Remembering When LCFC Moved From Filbert Street

[davieG]

https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/history/aerial-photo-shows-industrial-landscape-2030106

 

Aerial photo shows industrial landscape of Bede Island before it was swept away

 

 

 

This area of Leicester has undergone a huge transformation since this aerial photograph was taken in the 1980s.

Towards the top of the photo, going from left to right, is Upperton Road while the backs of houses on Western Road can just be seen on the extreme left.

To the right is the River Soar and its canal section flanked by Western and Eastern Boulevards, and along the very bottom of the photo is the old Midland Railway Leicester and Burton branch line.

We are sure that Leicester City fans will have spotted the former Filbert Street stadium, top right, and, interestingly, the waste ground on which the club’s new home was built is just about visible, bottom right.

This, of course, is where the cooling towers of the old power station used to be located. A road now cuts through this area linking Eastern Boulevard to Raw Dykes Road.

But what is most striking about this photo is how much of the industrial landscape has been swept away in the last 30 years as part of the Bede Island regeneration scheme.

 

Gone are the scrapyards and timber merchants which dominated the area to be replaced by modern apartment blocks and houses offering waterside living.

This aerial view shows the vast expanse of Gimson’s timber yard and Swan Lake Mills with what was then something like £1.5 million worth of timber stored there.

This area is now the Freemen’s Meadow housing development.

[Guest Fox99]

This might have been posted before but some interesting images here of when the KP was being built. I do think it looked better with a singular fox head at either end of the ground...

 

https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/history/gallery/construction-king-power-pictures-leicester-6328645.amp
 

Edited 22 February 2023 by AlexFT

[Stadt]

I had no idea it was just wasteland prior to the Walkers being built. Seems scarcely believable now.

[Foxdiamond]

1 hour ago, Stadt said:

I had no idea it was just wasteland prior to the Walkers being built. Seems scarcely believable now.

On the old power station site. Putting aside sponsorship names of stadium I always thought Freeman's Meadow or The Grand Union Stadium would have been a good name. Am I right the canal is part of The Grand Union?

[Monk]

Best double decker memory is that Gary Coatsworth goal. 

[davieG]

On 22/02/2023 at 18:06, Foxdiamond said:

On the old power station site. Putting aside sponsorship names of stadium I always thought Freeman's Meadow or The Grand Union Stadium would have been a good name. Am I right the canal is part of The Grand Union?

Raw Dykes Stadium.

[Scanchez]

On 25/05/2018 at 16:04, stripeyfox said:

1991/92 I think. We needed to win gain automatic promotion, Newcastle (under Keegan) needed to win to stay up which they did thanks to an OG from Steve Walsh.

 

Bit of trouble that day as I recall.

 

 

I remember that Walsh OG was on a Danny Baker's 'Own Goals and Gaffs' video.

As soon as the ball crosses the line, loads of Leicester fans run on to the pitch from behind the goal. 

We used to pause the video as you could see my brother running on while wearing a stupid jumper.

[MattFox]

On 22/02/2023 at 16:56, AlexFT said:

This might have been posted before but some interesting images here of when the KP was being built. I do think it looked better with a singular fox head at either end of the ground...

 

https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/history/gallery/construction-king-power-pictures-leicester-6328645.amp
 

Seats look much better darker blue

[David Hankey]

I was there at the last game at Filbo Street and the first at the Walkers Stadium, exciting times.

[Stuntman_Mike]

1 hour ago, MattFox said:

Seats look much better darker blue

I hope the whole ground will get new seats and not just the extension. It's looking a bit tired these days 

[Ashdav86]

I was in North stand in the orange seats from 94/95 onwards as a STH

 

used to love watching the away fans throw coins and let's be honest vice versa. Never really saw much trouble in that era and as a child was much wonderment

 

Izzet volley my favourite memory as right behind it so vividly remember that

 

Always thought we could have done with walkers/KP being a bit more distinctive like amex for example

[davieG]

28 minutes ago, Ashdav86 said:

Always thought we could have done with walkers/KP being a bit more distinctive like amex for example

 

Former Leicester City CEO says Foxes’ stadium development plans should have happened over 20 years ago
Former Foxes CEO Barrie Pierpoint has said that the club’s plans to expand their stadium capacity to 40,000 should have happened a long time ago.

It was recently announced that plans to increase the capacity of Leicester City’s King Power Stadium have been approved by local councillors.

But Pierpoint also had high ambitions for Leicester before their move away from Filbert Street in 2002. Speaking in his recent book, ‘Minding My Own Football Business’, which focuses on his time as CEO of the club, he discusses how he and some of the other Directors had plans to build a 40,000-seater stadium before the turn of the millennium.

