Remembering Leicester City's Other Great Escape

[davieG]

https://www.lcfc.com/news/1650352/remembering-leicester-citys-other-great-escape/featured

 

LCFC.com takes an in-depth look back at Leicester City’s other 'Great Escape', which saw the Club dramatically stave off relegation to the Third Division at the start of the 1990s.
BySam Jones

Everyone can recall City’s remarkable survival during the 2014/15 Premier League season, when the Foxes sat bottom at Christmas, before eventually finishing 14th in the top flight under Nigel Pearson.

Rewind 25 years and Leicester were in a similarly precautious position, although it was relegation from the old Second Division, now the Championship, that was on the cards.

When assistant Gordon Lee replaced David Pleat in the manager's hot seat in January 1991, the Club was staring at relegation to the third tier of English football for the first time in history.

The Foxes went into the season with optimism, but winning the opening game of the season 3-2 at home to Bristol Rovers proved to be a false dawn.

Under Pleat, the team quickly slipped down the table, losing the next seven league games. Pre-season hopes of promotion were replaced by relegation worries.

David Pleat was replaced by Gordon Lee in the Leicester City hot seat in January 1991.

City went out of all cup competitions in the first round they entered, losing 2-1 at Millwall in the FA Cup Third Round after a 3-1 aggregate defeat against Leeds United in the League Cup Second Round.

There was also a Full Members Cup Round One (Northern Area) exit at the hands of Wolverhampton Wanderers, losing 1-0 at Filbert Street in November.

Following a 3-1 defeat by Blackburn Rovers on 26 January, 1991, Pleat left the Club.

Chairman Terry Shipman also departed at the same time, with Martin George coming in, with Foxes skipper Ali Mauchlen assisting Lee with coaching duties.

The new manager had an immediate impact, winning his first two home games in charge against Plymouth Argyle and Barnsley respectively.

But a difficult season continued, and after failing to win any of their final three away games of the season, Leicester were sitting in a precarious position.

It came down to the last fixture of the campaign, against Oxford United on 11 May, 1991, when City's fate was out of their own hands.

They needed to better West Bromwich Albion’s result to preserve their status as a Second Division club for another season. 

Some 19,011 fans packed into Filbert Street to create Leicester’s highest attendance of the season and hoped to witness a miraculous escape from relegation, while the Baggies travelled to face Bristol Rovers.

Leicester piled on some early pressure, particularly from set pieces, but Alan Judge was in fine form in the Oxford goal, making several saves in the first-half as the tension increased around the ground.

David Kelly’s 14 league goals had helped keep the side in contention of surviving, but it was centre-half Tony James who scored what proved to be a crucial strike.

James made the breakthrough from Kevin 'Rooster' Russell’s corner - after the ball bounced around the box, he flicked it into the roof of the net to send the Spion Kop into rapture.

Failing to hold on to leads had been the story of Leicester’s season, but they had no trouble when it really mattered, as one goal was enough to secure the most crucial of three points.

Tony James scored the goal that kept Leicester City in the Second Division in 1991.

Leicester’s narrow 1-0 victory, coupled with West Brom’s draw with Bristol Rovers, sparked wild celebrations among the Filbert Street faithful, who spilled out onto the pitch at full-time to celebrate with the players.

Meanwhile, at Twerton Park, the Baggies were consigned to relegation to the Third Division, alongside Hull City.

The final league table saw City finish with the record of 14 wins from their 46 games, ending the season 22nd in the 24-team league and two points ahead of Albion. 

The escape was even more remarkable considering Leicester spent the majority of the campaign in the bottom two and ended the season with a league-high 24 defeats.

Lee’s brief, but successful, spell in charge came to an end on 30 May, 1991, soon after the season had finished, when Brian Little was appointed as manager. Promotion was the aim.

[Jobyfox]

Remember it well and being on the pitch at the end in my one and only pitch invasion.

 

Great memories 

[Izzy]

18 minutes ago, Jobyfox said:

Remember it well and being on the pitch at the end in my one and only pitch invasion.

