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BirminghamFox

RIP Frank Worthington :(

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Very sad to learn of frankie passing a true fox legend , Liverpool didn’t sign him & we did & what a buy it was just at the start of my Leicester city adventure i was 10 & only got to see him play once at filbert street , what a player he was a true club legend that played in one of the best Leicester sides we’ve ever had , now I’ll show my age but his goals & skills were the best bits on Sunday’s “star soccer “ back in the day !! RIP Elvis 😢😢

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59 minutes ago, Analysethis said:

 

I was alongside amongst the Derby fans for that goal at the Baseball Ground. I was one of those indestructible teenagers during those mad terrace days and had no fear about celebrating like a looney when Frankie scored. 

 

I think it was also the match after Clough had been sacked and he turned up in the stand to wave at the fans (as featured in the Damned United). 

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Immensely shocked and saddened by his death, but not that surprised. It was apparent from the messages coming from his family a few years back that all was not well with him. Yet another 60s/70s player develops Alzheimers.

 

He had the most swagger I think I've ever seen in a footballer, and all the skill to match. During Joe Mercer's brief spell in charge of England he recognised the talent based at City and Wortho and Weller got the call up (Shilton was an automatic choice). He remained in the squad for a few games when Don Revie took over, but Revie and Mercer were like chalk and cheese and I suspect 'freewheeling frank' and Revie (a dour disciplinarian) wouldn't have seen eye-to-eye.

 

I last saw him play when Hinckley Town took on Real Sociedad in pre-season '87-'88. Sadly it was a mismatch of the highest order and Frank spent most of the match watching the Hinckley defence get a mauling.

 

I'm sure there'll be a few ladies dabbing away the tears today. Just an absolute legend.

 

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1 hour ago, jayfox26 said:

Rip frank. Was before my time so I never saw him play but my Dad raved about him. Shame he only got 8 England caps when he was clearly such a talented player. 

We only signed him as he'd failed a medical at Liverpool.. think he'd have gone on to win more international caps if he'd played for them...but their loss was our gain.

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The story of that failed medical:

 

Bill Shankly had identified the Huddersfield Town centre-forward as the kind of skilful goalscorer he wanted in his emerging second great Liverpool line up. Following successful transfer talks - a club record £150,000 deal was agreed in 1972 - the move was put on hold when Worthington failed a medical after having high blood pressure.

 

Shankly was unfazed, instructing Worthington to take a holiday to Majorca to reduce his blood pressure. "My father had just died so I was probably suffering from some form of anxiety, but I was also enjoying the fruits of being young," he explained. He was dating Miss Great Britain at the time, but chatted up another woman on the plane to the Balearic Islands before having a 'threesome' with a Swedish mother and daughter, and then another romp with a Belgian lady.

 

He returned to Anfield for a second medical, and failed again, leading Liverpool to call the move off.

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25 minutes ago, urban.spaceman said:

Sadly I'm another one of those who never got to see him play, but you don't become a Leicester City fan without hearing about Elvis. RIP Frank.

It was worth the admission fee to watch him in the pre match warm up... always had his comb in the back pocket of his shorts.😁

The word genius is banded around these days but Worthy was very worthy of that description.

Dreadfully sad day..😢

Edited by weller54
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Bad news - footballer and a character which is rare these days.Plus all the other lads Kieth .Lenny.Stringy(hes still around)John Sjoberg.

Kept Grannys club in business Birch tells a story about an england training session I think in Malta and the ball went out the back into some trees .Frank went to get it and didnt come back for ages,Birch went to look for him and found him sitting on the ball having a ciggy!. He wasnt well though last time we saw hin at a match.  

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RIP

 

https://www.lcfc.com/news/2075947/frank-worthington-1948-2021

 

Frank Worthington: 1948-2021
OBITUARY
Published 41 mins ago
1 MinuteReading time
It is with great sadness that we learnt of the death of Frank Worthington, who passed away on 22 March, 2021.
Leicester City Club Historian John Hutchinson remembers Frank, who was one of the most entertaining players ever to represent the Foxes.

He signed for Leicester City from Huddersfield Town in August 1972. At the time he was described as an aggressive, powerful striker very much in the traditional centre-forward mould who had just completed a very successful close-season tour with the England Under-23s side. He was much more than this. He was a flair player who entertained the crowd with sublime skill in his role as a rampaging striker.

Frank had nearly signed for Liverpool, but he failed a medical and Leicester City manager Jimmy Bloomfield was able to snap him up for £800,000.

A few days later, Frank had a dream debut for his new club. He scored at Old Trafford in a 1-1 draw with Manchester United. 

In the years which followed, Frank took centre-stage in a Leicester City side which became one of the most attractive footballing sides in the country. It included such stars as Peter Shilton, Steve Whitworth, Keith Weller, Lenny Glover, Jon Sammels and Alan Birchenall.

He played in every match in his first three years at the Club, only missing a handful of games in his five years at Filbert Street during which he played in nearly 250 games, scoring 78 goals. He was top scorer in 1973/74 with 24 goals in the cup and the league. This form earned him eight England caps between May and November 1974. He scored two goals for England, against Argentina and Bulgaria. For three of these games, his Leicester City team-mates, Weller and Shilton, were in the same England side.

When he left Filbert Street in 1977, Frank went on to play for over a dozen other clubs. These included Bolton Wanderers, Birmingham City, Leeds United, Sunderland, Southampton, Brighton & Hove Albion, Tranmere Rovers (where he was later the manager) Preston North End and Stockport County. He also  played in the USA and South Africa.

Without doubt, though, the most successful five years of Frank’s career were spent at Leicester City. His entertaining centre-forward play will live forever in the minds of those fans lucky enough to have seen him.

The thoughts of all at the Club are with Frank’s wife Carol, his family and his friends at this sad time.

 

Not convinced by the £800k

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I'm absolutely gutted. So sad. Frank was a legend in every sense of the word. He lived around the corner from me for a while, on Scraptoft Lane. I think he was with Birgitte then. He was a bloody genius on the pitch. Him, Lenny Glover and Weller. What a trio. Rest in peace, Frankie. I can't resist one more chant "Hello, hello, Frankie Wortho....." 

 

Sorry, but this one has genuinely moved me to tears.

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Frank was my first hero. Met him in Corfu around 2001. He was having a beer with a chaser at 10.00am. Asked him what brought him to Corfu. He replied the missus. Couldn't see her anywhere in the bar. He left after about 10 minutes, driving off on a hired moped. Made my holiday.

RIP, a true Leicester legend

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Farewell to my boyhood LCFC hero. What a player he was!

 

When I was at school in the ‘70s, one kid - a left-footer like Frank - always used to shout out whenever he scored “Ello, Ello, Frankie Wortho, Frankie Wortho”. If he’s still around, I guess he’ll be even sadder than I am today.

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2 hours ago, Buce said:

 

I've always said, if Frankie had been Italian he'd have a hundred caps.

 

The most naturally gifted English player ever.

There are, quite rightly, a myriad of tributes here to a Wonderful, brilliant showman footballer. But this really cuts it for me, he was stunningly skilful and really should have been England's Centre forward for many years..R.I.P. Super Frankie WORTHO!

Edited by Gordon the Great
SPELLING
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