LCFC - Filbert Street photos (May 2003)

[Ryanlcfc3]

In May 2003, Birmingham University Field Archaeology Unit was commissioned by DearsBrack to prepare an archive report on the south stand of Filbert Street, the former ground of Leicester City Football Club, just to the south of the city centre. The work was based on a series of digital images of Filbert Street taken by the developers prior to the demolition of the stadium buildings.

The south stand was built in 1927 to the design of Sir E. O. Williams and D. J. Moss, and was a substantial double decker grandstand of brick, concrete and steel construction, that drew on the pioneering work of the engineer Archibald Leitch, and which embodied the more architectural approach to stadium design that was current in the 1920s and 1930s.

[Ryanlcfc3]

Here some few others to add.

[MattFox]

The Carling Stand was more unique/interesting than anything the KP has to offer and just as modern

[Nolucklcfc]

Would have loved to experience it. It’s interesting how even though we’ve had our most successful period as a club at our current ground, it still doesn’t feel like home to some. 

[Corky]

We'd left the year before yet all they had done was take out the seats (and not all by the looks of it). Was there a hold up with the demolition?

[Blue.Fox84]

I miss this ground, place was special as a kid! 

[davieG]

The seats with LCFC on went to Lancaster City Football Club.

 

Apparently they tried to sell the Carling Stand but it proved to cost more to dismantle it for reuse than anyone would pay for it..

[davieG]

They should have at least salvage this for the new stadium site.

 

[Tuna]

7 minutes ago, davieG said:

The seats with LCFC on went to Lancaster City Football Club.

The superbly named Giant Axe

[Ryanlcfc3]

36 minutes ago, Corky said:

We'd left the year before yet all they had done was take out the seats (and not all by the looks of it). Was there a hold up with the demolition?

The demolition did not begin immediately due to uncertainty around planning permission and site ownership. The club which was suffering financially after administration in October 2002, was trying to sell the site to developers. The financial crisis and administration created a hold-up because the proceeds from any sale would be tied to settling debts, which required legal and creditor sign-offs. Demolition only fully commenced in earnest around May-July 2003, after the site was sold to a student accommodation developer (later Opal Estates). Even then, the job was staggered, with some parts of the stands and fixtures like floodlights still visible into the demolition phase. Filbert Street’s former site was eventually redeveloped into student flats (“Filbert Village”), completed around 2006.

Edited 15 June 2025 by Ryanlcfc3

[MattFox]

8 minutes ago, Ryanlcfc3 said:

The demolition did not begin immediately due to uncertainty around planning permission and site ownership. The club which was suffering financially after administration in October 2002, was trying to sell the site to developers. The financial crisis and administration created a hold-up because the proceeds from any sale would be tied to settling debts, which required legal and creditor sign-offs. Demolition only fully commenced in earnest around May-July 2003, after the site was sold to a student accommodation developer (later Opal Estates). Even then, the job was staggered, with some parts of the stands and fixtures like floodlights still visible into the demolition phase. Filbert Street’s former site was eventually redeveloped into student flats (“Filbert Village”), completed around 2006.

I wouldn’t call the site redeveloped in all honesty

 

Its one communist looking block of student flats surrounded by car parks and waste land

 

[FoxinNotts]

17 minutes ago, davieG said:

They should have at least salvage this for the new stadium site.

 

100 percent correct. Could have easily been made a free standing gateway to the site. No vision. 

[Ryanlcfc3]

6 minutes ago, MattFox said:

I wouldn’t call the site redeveloped in all honesty

 

Its one communist looking block of student flats surrounded by car parks and waste land

 

Some ideas that would help remember the old ground.

 

Filbert Street Heritage Park

• A public space that formally recognises the site’s place in football and Leicester’s civic history.
• Outline of the old pitch embedded into the ground or marked with different paving textures.
• Memorial arch or a partial reconstruction of a stand entrance (e.g. the Main Stand appearance).
• Statues of legendary figures (e.g. Gary Lineker, Gordon Banks, or Steve Walsh).
• Interpretation boards and photos chronicling historic matches and moments from 1891–2002.
• QR codes linking to match footage, stories, and fan memories.