 

Great memories 

Was just about to post the same 

 

[blue blood]

This game was my hook to supporting Leicester City!  I remember scanning FM on the radio and stumbling onto the commentary, It must have been the last few mins of the game and the commentators were going crazy.  This intrigued me and became curious about two things Leicester City FC and wanting to find Filbert Street.  The rest is history.

[foxy boxing]

An amazing game to go to when we all ran on to the pitch afterwards, I got to shake Tony James hand once when he was signing autographs some time later.

[Spudulike]

Doesn't tell the whole story. My lasting memory was during the final nervous few minutes hearing all of the rumours and counter rumours of goings on at Twerton Park. Desperately hanging on at 1-0 with Oxford piling on the pressure and getting closer to an equaliser that would've relegated us (a free header somehow cleared our crossbar). Crowd whistling and screaming at the ref to blow when a lose ball on the edge of our 18 yard box is intercepted by Gary Mills. The Kop imploring him to hoof it anywhere when instead he controls it and dribbles the length of the pitch and wins a corner at the other end. That took the pressure off and we held on to start the celebrations. Sad note for me was that I couldn't get on the pitch as it was a bit of a drop from the Double Decker! 

[Hammo]

My abiding memory is that at no stage did the club officially announce over the PA the West Brom result at the end. It was all pass-it-on hearsay from one guy with a radio where I stood, so although I was pretty sure we were safe I honestly couldn’t properly celebrate until I got home (a 20-minute walk away back then) and saw that West Brom had drawn on Ceefax!!

Edited 3 April 2020 by Hammo

[Rain King]

4 hours ago, Spudulike said:

Doesn't tell the whole story. My lasting memory was during the final nervous few minutes hearing all of the rumours and counter rumours of goings on at Twerton Park. Desperately hanging on at 1-0 with Oxford piling on the pressure and getting closer to an equaliser that would've relegated us (a free header somehow cleared our crossbar). Crowd whistling and screaming at the ref to blow when a lose ball on the edge of our 18 yard box is intercepted by Gary Mills. The Kop imploring him to hoof it anywhere when instead he controls it and dribbles the length of the pitch and wins a corner at the other end. That took the pressure off and we held on to start the celebrations. Sad note for me was that I couldn't get on the pitch as it was a bit of a drop from the Double Decker! 

One of my first games with my dad as a five year old. We were also in the Double Decker.

Great memories.

[TrentFox]

One of my best mates was playing full-back for Oxford that day. We’d already been through a lot together in life, even by that point. I remember at 0-0 one of our players lobbing their keeper and the ball bouncing towards an empty net in front of the kop. We’d already started celebrating the breakthrough. Out of nowhere, said mate appeared and, after a full length dive, hooked the ball off the line with his toe.  All I remember next was screaming at the top of my voice “you f@£ck@@g c£nt Smartie”. Funny what comes out of your mouth when you’re on auto-pilot!! 😐

[49er]

I actually think that the 1983/84 was more of a Great Escape. Six straight losses to start the season, barely a goal scored. Rooted to the bottom of the league. A strike force of Lineker, Lynex and Smith that were toothless. Then Bob Hazel arrives to shore up the defence with Wallington resuming his rightful place between the sticks replacing the hapless Grew. The goals start to come, we climb the table playing some wonderful attacking football. Safety is assured. This truly was the Great Escape

[49er]

I actually think that the 1983/84 was more of a Great Escape. Six straight losses to start the season, barely a goal scored. Rooted to the bottom of the league. A strike force of Lineker, Lynex and Smith that were toothless. Then Bob Hazel arrives to shore up the defence with Wallington resuming his rightful place between the sticks replacing the hapless Grew. The goals start to come, we climb the table playing some wonderful attacking football. Safety is assured. This truly was the Great Escape

[Corky]

3 hours ago, Hammo said:

My abiding memory is that at no stage did the club officially announce over the PA the West Brom result at the end. It was all pass-it-on hearsay from one guy with a radio where I stood, so although I was pretty sure we were safe I honestly couldn’t properly celebrate until I got home (a 20-minute walk away back then) and saw that West Brom had drawn on Ceefax!!

