Filbert Street Pitch.

[davieG]

Remember the days when Leicester City's Filbert Street pitch often resembled a mud bath?
We wonder what today's players would think of these conditions

ByJane Goddard
10:50, 1 FEB 2019

A groundsman uses a spiking machine to try to clear standing water on the Filbert Street pitch in 1969


Today's Premier League football pitches resemble carpets more than grass, with hardly a blade out of place even after 90 minutes of action.

But it is not that long since football – even top flight games – was played on pitches that would surely have not looked out of place on the Somme First World War battlefield.

In those days, footballers would have been better equipped for some matches wearing wellie boots rather than the super-expensive sponsor-laden boots worn today.

Bad weather was the scourge of groundsmen and they often had to think outside the (penalty) box to ensure a match was played.

Indeed City legend Alan Birchenall recalls that sometimes some managers deliberately created a muddy pitch.

When referring to East Midlands rivals Derby County, Birch once told the Mercury: “It would rain for four days and then Brian Clough would water it (the Baseball Ground pitch) before a game.

Wolverhampton referee Dennis Corbett on the Filbert Street pitch before calling off Leicester City's FA Cup tie against Liverpool in February 1969

"The pitches were just rolled sand and mud and, come October, all you would see were four tufts of grass in each corner.”

These great photos from our archive show the lengths that the Leicester City staff went to in February 50 years ago when faced with a quagmire instead of turf.

The spiking machine in the main image, top, had its work cut out in 1969 trying to get the Filbert Street pitch ready for City’s FA Cup tie with Liverpool after seven inches of snow was cleared from the turf, only to be followed by a thaw which left pools of water in large parts of the pitch.

The boots on the other photo, above, belong to Wolverhampton referee Dennis Corbett.

He braved the conditions at Filbert Street before being forced to postpone the Cup tie for a second time.

And thank heavens he did – those white laces would never have survived the match!

The game finally went ahead on March 1 when City played out a 0-0 draw with the Merseyside visitors.

The fixture was replayed at Anfield two (yes, two) days later with City the 1-0 victors.

 

 

https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/history/remember-days-leicester-citys-filbert-2495708

[urban.spaceman]

I wish I’d had the forethought to sneak in a spade on the last day and nick some of the pitch.

[davieG]

1 minute ago, urban.spaceman said:

I wish I’d had the forethought to sneak in a spade on the last day and nick some of the pitch.

I did get a bit it lasted until it died when we relegated to League 1

 

These people all got some.

 

 

 

[Voll Blau]

1 hour ago, urban.spaceman said:

I wish I’d had the forethought to sneak in a spade on the last day and nick some of the pitch.

I don't think it would have been that hallowed given they relaid it quite frequently in its latter years. The club used to flog the old pitches to a garden centre in Countesthopre (I think). My aunty's front lawn is made up of Filbo turf. 

[mozartfox]

I wonder what happened to that balloon we used to use to keep the pitch from becoming frozen??

[urban.spaceman]

11 minutes ago, davieG said:

I did get a bit it lasted until it died when we relegated to League 1

 

These people all got some.

 

 

 

Seems apt!

[Mark 'expert' Lawrenson]

Good article, football has changed enormously since then, now it’s a money game but personally I’m happy to of seen City play in the late 70’s and 80’s when some pitches this time of year hardly had a blade of grass on them and all credit to some of the more skilful players back then  who’s talent shone out on even the worst of pitches.

[mikey54]

I remember a night match down at Filbo - possibly 1967/1968. Rodney Fern was through one on one with the keeper, took the ball to one side and slid the ball towards the empty net, turned to celebrate but the ball got stuck short

[FoxonMaui]

41 minutes ago, mikey54 said:

I remember a night match down at Filbo - possibly 1967/1968. Rodney Fern was through one on one with the keeper, took the ball to one side and slid the ball towards the empty net, turned to celebrate but the ball got stuck short

Sadly I remember that moment all too well! At the time I was about eleven and on the front rail at the Filbo end right behind the goal. Still an agonizing memory?

[David Hankey]

You only have to look at the historic goals on the big screen before home games now to get some idea of what former players had to play on. From December to March there was hardly a blade of grass to be seen. How times have changed.

[weller54]

1 hour ago, mozartfox said:

I wonder what happened to that balloon we used to use to keep the pitch from becoming frozen??

Didn't the players used to train underneath it sometimes?.. Seem to remember a photo of Len Glover jogging around the pitch under it? 

[Trav Le Bleu]

1 hour ago, weller54 said:

Didn't the players used to train underneath it sometimes?.. Seem to remember a photo of Len Glover jogging around the pitch under it? 

You're getting confused with Michael Jackson.

[Monsell1976]

I bet it was great to play on, imagine the size of the slide tackles you could do ? 

[davieG]

8 minutes ago, Monsell1976 said:

I bet it was great to play on, imagine the size of the slide tackles you could do ? 

Graham Cross was brilliant at slide tackles, he'd probably be yellow carded these days for being out of control but he wasn't.

 

[WigstonWanderer]

Modern pitches do seem to be something of a miracle to anyone brought up with the pitches of the 60s and 70s.

[irishfoxkev]

1 hour ago, davieG said:

Graham Cross was brilliant at slide tackles, he'd probably be yellow carded these days for being out of control but he wasn't.

 

Peter Rodriquez is the one I remember as being a great exponent of the sliding tackle from the same era as Cross 

[fazzyfox]

5 hours ago, davieG said:

I did get a bit it lasted until it died when we relegated to League 1

 

These people all got some.

 

 

 

Evidence of stealing from our sacred pitch? I feel like grassing them up.

[Vlad the Fox]

7 hours ago, davieG said:

I did get a bit it lasted until it died when we relegated to League 1

 

These people all got some.

 

 

 

 

 

i remember ripping up a great big chunk of the turf and took it on the lash afterwards with me. Laid it in my garden the next day but my toxic soil killed it.  

 

 

[baldeagle]

7 hours ago, davieG said:

I did get a bit it lasted until it died when we relegated to League 1

 

These people all got some.

 

 

 

Christ state of them like a bunch of crack whores  that have dropped a rock 

[Jace]

On 01/02/2019 at 15:03, davieG said:

I did get a bit it lasted until it died when we relegated to League 1

 

These people all got some.

 

 

 

Looks like Iwan Roberts taking a post match shit