“In the 1997/98 Premier League season, we had developed plans to build a brand new 40,000-seater stadium on Bede Island South. Our ambition was to completely redevelop the area with a retail park surrounding the stadium, and the Directors were satisfied that the stadium was affordable” said Pierpoint.

The brand-new stadium was designed to not only house top-level football, but also host other events such as boxing and concerts. Being the biggest stadium in the East Midlands, the venue was set to be the largest conference, banqueting, leisure, and entertainment centre in the region.

“We had shared our plans with the fans as it was important to me that our supporters were involved and that they were listened to. We’d also invited Gary Lineker to meet us and we presented the plans and a 3D model of the stadium which he was impressed by.”

The plans were also focused on improving aspects of the local community in Leicester, and included building a hotel, restaurant, retail outlets, a creche and a gymnasium nearby the new stadium.

Although, unfortunately for Pierpoint, plans for the new stadium fell apart after he left the club in 2000.

“I had the vision of Leicester City regularly selling out a 40,000 stadium, but sadly some of the Directors and myself began to face resistance from a minority of disruptive forces within the club.”

“We also faced concerns around the road system around the stadium and that the site would contain shops outside the city centre, so it was by no means plain sailing. But I passionately believe that we would have overcome these obstacles and delivered one of the best stadiums in the country” added Pierpoint.

“The disruptive element was led by a couple of Directors who felt that a 40,000 capacity was too big for our club, and they were concerned that the ground would be half-empty on match days. In reality, this was because they did not share the ambition of the rest of us.”

Prior to the start of the 2002/03 season, Leicester eventually completed a new stadium move to the 32,500-capacity Walkers Stadium.

However, Pierpoint believed that his team’s original stadium plan had the potential to be more successful and would have helped the club avoid the financial challenges they endured after his departure.

“The new 32,500-seater stadium was built near Freeman’s Wharf for around £37 million, whereas our plan on Bede Island South for a 40,000-seater stadium was quoted at £32 million. I was also disappointed to see that the deal agreed with Walkers Crisps for the naming rights of the stadium was considerably less than the one that I had negotiated” said Pierpoint.

In his book, he writes that these two decisions, alongside overspending and poor corporate governance at Board level, led to Leicester’s fall into administration in 2002.

Barrie Pierpoint’s book, ‘Minding My Own Football Business’ focuses on his time as CEO of Leicester City and features contributions from Emile Heskey, Steve Walsh and Gary Mills. It is available to purchase at https://www.morganlawrence.co.uk/product/minding-my-own-football-business/.

[Pliskin]

Proper football era. None of these silly Sui celebrations or PG13 woke match day experiences. 
 

Nothing quite beats the dull scent of piss, rickety turnstiles and wobbly seats. Filbert street will always be my favourite place, it’s where I fell in love with the game. 

Edited 9 March 2023 by Pliskin

[Ashdav86]

6 hours ago, davieG said:

 

Former Leicester City CEO says Foxes’ stadium development plans should have happened over 20 years ago
Former Foxes CEO Barrie Pierpoint has said that the club’s plans to expand their stadium capacity to 40,000 should have happened a long time ago.

It was recently announced that plans to increase the capacity of Leicester City’s King Power Stadium have been approved by local councillors.

But Pierpoint also had high ambitions for Leicester before their move away from Filbert Street in 2002. Speaking in his recent book, ‘Minding My Own Football Business’, which focuses on his time as CEO of the club, he discusses how he and some of the other Directors had plans to build a 40,000-seater stadium before the turn of the millennium.

“In the 1997/98 Premier League season, we had developed plans to build a brand new 40,000-seater stadium on Bede Island South. Our ambition was to completely redevelop the area with a retail park surrounding the stadium, and the Directors were satisfied that the stadium was affordable” said Pierpoint.

The brand-new stadium was designed to not only house top-level football, but also host other events such as boxing and concerts. Being the biggest stadium in the East Midlands, the venue was set to be the largest conference, banqueting, leisure, and entertainment centre in the region.

“We had shared our plans with the fans as it was important to me that our supporters were involved and that they were listened to. We’d also invited Gary Lineker to meet us and we presented the plans and a 3D model of the stadium which he was impressed by.”

The plans were also focused on improving aspects of the local community in Leicester, and included building a hotel, restaurant, retail outlets, a creche and a gymnasium nearby the new stadium.

Although, unfortunately for Pierpoint, plans for the new stadium fell apart after he left the club in 2000.

“I had the vision of Leicester City regularly selling out a 40,000 stadium, but sadly some of the Directors and myself began to face resistance from a minority of disruptive forces within the club.”

