1996/97 Season - Memories

[Corky]

Finished 9th but were still in trouble with two matches to go. Matt Elliott's winner v Wednesday a vital yet not really discussed goal with regards to it's importance.

 

Top half and a trophy for a newly-promoted team, just a brilliant season in the end. Was getting into football then and you felt they were big matches and the Premier League had really arrived.

[whetstonefox]

I remember that Man Utd game 2-2, sure it was a Saturday lunchtime kick off , bright sunshine, great game , dunno why I remember it, possibly because they put out a full strength team and we more than matched them, whereas in 94/95, they sent half their best team and still walloped us in a depressing match. We was back!!! 

[Ric Flair]

3 minutes ago, whetstonefox said:

I remember that Man Utd game 2-2, sure it was a Saturday lunchtime kick off , bright sunshine, great game , dunno why I remember it, possibly because they put out a full strength team and we more than matched them, whereas in 94/95, they sent half their best team and still walloped us in a depressing match. We was back!!! 

11.30am kick off I think? Absolutely mad and a vintage performance from Ian Marshall.

[Corky]

The Blackburn home match was brilliant- just a shame nobody saw it.

[Paninistickers]

1 hour ago, Corky said:

The Blackburn home match was brilliant- just a shame nobody saw it.

Thick Fog, yeah?

[deep blue]

1 hour ago, Corky said:

The Blackburn home match was brilliant- just a shame nobody saw it.

 

1 hour ago, Corky said:

The Blackburn home match was brilliant- just a shame nobody saw it.

The last match, away at Blackburn, was brilliant. Bright sunshine changed to a snowstorm at halftime. Having secured our place in the previous match we played with freedom and stuffed them. Heskey scored with a sensational strike from way out. I was lucky enough to be there.

 

On another note, I would repeat what someone else said earlier.  Heskey was amazing that season, but after one good season at Liverpool they neutered and destroyed him.

[Paninistickers]

Strange start to the season as I think most thought it'd be the usual relegation season. 

 

I went to spurs away early on Sunday TV game. An appalling following of 500 or so. We outplayed them. The ref panicked when it looked like we were cruising to an away win and gifted them a scandalous penalty midway through the second half to equalise. 

 

Then the Marsh scored a header in the last minute and we were off and running. 

 

Same day county won the county championship. 

[Paninistickers]

Heskey did struggle with confidence. The crowd as per didn't help. Every time he got the ball there was a sense he could do something but if he messed up, the crowd soon let him.know. we are a funny lot. Always have been.

 

He was unplayable when on song. He destroyed stuart nethercotts career, such was his mauling. Southgate couldn't cope. Nor Sol Campbell. Nor Frank Lebouef. Nor Jaap Stan.

[Corky]

We were seriously done over in the FA Cup with penalties- obviously the Chelsea one is well known but in the 4th round against Norwich they won a penalty when the foul happened about three yards outside the box.

[Ric Flair]

4 minutes ago, Corky said:

We were seriously done over in the FA Cup with penalties- obviously the Chelsea one is well known but in the 4th round against Norwich they won a penalty when the foul happened about three yards outside the box.

Didn't we have a stonewall one not given to us vs Chelsea by Mike Reed before he then awarded them a soft one? I can vaguely remember that being the precursor to the outrage.

[foxestalkisfullofidiots]

7 hours ago, stripeyfox said:

I also remember queing overnight at Filbert Street for the Final tickets. They said on the radio there were a few hundred left which would go on sale the next morning (a Saturday iirc). So we got down there about 7pm on the Friday evening and there were already loads in the queue which snaked around the car park. In the end I think they opened the ticket office up during the evening and we got tickets around midnight I think. 

 

I remember this And then people who arrived at 7am the next morning were in the mercury moaning 😂

[tylesta]

Coming home from school to be told to get changed quick you're going Sheffield soon. Never expected it so made it even better day

[Chicago Foxile]

4 hours ago, Corky said:

The Blackburn home match was brilliant- just a shame nobody saw it.

Brilliant, forgot about this until now. In the kop and couldn’t see past the half way line!!

Edited 5 May 2020 by Chicago Foxile

[Chicago Foxile]

Ipswich away on a cold January night for the quarter final of the league cup was pretty special. Seemed to take thousands- great atmosphere 

Edited 5 May 2020 by Chicago Foxile

[SystonFox]

11 hours ago, Ric Flair said:

11.30am kick off I think? Absolutely mad and a vintage performance from Ian Marshall.

