The Old Main Stand >> Filbert Street

[Guest StevieLynex]

1 hour ago, Farrington fox said:

I remember ole Hugh Johns in the commentary box on the roof, Sunday Star Soccer. 

One nothing Villa

[Guest StevieLynex]

Had a tour of Filbert Street in the mid seventies as part of a school trip. Just remember the baths that must have been under the main stand.

 

Whilst we are here, for old time's sake, 'Main Stand give us a song, Main Stand, Main Stand give us a song'

[Guest StevieLynex]

https://www.lcfc.com/news/1949236/leicester-city-in-the-second-world-war-filbert-streets-main-stand-fire

[SpacedX]

3 hours ago, Angus Scott said:

What wonderful photos, spent so many happy hours watching from those terraces

Same here - a young teen looking across enviously at the Kop and wishing I had the balls to graduate into pen 3.

[Gary Eatfood]

3 hours ago, Wymsey said:

Did anyone take anything from the old ground, as a souvenir, at the last game played at Filbert Street?

I grabbed a chunk of the centre circle before the security got there.

[Gordon the Great]

1 hour ago, Farrington fox said:

I remember ole Hugh Johns in the commentary box on the roof, Sunday Star Soccer. 

Big City fan or so it was rumoured.

[Webbo]

First game I ever went to we stood in front of the main stand. 

[tom27111]

39 minutes ago, StevieLynex said:

Had a tour of Filbert Street in the mid seventies as part of a school trip. Just remember the baths that must have been under the main stand.

 

Whilst we are here, for old time's sake, 'Main Stand give us a song, Main Stand, Main Stand give us a song'

EAST STAND, START THE WAVE...

[Rob S]

I was a ball boy for several seasons at Filbo circa 1980 for the reserves (great times) & a mascot vs WBA in the League Cup 1981. I remember the gym & there was a corridor that ran on the car park side of it. This had a number of different spaces off it including a kit storage room ( George Dewis ran this) & the kit washing room plus (I think) a kit drying room too. I remember sitting in George’s kit room pre match, at half time & post match warming up on cold days. The smell of deep heat prevailed throughout, happy times! 

[Guest StevieLynex]

1 hour ago, tom27111 said:

EAST STAND, START THE WAVE...

Boring. boring Main Stand

[Guest StevieLynex]

1 hour ago, Gordon the Great said:

Big City fan or so it was rumoured.

I think people believed that Gary Newbon was a Leicester fan, but he supported Wolves

[Jobyfox]

4 hours ago, st albans fox said:

I think I got changed in the gym when I was mascot ....remember frank coming in and banging a ball against the wall pre game 

I did wonder where you were going with that just for a fleeting moment ..... 

[rico]

4 hours ago, Wymsey said:

Did anyone take anything from the old ground, as a souvenir, at the last game played at Filbert Street?

My mate apparently has the match ball...

[Guest StevieLynex]

17 minutes ago, rico said:

My mate apparently has the match ball...

Is this it?

[truefox]

Best Vantage Points!!

 

Double Decker!!

 

I remember climimbing the high steps into the double decker and you could look over PEN 3 and PEN 4 to gage the atmosphere.

The Double Decker as a child felt so steep and dangerous, almost like you could fall over the edge!

The thing about sitting in the double decker was that you could here the home and away fans chanting underneath you but you had no visibility as to what was happening!

 

North Stand

 

My favorite part of the stadium was sitting behind the goal at Filbert St end, if you sat right behind the goal nets you were so close!!!  Literally when Penalties were being taken

you felt you were in goal!!

 

North Stand Executive Boxes

 

My only time watching from the boxes was a Family Night Football Reserves Night when we played Man Utd!  15,000 attended a reserve match to watch a young scholes etc

 

The Executive box I watched from was dead center above the cross bar!!  I have to say I personally believe this was the best view in all of the English Football grounds!!

