davieG Posted 1 August 2012 Share Posted 1 August 2012 OS In the latest of his 'The Week in History' blogs, Club Historian John Hutchinson recalls the occasion when Manage Brian Little signed David Speedie, a player who at that time was universally vilified by Leicester City fans . . . Nineteen years ago this week, on 1 August 1993, Leicester City's manager Brian Little controversially signed a player who, at the time, probably ranked as the player Leicester City fans most loved to hate. His name was David Speedie. Fourteen months earlier, in May 1992, Speedie had controversially gained the penalty for Kenny Dalglish's Blackburn Rovers in the Play-Off Final against Leicester City. This penalty, scored by ex- Leicester player Mike Newell, denied City a place in the Premier League. His 'dive' was deemed to have been an outrageous act of cheating by the Leicester fans, massed on the sunlit terraces at Wembley for the Club's first visit to the Twin Towers for 23 years. A few months ago I asked David about this incident and about his time at Leicester. His take on that infamous Wembley penalty was: "That penalty for Blackburn was me doing my best for the Club I was playing for at the time. I didn't see it as a penalty. It was more an obstruction. It was the referee who gave the decision. In fairness I thought we did enough in that game to be worthy winners. We missed a penalty and had numerous chances, so I thought it was a fair result in the end." When David signed for Leicester, the Foxes were fresh from their second successive Wembley Play-Off Final defeat. In that final, Glenn Hoddle's Swindon had taken a 3-0 half time lead. In a 12-minute spell, Leicester then pulled the score back to 3-3. In the closing minutes, Leicester again lost out to a controversial penalty after Kevin Poole impeded Swindon's Steve White. After this game, a deflated Brian Little was determined that Leicester would achieve promotion to the Premier League the following season after two near misses. He signed David Speedie to help in this project. Speedie in action against Manchester United duo Roy Keane (l) and Gary Pallister. David told me that when he signed for Leicester, Brian Little had asked him if the Wembley penalty incident would be a problem. He replied that it wouldn't be. He felt that fans are passionate and that they appreciate players who try. He said: "I vividly remember coming out for my first Leicester game to boos, jeers and banners saying 'Judas'. It took me five minutes to turn this round." Very soon he became a bit of a cult hero. He was soon joined in the forward line by Iwan Roberts and Julian Joachim was turning in some scintillating performances. He played in the first 36 league games of the season, scoring 12 times. He was then injured as Leicester went on to secure a play-off place for the third consecutive season. In the second leg of the semi-final against Tranmere Rovers at Filbert Street, David came off the bench, scored the vital goal and then got sent off. It was his last ever first class game. He told me: "People don't realise how badly injured I was when I came off the bench against Tranmere. I played that game with a snapped medial collateral ligament! I'd injured it at Millwall, whose goalkeeper, Kasey Keller, and I hit the same ball at the same time and my knee went all the way back. I hobbled through the last 10 minutes with a snapped knee ligament, although I didn't realise it at the time. Speedie on a visit to King Power Stadium during 2012. "I wanted to be part of the semi-final. I thought if I got a chance to go on, I could do something. I came on and got a little flick for the goal and then Tranmere's goalkeeper, Eric Nixon, got me sent off. We never liked each other. I should never have been sent off. "I was suspended for Wembley, otherwise I probably would have played because we didn't know how bad the injury was. They didn't see anything on the first x-ray. They would have strapped my knee up for Wembley." That season ended with Leicester beating Derby at Wembley for a place in the Premier League, with Steve Walsh scoring two famous goals, even though he had missed most of the season with a cruciate ligament injury and wasn't really fit enough to play. Speedie squares-up with Manchester United goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel. David realised his career was over in pre-season training whilst preparing for life in the Premier League. He remembers that: "In pre-season training, straight running was OK but as soon as I went to turn, the whole leg collapsed because there was nothing inside the knee holding it together. I kept falling over. "That was the end of my professional career, but I loved my time at Leicester." It had certainly been an eventful season for David Speedie. By the time of his appearance against Tranmere, which marked the end of his career, he had definitely won over the Leicester fans in a way that had seemed very unlikely when he signed for the Foxes 19 years ago this week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Posted 1 August 2012 Share Posted 1 August 2012 Feisty one, no doubt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deucalion Posted 1 August 2012 Share Posted 1 August 2012 Fantastic player and just did what any professional would have done at Wembley, although I wasn't as tolerant at the time!!! Read that article earlier and I didn't realise he ended his career by playing for us in that semi. I seem to remember that the goal was a bit shit, it was trickling wide but was headed in by a divot (not Ormondroyd) at the last minute. Still a hugely important goal for us though. So, for me, Speedie is a legend! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leicester_Numan Posted 1 August 2012 Share Posted 1 August 2012 He certainly gave his all when playing for us. That bit in the article about Kevin Poole impeding Steve White still winds me up. It's the only time i've ever seen someone dive sideways. What winds me up even more is White's toothless grin when he gets up knowing he's conned the ref. Grrrrrr!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain... Posted 1 August 2012 Share Posted 1 August 2012 I remember being on holiday and bumping into some older lads in Leicester shirts and they told me we had signed Speedie I didn't believe them and ran to tell my Dad. He said don't be silly of course we haven't signed Speedie, that was the last time I ever trusted him. I seem to remember the boos being in jest in the first game of the season, and continued all season, but as a joke, I think most people realised he was now a Leicester player, and what had happened before was water under the bridge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Posted 1 August 2012 Share Posted 1 August 2012 I remember being on holiday and bumping into some older lads in Leicester shirts and they told me we had signed Speedie I didn't believe them and ran to tell my Dad. He said don't be silly of course we haven't signed Speedie, that was the last time I ever trusted him. I seem to remember the boos being in jest in the first game of the season, and continued all season, but as a joke, I think most people realised he was now a Leicester and what had happened before was water under the bridge. The last time you ever trusted him? Christ. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain... Posted 1 August 2012 Share Posted 1 August 2012 Thanks to Mark and the stats section Speedie's last ever game, doesn't show his red card but I presume it was in the melee at the end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrSpaM Posted 1 August 2012 Share Posted 1 August 2012 Speedeh! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikey_b Posted 1 August 2012 Share Posted 1 August 2012 OS In the latest of his 'The Week in History' blogs, Club Historian John Hutchinson recalls the occasion when Manage Brian Little signed David Speedie, a player who at that time was universally vilified by Leicester City fans . . . Nineteen years ago this week, on 1 August 1993, Leicester City's manager Brian Little controversially signed a player who, at the time, probably ranked as the player Leicester City fans most loved to hate. His name was David Speedie. Fourteen months earlier, in May 1992, Speedie had controversially gained the penalty for Kenny Dalglish's Blackburn Rovers in the Play-Off Final against Leicester City. This penalty, scored by ex- Leicester player Mike Newell, denied City a place in the Premier League. His 'dive' was deemed to have been an outrageous act of cheating by the Leicester fans, massed on the sunlit terraces at Wembley for the Club's first visit to the Twin Towers for 23 years. A few months ago I asked David about this incident and about his time at Leicester. His take on that infamous Wembley penalty was: "That penalty for Blackburn was me doing my best for the Club I was playing for at the time. I didn't see it as a penalty. It was more an obstruction. It was the referee who gave the decision. In fairness I thought we did enough in that game to be worthy winners. We missed a penalty and had numerous chances, so I thought it was a fair result in the end." When David signed for Leicester, the Foxes were fresh from their second successive Wembley Play-Off Final defeat. In that final, Glenn Hoddle's Swindon had taken a 3-0 half time lead. In a 12-minute spell, Leicester then pulled the score back to 3-3. In the closing minutes, Leicester again lost out to a controversial penalty after Kevin Poole impeded Swindon's Steve White. why does everyone always say it was 3-0 at HT? I'd bet good money it was only 1-0! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain... Posted 1 August 2012 Share Posted 1 August 2012 [/left] why does everyone always say it was 3-0 at HT? I'd bet good money it was only 1-0! Finding errors on the OS is like shooting fish in a barrel, you get no credit for spotting them, it's like picking on a retarded midget, it's not big and it's not clever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan LCFC Posted 1 August 2012 Share Posted 1 August 2012 Got to say I like this Hutchinson bloke, always a good read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col city fan Posted 1 August 2012 Share Posted 1 August 2012 Got to say I like this Hutchinson bloke, always a good read. Same here mate. Have to say though, on the day of the dive at Wembley me and mi mates were absolutely fookin seething with the little diving cheating little tosser!!! Speedie, not Hutchinson.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MattP Posted 1 August 2012 Share Posted 1 August 2012 Got to say I like this Hutchinson bloke, always a good read. One of the lads I see down the pub knows him quite well, met him a couple of times, really nice fella and an absolute walking encyclopedia on the football club. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DANGEROUS TIGER Posted 2 August 2012 Share Posted 2 August 2012 Speedie was WAS a God, if a footballer could be called such. Quality and guts. We could do with someone like him now, at our club. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy Posted 2 August 2012 Share Posted 2 August 2012 Speedie was very representative of his generation of 80s and early 90s footballers - give your all for the club and cause, regardless....or something close to that rule of thumb! I think the size of one's ego and of one's wage packet back then was very much of secondary concern to pro footballers of the time, they simply loved the game I think, not so much themselves - like most of them do now! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flowwolf Posted 2 August 2012 Share Posted 2 August 2012 Hated ( sorry disliked ) the little git at wembley that day, but if he had been playing for us instead of them and got us the winning penalty and subsequent promotion to the prem would I have given a fvck about fair play ? NO and nor would any of us on this forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoneDog Posted 2 August 2012 Share Posted 2 August 2012 What a guy! He was a football shithead before he played for us (in my youthful opinion), but when he signed for us I started loving him forevermore. Great striker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Westlife Posted 2 August 2012 Share Posted 2 August 2012 Ahhh, Fox Leisure and my first Leicester shirt. I did like Speedie, I remember my first game at Filbert, we beat Russell Osman's Bristol City 3-0 and he scored two, Julian the other . . . Wheres Lee Phillpott nowadays!? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corky Posted 2 August 2012 Share Posted 2 August 2012 He did his best for the club and contributed while he was here, and I think that would outweigh the negative. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col city fan Posted 2 August 2012 Share Posted 2 August 2012 He did his best for the club and contributed while he was here, and I think that would outweigh the negative. Bet you weren't saying that at the play off final... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bayfox Posted 2 August 2012 Share Posted 2 August 2012 personally i still hated him . until he scored against tranmere. a little more than the 5 mins he claims. but maybe i hold grudges longer than most. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJMadness29 Posted 2 August 2012 Share Posted 2 August 2012 Thanks to Mark and the stats section Speedie's last ever game, doesn't show his red card but I presume it was in the melee at the end. First season I went to the footy. Had one of those stunning Blue, white and yellow rain jackets aswell God I miss Filbert Street!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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