“We also faced concerns around the road system around the stadium and that the site would contain shops outside the city centre, so it was by no means plain sailing. But I passionately believe that we would have overcome these obstacles and delivered one of the best stadiums in the country” added Pierpoint.

“The disruptive element was led by a couple of Directors who felt that a 40,000 capacity was too big for our club, and they were concerned that the ground would be half-empty on match days. In reality, this was because they did not share the ambition of the rest of us.”

Prior to the start of the 2002/03 season, Leicester eventually completed a new stadium move to the 32,500-capacity Walkers Stadium.

However, Pierpoint believed that his team’s original stadium plan had the potential to be more successful and would have helped the club avoid the financial challenges they endured after his departure.

“The new 32,500-seater stadium was built near Freeman’s Wharf for around £37 million, whereas our plan on Bede Island South for a 40,000-seater stadium was quoted at £32 million. I was also disappointed to see that the deal agreed with Walkers Crisps for the naming rights of the stadium was considerably less than the one that I had negotiated” said Pierpoint.

In his book, he writes that these two decisions, alongside overspending and poor corporate governance at Board level, led to Leicester’s fall into administration in 2002.

Barrie Pierpoint’s book, ‘Minding My Own Football Business’ focuses on his time as CEO of Leicester City and features contributions from Emile Heskey, Steve Walsh and Gary Mills. It is available to purchase at https://www.morganlawrence.co.uk/product/minding-my-own-football-business/.

Has always looked a bit generic. Maybe that would have been better. 

[Guest Fox99]

On 09/03/2023 at 12:01, MattFox said:

Seats look much better darker blue

Agree. The seats were redone ahead of the 2016/17 season but have since faded again. Hopefully whenever the expansion comes, there will be general upgrades to the KP as it needs some work in my view. During the stadium development consultation period, I emailed the club with my ideas for improvements.

[Guest Fox99]

On 09/03/2023 at 14:11, davieG said:

 

Former Leicester City CEO says Foxes’ stadium development plans should have happened over 20 years ago
Former Foxes CEO Barrie Pierpoint has said that the club’s plans to expand their stadium capacity to 40,000 should have happened a long time ago.

It was recently announced that plans to increase the capacity of Leicester City’s King Power Stadium have been approved by local councillors.

But Pierpoint also had high ambitions for Leicester before their move away from Filbert Street in 2002. Speaking in his recent book, ‘Minding My Own Football Business’, which focuses on his time as CEO of the club, he discusses how he and some of the other Directors had plans to build a 40,000-seater stadium before the turn of the millennium.

“In the 1997/98 Premier League season, we had developed plans to build a brand new 40,000-seater stadium on Bede Island South. Our ambition was to completely redevelop the area with a retail park surrounding the stadium, and the Directors were satisfied that the stadium was affordable” said Pierpoint.

The brand-new stadium was designed to not only house top-level football, but also host other events such as boxing and concerts. Being the biggest stadium in the East Midlands, the venue was set to be the largest conference, banqueting, leisure, and entertainment centre in the region.

“We had shared our plans with the fans as it was important to me that our supporters were involved and that they were listened to. We’d also invited Gary Lineker to meet us and we presented the plans and a 3D model of the stadium which he was impressed by.”

The plans were also focused on improving aspects of the local community in Leicester, and included building a hotel, restaurant, retail outlets, a creche and a gymnasium nearby the new stadium.

Although, unfortunately for Pierpoint, plans for the new stadium fell apart after he left the club in 2000.

“I had the vision of Leicester City regularly selling out a 40,000 stadium, but sadly some of the Directors and myself began to face resistance from a minority of disruptive forces within the club.”

“We also faced concerns around the road system around the stadium and that the site would contain shops outside the city centre, so it was by no means plain sailing. But I passionately believe that we would have overcome these obstacles and delivered one of the best stadiums in the country” added Pierpoint.

“The disruptive element was led by a couple of Directors who felt that a 40,000 capacity was too big for our club, and they were concerned that the ground would be half-empty on match days. In reality, this was because they did not share the ambition of the rest of us.”

Prior to the start of the 2002/03 season, Leicester eventually completed a new stadium move to the 32,500-capacity Walkers Stadium.

However, Pierpoint believed that his team’s original stadium plan had the potential to be more successful and would have helped the club avoid the financial challenges they endured after his departure.

“The new 32,500-seater stadium was built near Freeman’s Wharf for around £37 million, whereas our plan on Bede Island South for a 40,000-seater stadium was quoted at £32 million. I was also disappointed to see that the deal agreed with Walkers Crisps for the naming rights of the stadium was considerably less than the one that I had negotiated” said Pierpoint.

In his book, he writes that these two decisions, alongside overspending and poor corporate governance at Board level, led to Leicester’s fall into administration in 2002.