You were literally floating above the crossbar with a 100per cent perfect view of the whole pitch!!!

 

When a shot came in you literally ducked! even though the glass was shatter proof!!

 

East Stand

 

I watched 3 matches from here, this was for one reason or another my least favorite seating position!   I think it was the angle and you didnt feel part of the overall atmosphere!

 

Main Stand Standing

 

I spent a lot of time at the filbert st side of the Main stand standing area next to the tunnel!

 

If you positioned yourself next to the away bench you were in touching distance of the 4 or 5people that were sitting there!

 

Often we would shout abuse at the away manager and he would turn around and join in with the banter!! 

 

You could also talk to the sub who was warming up!!!

 

If you stood at the front you would really notice the curve on the pitch from one touchline to the east stand touchline!

 

Main Stand Sitting

 

I had a season ticket sitting in the main stand when David Pleat was manager!

 

He would watch from the directors box and phone down instructions!!

 

As we were two rows behind the directors box we would see the home and visiting celebrities!

 

For Leicester we would see Willie Thorne etc and for teams visiting like Crystal Palace you would have David Kid Jenson (Top of the pops)sitting 3 rows in front of you!!

 

The View!  The old main stand still gave a very goof view although you did feel detached somewhat from the overall atmosphere!

 

Also if the game got boring, you vision would drift from one the pitch to the building crane next to the Royal Infirmary or the Nurses Flats!!

 

If you sat on the very back row of the main stand you would often sit next to the injured first team players!  You could also see a scary ladder that went up into the Television Gantry!!

 

Pen 4 ,Pen 3

 

I enjoyed the atmosphere but from a purists view, I found the view of the pitch to be somewhat restricted!! but just my opinion!!

 

Final memory!!

 

Back in the mid 80,s  1985 etc, you could rock up to Filbo in the summer and the players entrance doors would always be open!!  No security , no one around!

 

I used to walk down the tunnel, have a look in the changing rooms and then out onto the pitch!!

 

The only person in the ground was Steve Welsh the groundsman!  As long as you didnt walk onto the pitch he would let you walk al the way around the ground to take photos!!

 

I walked up into the double decker and all around 4sides of the ground!

 

The Training ground was the same!! no security, when Mike Newell signed and Jari Rantentanan me my mu and dad went to Belvoir Drive, walked around to the training pitch and the players who were having shooting practice asked me my mum and dad to stand behind the goal to retrieve and throw back the wayward balls!

 

Such Brilliant days!! Amazing memories!!!

 

 

 

 

Edited 14 February 2021 by truefox

[Guest StevieLynex]

2 minutes ago, truefox said:

Double Decker!!

 

The Double Decker as a child felt so steep and dangerous, lie you could fall over the edge!

 

Agree with that. Only time I ever ventured up their again was when the school got free tickets for a game and we had to sit in the corner towards the centre stand 

[worth_the_wait]

1 hour ago, StevieLynex said:

I think people believed that Gary Newbon was a Leicester fan, but he supported Wolves

Not sure about that?   He always said he was a City fan when interviewed.

[Guest StevieLynex]

2 minutes ago, worth_the_wait said:

Not sure about that?   He always said he was a City fan when interviewed.

Met him at the Saffron Lane sports stadium in the seventies when he was doing some work for ATV re cycling, got his autograph and asked who he supported - Wolves

[truefox]

The Best Atmosphere at a Filbert Street Match was the Tony James Great Escape against Oxford United!!

 

The great thing that the club decided to do to ramp the home advantage was to put home fans in the entire Kop!! Pen 1 .2.3 and 4!

 

And Even the half of the east stand usually reserved for seated away fans was given to Leicester fans!!

 

For the only match in Filbert Street history the Oxford Away fans (300 of them) were forced to sit in the far left of the upper DoubleDecker!!

 

At the final whistle there was mutual applause between both sets of fans as we invaded the pitch!