Quite remarkable that in the 28 years since, we've had 4(?) matches on the final day with something riding on it- Newcastle in 1992, Watford in 1996, Stoke in 2008 and Nottingham Forest in 2013. All our drama is done before the final day usually, even more surprising given the ups and downs we've had in the past 30 years.

[Rain King]

28 minutes ago, Corky said:

Quite remarkable that in the 28 years since, we've had 4(?) matches on the final day with something riding on it- Newcastle in 1992, Watford in 1996, Stoke in 2008 and Nottingham Forest in 2013. All our drama is done before the final day usually, even more surprising given the ups and downs we've had in the past 30 years.

We're either really good or really shite!

[Paninistickers]

7 hours ago, Spudulike said:

Doesn't tell the whole story. My lasting memory was during the final nervous few minutes hearing all of the rumours and counter rumours of goings on at Twerton Park. Desperately hanging on at 1-0 with Oxford piling on the pressure and getting closer to an equaliser that would've relegated us (a free header somehow cleared our crossbar). Crowd whistling and screaming at the ref to blow when a lose ball on the edge of our 18 yard box is intercepted by Gary Mills. The Kop imploring him to hoof it anywhere when instead he controls it and dribbles the length of the pitch and wins a corner at the other end. That took the pressure off and we held on to start the celebrations. Sad note for me was that I couldn't get on the pitch as it was a bit of a drop from the Double Decker! 

I was in the member's terrace and various punters with radios in ear confirmed that west Brom had lost. This started some tentative excitement until several others with a radio confirmed it. 

 

It sparked brief scenes of excitement but all the terrace switched away from.excitement to communicate the final.score to the players. 

 

Colin Gibson on the bench came over to check and then barked in panicked excitement the news to the

players. 

 

The final whistle went and in my head I don't remember cheers....just silence and jostling as the terrace bundled out onto the pitch

[The Fox Covert]

11 hours ago, davieG said:

https://www.lcfc.com/news/1650352/remembering-leicester-citys-other-great-escape/featured

 

LCFC.com takes an in-depth look back at Leicester City’s other 'Great Escape', which saw the Club dramatically stave off relegation to the Third Division at the start of the 1990s.
BySam Jones

Everyone can recall City’s remarkable survival during the 2014/15 Premier League season, when the Foxes sat bottom at Christmas, before eventually finishing 14th in the top flight under Nigel Pearson.

Rewind 25 years and Leicester were in a similarly precautious position, although it was relegation from the old Second Division, now the Championship, that was on the cards.

When assistant Gordon Lee replaced David Pleat in the manager's hot seat in January 1991, the Club was staring at relegation to the third tier of English football for the first time in history.

The Foxes went into the season with optimism, but winning the opening game of the season 3-2 at home to Bristol Rovers proved to be a false dawn.

Under Pleat, the team quickly slipped down the table, losing the next seven league games. Pre-season hopes of promotion were replaced by relegation worries.

David Pleat was replaced by Gordon Lee in the Leicester City hot seat in January 1991.

City went out of all cup competitions in the first round they entered, losing 2-1 at Millwall in the FA Cup Third Round after a 3-1 aggregate defeat against Leeds United in the League Cup Second Round.

There was also a Full Members Cup Round One (Northern Area) exit at the hands of Wolverhampton Wanderers, losing 1-0 at Filbert Street in November.

Following a 3-1 defeat by Blackburn Rovers on 26 January, 1991, Pleat left the Club.

Chairman Terry Shipman also departed at the same time, with Martin George coming in, with Foxes skipper Ali Mauchlen assisting Lee with coaching duties.

The new manager had an immediate impact, winning his first two home games in charge against Plymouth Argyle and Barnsley respectively.

But a difficult season continued, and after failing to win any of their final three away games of the season, Leicester were sitting in a precarious position.

It came down to the last fixture of the campaign, against Oxford United on 11 May, 1991, when City's fate was out of their own hands.

They needed to better West Bromwich Albion’s result to preserve their status as a Second Division club for another season. 

Some 19,011 fans packed into Filbert Street to create Leicester’s highest attendance of the season and hoped to witness a miraculous escape from relegation, while the Baggies travelled to face Bristol Rovers.

Leicester piled on some early pressure, particularly from set pieces, but Alan Judge was in fine form in the Oxford goal, making several saves in the first-half as the tension increased around the ground.

