davieG Posted 6 March 2013 Share Posted 6 March 2013 OS Posted: Wed 06 Mar 2013 Author: John Hutchinson Image by: In the latest of his ‘The Week in History’ blogs, Club Historian John Hutchinson recalls a stunning home debut by the talented and well-travelled striker, Stan Collymore. Every decade seems to throw up at least one Leicester City game which was so outstanding, it lives in the supporters’ memories for ever. Such games provide an instant point of reference for those fans lucky enough to have witnessed them. One of these was Leicester City’s stunning 5-2 victory over Sunderland thirteen years ago this week, on 5 March, 2000. Leicester City were an established Premier League side, on their way to their fourth consecutive top ten finish. Martin O’Neill had moulded a group which included such impressive players as Tim Flowers, Frank Sinclair, Steve Guppy, Matt Elliott, Steve Walsh, Gerry Taggart, Muzzy Izzet, Neil Lennon, Robbie Savage, Emile Heskey and Tony Cottee. The previous week they had just won the League Cup for the second time in four seasons, qualifying for Europe. Heskey and Guppy had both played for England that season. Martin O’Neill was delighted with the way things were going. He told me earlier this season that “we had a really top class side, a top class team, that in terms of league matches could easily have been in the top five or six in the Premier League at that time. We really did have a quality teamâ€. To this side Martin added an extra ingredient. It was a huge gamble. Three weeks before the Sunderland game, he signed £7 million striker Stan Collymore for a giveaway £350,000 from Aston Villa where he was being frozen out. Stan was a controversial, supremely talented but very enigmatic forward. He had played at the top level for Nottingham Forest, Liverpool, Aston Villa and England. Collymore’s stay at Leicester didn’t start all that smoothly, with an incident on a pre-League Cup Final training camp and a dispute with a national newspaper grabbing headlines. But on 5 March, 2000 Stan was given his home debut against Sunderland. He was told only an hour before kick off that he would be playing. O’Neill told Stan to go out and run at the defenders, which is exactly what he did. As comebacks go, Collymore’s that day was one of Lazarus-like proportions. His total of seven goals for Villa had cost his previous club £1million apiece. He had not scored a Premier League goal for an astonishing 484 days. That afternoon he scored a stunning hat trick, evoking memories of his glory days. Heskey and Collymore clicked as though they had been playing together for years. Collymore opened the scoring in the 17th minute. It was a goal out of the top drawer. He hit a 20 yard right-footed volley from Heskey’s header. Ten minutes before half time, Lennon won a tackle and threaded ball through to Heskey, who held off two challenges before scoring. Kevin Philips pulled a goal back for Sunderland eight minutes into the second half, but eight minutes after that, Collymore scored another brilliant goal. It was a magnificent header from 16 yards out, from Neil Lennon’s delivery. It left the Sunderland goalkeeper groping thin air. Niall Quinn curled in a shot from 12 yards out to bring the score back to 3-2, but in the 88th minute, Collymore completed his hat-trick. Heskey broke along the right flank, and Collymore arrived to score his third, from close range. He actually miskicked the ball from about a yard out but he still managed to connect with Heskey’s cross and the ball bobbled over the line. Stefan Oakes completed the afternoon by scoring with a deflected free kick right at the end of the game. On the final whistle, Collymore grabbed the match ball, saluted each of the four stands in turn and milked the applause all the way back to the dressing room. O’Neill said after the game, “This is what Stan has to do, not for a game or two but for the next eighteen months. He wanted an opportunity and we are giving it to him, But he has proved nothing yet. He is very popular in the dressing room and the biggest cheer of the lot went up when it was confirmed he had been voted Man of the Match.†Stan meanwhile said that he would like his partnership with Heskey to continue for a long time. However, it wasn’t to be. The dream partnership of Heskey and Collymore never materialised. Five days later, despite Martin O’Neill’s battle to keep him, Emile Heskey signed for Liverpool for fee of £11 million, which at the time was the third highest fee ever in British transfer history. Less than a month later Stan broke his leg at Derby, ending his season. Two months after that, Martin O’Neill finally left Leicester City to become manager at Celtic. Nevertheless, as we went home that Sunday afternoon, thirteen years ago this week, we knew that we had seen something special. Leicester City seemed to be on the verge of becoming one of the best teams in England. In the end, it didn’t work out like that. However nothing could take away the fact that we had just witnessed a game that we would never forget. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danny. Posted 6 March 2013 Share Posted 6 March 2013 Remember that game well - probably the turning point for the club and it's modern day mediocre-ness! Had things been different we could easily have been challenging for a CL place now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom17LCFC Posted 6 March 2013 Share Posted 6 March 2013 I remember it, was only 7 at the time but remember everyone thinking that as the start of something really special for us. All went downhill really after that season though... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hifi Posted 6 March 2013 Share Posted 6 March 2013 I was just reading through some Facebook article about stan the man and his home debut hat trick against Sunderland in 2000. I can remember watching this game and has always stuck in my mind whenever someone talks about Collymore. I thought colly was a fantastic player but ruined it for himself. I think he could of easily been one of the best strikers around. He just had a tendency to implode and explode. It was fair to say when he had the right manager( o'neal ) he was at his best. Your views on his very short but astonishing LC career. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozwin Posted 6 March 2013 Share Posted 6 March 2013 How come he left anyway? Was it a case of Peter Taylor being an idiot or was that the time Collymore was banging anything that moved? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col city fan Posted 6 March 2013 Share Posted 6 March 2013 Simply the best debut I've ever seen. We were in Pen 1 and still to this day don't have the faintest clue how he managed to steer the second one in with his head. We looked with shocked bewilderment when that went past their keeper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattyFromLE Posted 6 March 2013 Share Posted 6 March 2013 This could have been such a successful side. As the article say, a week or so after Emile left, Collymore then broke his leg, then MoN left... Massive turning point in our history. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col city fan Posted 6 March 2013 Share Posted 6 March 2013 This could have been such a successful side. As the article say, a week or so after Emile left, Collymore then broke his leg, then MoN left... Massive turning point in our history. Joking aside, that team, that match and that 'time' in our history makes the present day look like small potatoes Matty. It really does. I think that was easily one of the best games I've been to.. Filbert St was rocking!! Bloody Phillips still scoring NOW! Hat trick for Palace last night I believe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ford Super Sunday Posted 6 March 2013 Share Posted 6 March 2013 Simply the best home debut I've ever seen. We were in Pen 1 and still to this day don't have the faintest clue how he managed to steer the second one in with his head. We looked with shocked bewilderment when that went past their keeper. His actual debut was against Watford, but I guess it's the greatest home debut you've ever seen regardles!! That was the game when the club peaked, wasn't it? The line-up, the players, the striking partnership. Everything was in place, and just for that one game, we had a glimpse of what might have been. Then Heskey left, MON left, Collymore had a bust-up with Benjamin and things were never the same. Hopefully, one day, we'll be in the position of having a team like that, with the ability to finish 8th in the Premier League again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5waller5 Posted 6 March 2013 Share Posted 6 March 2013 The best game (outside of cup finals) I've ever seen. It was the one game where every piece of the jigsaw was there .... we finally had two world class strikers playing at the same time. If they'd have stayed together ...... well if only!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5waller5 Posted 6 March 2013 Share Posted 6 March 2013 How come he left anyway? Was it a case of Peter Taylor being an idiot or was that the time Collymore was banging anything that moved? Yeah broken leg, within a week or so of that game and then he didn't get back into football due to the mental issues that plagued him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THEBIGJOHNSTEADER; Posted 6 March 2013 Share Posted 6 March 2013 Didn't trev benj spark collymore out when he told him he had a dirty arse and was shit at football? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cambridgefox Posted 6 March 2013 Share Posted 6 March 2013 I'm sure I went to Derby away and he broke his leg,not one person near him.Lost 4-0 and got dogs abuse from those sheep while getting carried off.Not sure he recovered. I'm doubting myself a tad about the leg,but I'm sure he got badly injured. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corky Posted 7 March 2013 Share Posted 7 March 2013 The high point of the league years under O'Neill, but a year later we were 5th in the table and with a cup quarter-final to play. But what a day it was, even though I missed the second goal because I went to the toilet Still, I saw all of Stan's goals Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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