Filbert Street Museum & Community Hub

• A small indoor space that tells the story of Leicester City and the local area.
• Artefacts from the stadium (original seats, signage, matchday programmes, etc).
• Multimedia exhibits for school visits and football historians.
• A flexible-use community hall — workshops, local football forums, and fan events.

[Heart-Shaped Fox]

Those pics are awesome. I went to Filbert Street from the age of about 6 to 10. I don't have a lot of memory of it really. Id do anything to time travel and just go there as an adult. It really is true how you get so nostalgic later in life.

[Guest RYM]

too soon 😫

 

The smell of sweaty hot dogs and onions, cigar smoke and a whiff of something strong from some old guys hip-flask.

 

Pleat out, don’t go Martin, Bovril.

 

What a place.

[Guest Electric Yetis]

Like a punch to the stomach seeing those.

 

I regularly dream that I'm back there watching the match from my season ticket seat on the second row of the Family Stand in the orange seats.

 

Seeing those pictures of the concourse in the double decker where my Dad took me to my first games hits hard. 

 

Sounds dramatic but I get quite cut up if I think about it too much that I'll never be able to go back.

Edited 15 June 2025 by Electric Yetis

[Guest RYM]

1 minute ago, Electric Yetis said:

Like a punch to the stomach seeing those.

 

I regularly dream that I'm back there watching the match from my season ticket seat on the second row of the Family Stand in the orange seats.

 

Seeing those pictures of the concourse in the double decker where my Dad took me to my first games hits hard. 

 

Sounds dramatic but I get quite cut up if I think about it too much that I'll never be able to go back.

Totally agree about DD concourse. That was the scroll stopper for me too. 

[Guest Electric Yetis]

Just now, RYM said:

Totally agree about DD concourse. That was the scroll stopper for me too. 

I'd completely forgotten about how it looked. Had a season ticket in the family stand from 94/95 so would have last sat in there sometime in the 93/94 season but as soon as I saw that photo it brought it all back.

 

The family stand entrance was bizarre, through the turnstyle and up some stairs and you were straight into the stand. We sat near the corner just before the supporters club enclosure seen on the bottom photo.

 

Going to the toilet meant a walk the whole length of the stand to the opposite corner where the only toilet was. The food kiosk in the middle of the stand behind the goal was regularly struck by wayward shots.

[Wasyls Pec Deck]

9 hours ago, davieG said:

The seats with LCFC on went to Lancaster City Football Club.

 

Apparently they tried to sell the Carling Stand but it proved to cost more to dismantle it for reuse than anyone would pay for it..

Really? I live not too far away from Lancaster. Might go and check them out.

 

I only got to go to Filbert Street a handful of times. Perhaps 30 or so. Good early memories! 

Edited 16 June 2025 by Wasyls Pec Deck

[Thefox81]

So many memories from 1989 onwards. Held season tickets in all sections of the ground (except away end obviously) at some point. Miss the place 😪

[ALC Fox]

Oddly enough one of my favourite memories of Filbert Street is being taken there every now and again on non-match days by my grandad. Turning the corner and it just being there. This great hulking thing that is so busy on a Saturday but is currently peaceful, waiting for the hordes in blue to descend, anticipating the next big occasion.

 

Then just wandering into the small club shop that seemed big to me at the time and looking at all the kits with awe. So, so good. 

[Claudio Fannieri]

28 minutes ago, Wasyls Pec Deck said:

Really? I live not too far away from Lancaster. Might go and check them out.

 

I only got to go to Filbert Street a handful of times. I’m not sure exactly, but probably under 10. Good early memories though! 

Another North West based Foxile? 

[Guest Lako42]

I cried like an absolute baby on that last night when they turned the lights off with the legends on the pitch. 

 

God I ****ing loved football back then 

[coolhandfox]

First game down Filbert Street it cost me £3 on the day!

[FoxesTalker]

The club's website until recently had an impressive gallery of photos from Filbert Street. Unfortunately it's not available to view now.