David Kelly’s 14 league goals had helped keep the side in contention of surviving, but it was centre-half Tony James who scored what proved to be a crucial strike.

James made the breakthrough from Kevin 'Rooster' Russell’s corner - after the ball bounced around the box, he flicked it into the roof of the net to send the Spion Kop into rapture.

Failing to hold on to leads had been the story of Leicester’s season, but they had no trouble when it really mattered, as one goal was enough to secure the most crucial of three points.

Tony James scored the goal that kept Leicester City in the Second Division in 1991.

Leicester’s narrow 1-0 victory, coupled with West Brom’s draw with Bristol Rovers, sparked wild celebrations among the Filbert Street faithful, who spilled out onto the pitch at full-time to celebrate with the players.

Meanwhile, at Twerton Park, the Baggies were consigned to relegation to the Third Division, alongside Hull City.

The final league table saw City finish with the record of 14 wins from their 46 games, ending the season 22nd in the 24-team league and two points ahead of Albion. 

The escape was even more remarkable considering Leicester spent the majority of the campaign in the bottom two and ended the season with a league-high 24 defeats.

Lee’s brief, but successful, spell in charge came to an end on 30 May, 1991, soon after the season had finished, when Brian Little was appointed as manager. Promotion was the aim.

I have had a soft spot for the Gas ever since that day they did us a huge favour!

[Heathrow fox]

That was one of the only times I felt genuinely unsafe at a football ground.The surging in the pens that day.Being in front of a crash barrier wasn’t the best place to be.Even Bill Anderson said the official attendance was probably 10000 out.It was a strange atmosphere.Very nervy.I think the Oxford contingent were moved upstairs and we had the whole kop?Once James scored all I cared about was what was going on in Bath.I think it was Saunders who scored for them.Anyway Rovers did us such a favour that day.Good on em.

Edited 3 April 2020 by Heathrow fox

[l444ry]

Had a season ticket that campaign sat one row behind the directors box. Remember feeling uncomfortable for Pleat and Shipman squirming at the abuse they were getting. Not saying they didn't deserve it but it really was dogs abuse. 

[Gary Eatfood]

On 03/04/2020 at 12:15, Izzy said:

Was just about to post the same 

 

I managed two. The game against Oxford and then the last game at Filbo against Spurs.

[kingston_fox]

On 03/04/2020 at 15:17, Spudulike said:

Doesn't tell the whole story. My lasting memory was during the final nervous few minutes hearing all of the rumours and counter rumours of goings on at Twerton Park. Desperately hanging on at 1-0 with Oxford piling on the pressure and getting closer to an equaliser that would've relegated us (a free header somehow cleared our crossbar). Crowd whistling and screaming at the ref to blow when a lose ball on the edge of our 18 yard box is intercepted by Gary Mills. The Kop imploring him to hoof it anywhere when instead he controls it and dribbles the length of the pitch and wins a corner at the other end. That took the pressure off and we held on to start the celebrations. Sad note for me was that I couldn't get on the pitch as it was a bit of a drop from the Double Decker! 

I remember people climbing down from the double decker where we were sat.

 

One guy in front of us who had a radio and was relaying the other scores got up and said he had to get down there and scrambled over into the main stand. 

 

As a 9 year old we just stayed put and soaked it up. Amazing atmosphere though

[Filberts Treat]

https://youtu.be/4mMXf5pOjdk Highlights from the game at the end of this. Although it’s worth watching the whole thing!

[Bayfox]

On 03/04/2020 at 11:56, Jobyfox said:

Remember it well and being on the pitch at the end in my one and only pitch invasion.

 

Great memories 

The last proper, spontaneous pitch invasion.

[purpleronnie]

On ‎03‎/‎04‎/‎2020 at 11:56, Jobyfox said:

Remember it well and being on the pitch at the end in my one and only pitch invasion.

 

Great memories 

Me too, although I wasn't part of the initial rush of fans so for me it was more of a pitch amble.

[purpleronnie]

2 hours ago, Bayfox said:

The last proper, spontaneous pitch invasion.

what about Newcastle 1992?