Super Stevie Claridge

[Winstonthedog]

21 minutes ago, Parker Pen said:

I agree, and the pandemonium when the ball hit the back of the net.

It certainly was ... time actually stood still for a few seconds before the mayhem 

[Foxdiamond]

6 minutes ago, Kitchandro said:

And he’s also on record saying he shinned it.

I mean, it’s on the video. Look at the technique. If he hits it cleanly it goes straight at Martin. The flight of the ball doesn’t suggest a clean hit and that’s why the goalkeeper is rooted. If you slow that video down it’s obvious it comes off the bottom of his shin.

 

I’m not taking anything away from the guy but his first reaction was his most accurate one.

 

Either way. It was a deliberate attempt at goal and not a fluke. After 120 minutes he can be expected to have heavy legs.

[Groby_Blue]

22 minutes ago, urban.spaceman said:

I can still remember walking up Wembley Way. 
 

I can still remember ripping up the newspaper to use as confetti.
 

I can still remember Super Stevie Claridge reverberating around the concourse before the match.

 

I can still remember spotting people I knew from school. 
 

I can still remember the slightly obstructed view from behind the stanchion. 
 

I can still remember the blue and while balloons.

 

I can still remember the people sitting around me. 
 

I can still remember time standing still as that ball was in the air.

 

I can still remember the ****ing ROAR when it went in.

 

I can still remember getting home to watch the whole thing again on VHS recorded off the telly.

 

Easily, one of the greatest days of my childhood and as a Leicester City fan.

 

NOSTALGIA TRIP:

 

I remember parking at Neasden and drinking in the pub with the friendly locals. Then walked to Neasden tube station to get the tube to Wembley and all hell had broken loose. The same lads who were in the pub were smashing the place up. 

 

Riot vans arrived so we quickly scarpered and had to walk to Wembley stadium. Just took our seats as the players emerged from the tunnel. 

 

Everyone remembers that goal but I'll also always remember that amazing pass from Walsh that set Muzzy away and won the penalty for the equaliser. 

 

What a day. 

[urban.spaceman]

12 minutes ago, dobbylcfc said:

Was there with my dad what a great summer 96 was claridge’s shinner euro 96 boiling hot weather. Great times 

1996 was such an iconic summer. One of the absolute best. 

[los dedos]

14 minutes ago, Kitchandro said:

And he’s also on record saying he shinned it.

I mean, it’s on the video. Look at the technique. If he hits it cleanly it goes straight at Martin. The flight of the ball doesn’t suggest a clean hit and that’s why the goalkeeper is rooted. If you slow that video down it’s obvious it comes off the bottom of his shin.

 

I’m not taking anything away from the guy but his first reaction was his most accurate one.

 

No, he said that he regretted saying he shinned it ! I'll go with Claridges version 👌

[ROB-THE-BLUE]

New DoF??

[los dedos]

I often wonder what Palace fans think of that day . They must've been gutted, we often talk of Blackburn and Swindon but this would've been worse if it happened to us !

[SouthStandUpperTier]

Despite his later retraction, I've always thought it was ankle/shin. Tired legs or not, the ball travelled way too slowly for it to be all boot. Not that he or any of us should care.

[coolhandfox]

Some massive moments for the club winner in the PO final and the winner in the league cup final.

 

Someone who not as celebrated as he should be.

[Bordersfox]

Iconic.  Despite recent successes still probably my favourite ever Leicester goal.

[Guest worth_the_wait]

I think the reason the ball didn't fly into the net at 70 mph, was because Claridge had been running around for 120 mins and didn't have the energy to hit it any harder!

I think he hit it cleanly, and bitterly regretted his post-match brain fart of "I shinned it".

 

Nigel Martyn didn't move a muscle as he was probably unsighted by the Palace defender in front of him, and lost flight of the ball for the first split second.    

It is funny how he just watched it "ah, that'll be the ball then"      

 

<<< EDITED TO SAY >>>   As has already been said ... who cares how he hit it.   It went in, and was one of the most brilliant moments ever.    Time really did stand still for a second or two.   Then absolute bedlam. 

Edited 27 May 2025 by worth_the_wait

[steveherbe]

One of the greatest City moments.

[Guy]

Tales From The Boot Camp, still an intriguing and cracking read of his autobiography if you can get hold of a copy. I still have the original hard back from 1997, then the additional (semi revised) paparback version from a few months further on down the line from the original. Heady mid-late 90s days!

[Foxmeister]

40 minutes ago, Guy said:

Tales From The Boot Camp, still an intriguing and cracking read of his autobiography if you can get hold of a copy. I still have the original hard back from 1997, then the additional (semi revised) paparback version from a few months further on down the line from the original. Heady mid-late 90s days!

Didn’t he say in the book that he played with a bloke at Weymouth who had a disabled badge for his car?  😂

[SK3Blue]

I was right behind the goal, high up, genuinely thought it had gone over the bar and hit the advertising board and hit the outside of the back of the net.

 

Just remember Nigel Martyn statuesque and then mayhem. 
 

Muzzy and Scott Taylor were brilliant. 

[Vacamion]

 

 

Glad he hasn't snuffed it 

 

I was there.   

 

It's true when they say that there was an instant of surreal quiet disbelief when the goal went in, followed a fraction of a second later by utter, utter mayhem.

 

 

[iancognito]

Now there's a betting sponsor you'd love on your shirt

[ALC Fox]

I remember as a kid running around my grandparents' dining room table like a maniac when the goal went in 

[DJW1]

2 hours ago, los dedos said:

I often wonder what Palace fans think of that day . They must've been gutted, we often talk of Blackburn and Swindon but this would've been worse if it happened to us !

Funnily enough I think they won the play-off final 1 year later, against poor old Sheffield United,  with a goal in the 88th minutes

[DJW1]

1 hour ago, Foxmeister said:

Didn’t he say in the book that he played with a bloke at Weymouth who had a disabled badge for his car?  😂

At Aldershot (I should know, I´ve read the book 3 or 4 times! Highly recommended)

[DJW1]

I was a season ticket holder but after the infamous Sheffield United game I gave up hope of going up and booked a holiday in Spain for the play-off weekend. Serves me right!

I was there at Hillsborough though when Super Steve´s other volley won the League Cup

[CrazyKopCorner]

I was up by the Royal Box and when it hit the net there was definitely a split second delay before the place erupted.  
 

It really was a surreal moment.
 

Still a top 10 moment in 50 years of supporting us. 

[markko]

Claridge was a rare breed. I think it was the season we got up, when no matter how much punishment he got, he just did not give the ball away. We could do with a few.more.of.him at the moment.

[foxile5]

The last goal scored in the old Wembley nets before they were replaced with more modern designs for Euro 96.

[Guy]

7 hours ago, Foxmeister said:

Didn’t he say in the book that he played with a bloke at Weymouth who had a disabled badge for his car?  😂

That and many other gems of true tales!