Barrie Pierpoint’s book, ‘Minding My Own Football Business’ focuses on his time as CEO of Leicester City and features contributions from Emile Heskey, Steve Walsh and Gary Mills. It is available to purchase at https://www.morganlawrence.co.uk/product/minding-my-own-football-business/.

Judging from that image, the Bede Island South plans looked impressive. It's a shame as out of the two, I think this one would have been the better stadium. The 40k capacity would have really elevated the club as well, in spite of the argument about the ground being too big. 

[Guest Fox99]

On 12/03/2023 at 17:56, AW LCFC said:

Judging from that image, the Bede Island South plans looked impressive. It's a shame as out of the two, I think this one would have been the better stadium. The 40k capacity would have really elevated the club as well, in spite of the argument about the ground being too big. 

Important to add to this that the move to the current stadium did elevate the club, but really feel more could be done to improve Filbert Way. The supposed reservations about the 40k capacity of Bede Island South were of course valid at the time, but it would have been ideal (in the long run) for how the club has progressed. Interesting image to share below…

[AlexFT]

Image edited out as it was already included in the original article.

Edited 25 March by AlexFT

[SkidsFox]

On 09/03/2023 at 14:11, davieG said:

 

Former Leicester City CEO says Foxes’ stadium development plans should have happened over 20 years ago
Former Foxes CEO Barrie Pierpoint has said that the club’s plans to expand their stadium capacity to 40,000 should have happened a long time ago.

It was recently announced that plans to increase the capacity of Leicester City’s King Power Stadium have been approved by local councillors.

But Pierpoint also had high ambitions for Leicester before their move away from Filbert Street in 2002. Speaking in his recent book, ‘Minding My Own Football Business’, which focuses on his time as CEO of the club, he discusses how he and some of the other Directors had plans to build a 40,000-seater stadium before the turn of the millennium.

“In the 1997/98 Premier League season, we had developed plans to build a brand new 40,000-seater stadium on Bede Island South. Our ambition was to completely redevelop the area with a retail park surrounding the stadium, and the Directors were satisfied that the stadium was affordable” said Pierpoint.

The brand-new stadium was designed to not only house top-level football, but also host other events such as boxing and concerts. Being the biggest stadium in the East Midlands, the venue was set to be the largest conference, banqueting, leisure, and entertainment centre in the region.

“We had shared our plans with the fans as it was important to me that our supporters were involved and that they were listened to. We’d also invited Gary Lineker to meet us and we presented the plans and a 3D model of the stadium which he was impressed by.”

The plans were also focused on improving aspects of the local community in Leicester, and included building a hotel, restaurant, retail outlets, a creche and a gymnasium nearby the new stadium.

Although, unfortunately for Pierpoint, plans for the new stadium fell apart after he left the club in 2000.

“I had the vision of Leicester City regularly selling out a 40,000 stadium, but sadly some of the Directors and myself began to face resistance from a minority of disruptive forces within the club.”

“We also faced concerns around the road system around the stadium and that the site would contain shops outside the city centre, so it was by no means plain sailing. But I passionately believe that we would have overcome these obstacles and delivered one of the best stadiums in the country” added Pierpoint.

“The disruptive element was led by a couple of Directors who felt that a 40,000 capacity was too big for our club, and they were concerned that the ground would be half-empty on match days. In reality, this was because they did not share the ambition of the rest of us.”

Prior to the start of the 2002/03 season, Leicester eventually completed a new stadium move to the 32,500-capacity Walkers Stadium.

However, Pierpoint believed that his team’s original stadium plan had the potential to be more successful and would have helped the club avoid the financial challenges they endured after his departure.

“The new 32,500-seater stadium was built near Freeman’s Wharf for around £37 million, whereas our plan on Bede Island South for a 40,000-seater stadium was quoted at £32 million. I was also disappointed to see that the deal agreed with Walkers Crisps for the naming rights of the stadium was considerably less than the one that I had negotiated” said Pierpoint.

In his book, he writes that these two decisions, alongside overspending and poor corporate governance at Board level, led to Leicester’s fall into administration in 2002.

Barrie Pierpoint’s book, ‘Minding My Own Football Business’ focuses on his time as CEO of Leicester City and features contributions from Emile Heskey, Steve Walsh and Gary Mills. It is available to purchase at https://www.morganlawrence.co.uk/product/minding-my-own-football-business/.

In the end Barry was proven right, but I can partly understand why some at the time felt that 40,000 was too big. In the 80s we struggled to get 16 or 17,000 for certain games, even in the top flight.  Different times. 

[AlexFT]

 

It's obviously well known how close Filbert Street was to the current site, but this is one of those images which really puts it into perspective. 

Edited 25 March by AlexFT