. Later... There wouldn't be any more Wembley dreams. At least, not as a player. But Birch is a man for whom 'When You're Smiling' might have been written, and his 40+ years as PR officer, club ambassador and general mood-maker have featured many a fine day out at Wembley, both before and after it was rebuilt. Let's finish with this photo - taken after the 2000 League Cup Final:

Oldham 1983. Wonderful team goal - Alan Smith, Gary Lineker, Kevin MacDonald, Rob Jones.

Apologies for the howler in the original post. Man U under Ferguson had TWO chances to win four in a row. I mentioned, 2009/10, but there was also 2001/02, when Wenger's Arsenal stopped them. That season United won 1-0 at Leicester in April to stay on Arsenal's heels - Solskjaer scoring the last ever winning goal for an away team at Filbert Street.

It's worth mentioning one more season. Liverpool may well have won SIX in a row had they been champions in 1980/81. They won the two before that and the three after. Who played the biggest role in stopping them that season? The one club who did the double over them was - Jock Wallace's Leicester City. We also managed to get relegated that year.