I remember, vividly, listening to this match in the front of my dads car in wilkos car park Syston. Back when the entrance was only on the main road and the car park went up the back via a small hill. A very vivid memory for some strange reason. Great times. I was 9/10 in 96/97.

[gw_leics772]

18 hours ago, Ric Flair said:

Another great memory was the home game towards the end of the season vs Sheffield Wednesday. We'd recently won the cup but still had business to tidy up in the league to be mathematically safe. The atmosphere in the closing stages of thew game when it was evident we were staying up as well as the cup glory and Europe to look forward to was immense. If I remember rightly Lennon and/or Izzet were unavailable for this game as were a few others and they were all sat in the Carling Stand celebrating with the fans.

 

Special times and memories, it really was pinch yourself stuff even given what we've been through in recent years. I fcukin love everything about the 90's when it comes to football, music and film. I've many books that intertwine all 3 and the feelings of nostalgia reading them is euphoric.

Great years largely due to my age but also living through the time when we were the best we've ever been (and probably at the time, likely the best we ever would be 👀👀) 

 

Anyway, in lock down I am devouring more books. 

 

Giz a listof book recommendations please Ric. I'm ready to escape 2020.

[Ric Flair]

9 hours ago, Chicago Foxile said:

Ipswich away on a cold January night for the quarter final of the league cup was pretty special. Seemed to take thousands- great atmosphere 

I went to this as well, felt like we had the majority of one side of their stadium. In reality we probably had half a tier but it was a great atmosphere. Robins came out of the wilderness to have a massive hand in us winning the cup. Great winner vs Ipswich and then dug an unbelievable cross out in injury time to get the equaliser at Wembley.

[Ric Flair]

1 hour ago, gw_leics772 said:

Great years largely due to my age but also living through the time when we were the best we've ever been (and probably at the time, likely the best we ever would be 👀👀) 

 

Anyway, in lock down I am devouring more books. 

 

Giz a listof book recommendations please Ric. I'm ready to escape 2020.

When We Were Lions - Euro 96 and The Last Great British Summer (just finished this book and it's absolutely superb)

The Last Party - Britpop, Blair and The Demise of English Rock (think there are two versions to this book by the same author John Harris)

1997: The Future that Never Happened

Football Against The Enemy

World In Motion

All Played Out

 

 

 

[Ric Flair]

Just finished the 1996/97 review on YouTube and the first thought that comes to mind is how many times Heskey hits the inside of the post in games, there must be half a dozen shown in the season! He really was a beast of a player that season.

[gw_leics772]

2 hours ago, Ric Flair said:

Just finished the 1996/97 review on YouTube and the first thought that comes to mind is how many times Heskey hits the inside of the post in games, there must be half a dozen shown in the season! He really was a beast of a player that season.

Link please and thanks for the book list 😘👍

[Paninistickers]

4 hours ago, Ric Flair said:

I went to this as well, felt like we had the majority of one side of their stadium. In reality we probably had half a tier but it was a great atmosphere. Robins came out of the wilderness to have a massive hand in us winning the cup. Great winner vs Ipswich and then dug an unbelievable cross out in injury time to get the equaliser at Wembley.

It was roughly half of thier stand....lower half only had a few rows anyway. I reckon 3-4k....but noise and atmosphere was top rank. Second only to Wimbledon second leg (still the best away following I've ever experienced - 7k boozed up and lively)

[evil jack]

I can only echo all the above - absolutely cracking season - I was football mad!

 

 

[Ric Flair]

1 hour ago, gw_leics772 said:

Link please and thanks for the book list 😘👍

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKMlEIKnq3Q

[boots60]

Like many Leicester City fans up until 2015-2016 I was convinced that I would never see a better team than the 1996 to 2000 O'Neill side.

2 trophies & 4 top 10 finishes was, to me, the ultimate era.

[Ric Flair]

Simon Grayson had a blinder of a season. He was one of those players who even in his mid to late twenties was better in the PL than he was in the division below. I always thought he was very inconsistent and never as good as Gary Mills had been before his arrival but the season of 1996/97 he was immense and think he won POTY? Soon got too big for his boots and wanted the move to Villa and we did well to get £1.5m for him which we used to get Savage for £400k and £1.1m on Graham Fenton, BIDNIZ!!