Bobby Smith in the Hidegkuti Role

[kushiro]

It's so great when a new piece of ancient Leicester City footage suddenly appears online - especially when it's as good as this clip, uploaded just a couple of weeks ago by 'The Free Football Library'. 

 

I discovered it totally by accident. I was reading up about the Rock Against Racism concert at the De Montfort Hall on April 9th 1979 and in the Mercury that day was a report on Leicester City 1 Stoke City 1. This was in Jock Wallace's first season, when despite struggling near the bottom of Division Two, the fans were totally on his side as he'd thrown in a group of youngsters who were playing attractive, if not always winning football. 

 

Bill Anderson was heaping on the praise in his match report, and described our goal like this: Goodwin sliced his way through from midfield, found Smith who then put Buchanan through to beat Jones magnificently.  

 

It sounded like a really interesting game so I tried to find out more - and the first piece that came up in the archive search was 'ATV 2.25pm: Star Soccer. Leicester CIty v Stoke CIty'.

 

Wow - it was on telly. I thought I'd seen all the available match action from that season, and I couldn't remember this one. A quick youtube search revealed this footage - just uploaded, with only nine people having watched it so far.  It deserves a much wider audience. That goal is even better than Bill Anderson described it.

 

We're knocking it around confidently like 1972 Leeds United, and then the Goodwin / Smith / Buchanan link up totally pulls the Stoke defence apart. 

 

 

You might have noticed Geoff Scott in the Stoke defence. Jock brought him to Filbert Street the following season. But this wasn't his finest moment. He is utterly defeated by Bobby Smith' s movement in the build up to the goal. Smith is in a central striker's position, but as we build up the move, he comes deep. Scott is caught in the classic centre half dilemma - do I follow him or hold my ground?  He decided to go with his man, but as Goodwin slices through, Scott leaves Smith and makes a forlorn attempt to tackle the Leicester midfielder. Scott's actions have left two things completely open - Bobby Smith, and the middle of the Stoke defence, in which there is now a massive hole. 

 

It's like chess. All it requires now for a kill is for Goodwin to find Smith,  and for Smith to find Buchanan, who is running into that vacated central position. Those two moves are executed perfectly, and so is the finish. 

 

What a ****ing goal. 

 

That was the verve that kept the fans right behind Jock despite the struggles, and which would take us to promotion the following season.

Edited 2 December 2023 by kushiro

[kushiro]

A few more things to say about that game. 

 

Jock asked Tommy Williams to do a marking job on Howard Kendall.

 

Stoke manager Alan Durban had rested striker Garth Crooks that day, but later that year Crooks came back to Filbert Street and scored a hat-trick for England U-21 against Bulgaria on a night when he was racially abused repeatedly  (the kind of thing that led to Rock Against Racism being formed).

 

Gary Lineker was one of the youngsters Jock threw in that season, but he wasn't in the line-up that day. His debut was on New Year's Day but he hadn't made the impact of Dave Buchanan. His second appearance for City would come a week after the Stoke game, and in the game after that he scored the crucial goal at Notts County that removed any lingering worries about relegation.

 

Speaking of Notts County,  Stoke went to Meadow Lane on the final day of the season needing a win to go up - and with 14,000 away fans backing them they had to wait until two minutes from time for the goal that took them up.

 

Three days after that, we rounded off our season with a 2-2 draw at Bramall Lane, a game United needed to win by nine clear goals to stay up. That was the youngest team we'd ever fielded in a senior game.

 

 

Edited 2 December 2023 by kushiro

[mod hero]

Hide Guti

[smudger63]

"I was there" as they say! 

I remember Linekers debut against Oldham very clearly too.

It was bloody freezing, and I couldn't feel my feet.

Lineker who was 17 or 18 if i rememmber correctly, and was played on the wing, and never really made an impression, Buchannon who was 16, played up front and was fantastic on the day.

Pretty sure the Oldham game was Bobby Smiths debut too, and looked a really decent player, which he was.

He ended up here playing as a full back in later times, which I never felt he was ever at his best, and wasted his talent further up the pitch.

The following game from the Oldham game on New Year's Day, I'm pretty sure was Andy Peakes debut, who was 18 or 19, and a cracking player.

The second half of that season really sowed the seeds of our promotion the following season.

Even now the 1979/80 promotion was right up there with my favourite season's.

Such a young team, with Big Jock as our manager.

Not always the best football, but blood, guts, passion and 100 per cent commitment is what we got from Jocks team, and I will never forget his time with us, and be forever grateful I was there to enjoy the ride.

 

Edited 2 December 2023 by smudger63

[Stadt]

14k must have been a massive away following at that time. IIRC attendances were fairly low in the late 70s and through into the 80s

[SouthStandUpperTier]

4 hours ago, smudger63 said:

The following game from the Oldham game on New Year's Day, I'm pretty sure was Andy Peakes debut, who was 18 or 19, and a cracking player.

The Cup game against Norwich wasn't it? Weller scoring in his white tights in his penultimate game for the club before permanently joining the magnificently named New England Tea Men.

[Izzy]

A couple of years later my parents took me to the Junior Foxes Xmas party at Filbo one night.

 

We walked in all nervous as some of the players were there and the first to walk up to us and introduce himself was Bobby Smith. 

 

I can't recall much about it but my old man says how polite and courteous Smith was and he really put us at ease, then he introduced us to Smith and Lineker.

 

There's a picture of us all in the attic somewhere.

 

RIP Bobby Smith