 

Sadly all of these great memories were before digital cameras or mobile phones, so these are just great memories in our heads!!!!!

[Guest StevieLynex]

2 minutes ago, truefox said:

The Best Atmosphere at a Filbert Street Match was the Tony James Great Escape against Oxford United!!

 

The great thing that the club decided to do to ramp the home advantage was to put home fans in the entire Kop!! Pen 1 .2.3 and 4!

 

And Even the half of the east stand usually reserved for seated away fans was given to Leicester fans!!

 

For the only match in Filbert Street history the Oxford Away fans (300 of them) were forced to sit in the far left of the upper DoubleDecker!!

 

At the final whistle there was mutual applause between both sets of fans as we invaded the pitch!

 

Sadly all of these great memories were before digital cameras or mobile phones, so these are just great memories in our heads!!!!!

Did you ask them whether they came in a taxi?

[Guest StevieLynex]

5 minutes ago, truefox said:

The Best Atmosphere at a Filbert Street Match was the Tony James Great Escape against Oxford United!!

 

Shrewsbury 1982 FA Cup Quarter Final and Burnley 1983-1984 were equally as good

[09bballer]

I remember being in the front row of the Double Decker for Sunderland 5-2 when Heskey and Collymore both played, a brilliant game. I never went in the East Stand at all but Pen 3 was amazing, especially for night games aged about 14.

[ceredigion]

I can remember going to a game in 1979 when City played Blackburn in the 2nd Division. I always went with my dad but he had to be elsewhere that day so he left me in the custody of a friend of his called Joe Musgrove who was a real old-timer of local football and did the radio commentaries for Leicester hospitals from the little cubicle over the Main Stand enclosure. I was 12 years old at the time and after the game Joe took me backstage into the bowels of the Main Stand and into the Directors Lounge. I can still remember seeing Ron Atkinson, Jim Smith and Gary Newbon talking to each other. I think at the time Ron was WBA manager, the Bald Eagle was Birmingham manager and Gary Newbon was the Star Soccer presenter. The reason they were all there was because it was the winter of 78/79, the Winter of Discontent and the whole country was snowbound. But matches still went ahead at Filbert Street because of the balloon over the pitch and the game was being televised as all the others were postponed.

 

I asked Ron and Jim Smith to autograph my programme and Gary Newbon was waiting for me to hand him the pen so he could sign it too, but I didn't want his autograph so I didn't hand him the pen. He seemed a bit miffed. I remember it to this day and I hope he does too.

[ceredigion]

21 minutes ago, truefox said:

The Best Atmosphere at a Filbert Street Match was the Tony James Great Escape against Oxford United!!

 

The great thing that the club decided to do to ramp the home advantage was to put home fans in the entire Kop!! Pen 1 .2.3 and 4!

 

And Even the half of the east stand usually reserved for seated away fans was given to Leicester fans!!

 

For the only match in Filbert Street history the Oxford Away fans (300 of them) were forced to sit in the far left of the upper DoubleDecker!!

 

At the final whistle there was mutual applause between both sets of fans as we invaded the pitch!

 

Sadly all of these great memories were before digital cameras or mobile phones, so these are just great memories in our heads!!!!!

I was at that game and I thought we were doomed to the 3rd Division. We had to rely on WBA not winning to stay up and they only drew against Bristol Rovers. Going into the game bothe LCFC and WBA were facing the drop into the 3rd tier for the first time in their history. That day it was WBA's turn. Ours came 17 years later at Stoke. But after the game with thousands of fans on the pitch the players emerged in the Directors' box in the Main Stand to salute the supporters as if we'd just won the league rather than finishing in our lowest ever league position.

 

 

[1972 Fox]

Does anyone remember the little steel footbridge that linked the main stand and the double decker? It was usually blocked off but I recall there being a skirmish between City and Arsenal fans in the double decker with people using the footbridge as either an escape route or a means to join in. Around 1983 iirc.