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davieG

Former Player Remembers: Tommy Williams

By davieG, in Leicester City Forum

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davieG

davieG

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Posted: Thu 12 Mar 2015 
Author: John Hutchinson
Tommy Williams made 271 appearances for Leicester City between 1977 and 1985, at centre-back, right-back and in midfield.
He recently spoke to Club Historian John Hutchinson about his time at Leicester City, which included two promotions, an FA Cup Semi-Final, two broken legs and a testimonial match. 
 
Tommy began by recalling how he arrived at Filbert Street as a youngster. 
 
“Davie Gibson (a Leicester City star in the 1960s) went to the same school as my mother in Scotland. By coincidence, when I was twelve, he bumped into my parents when they moved down to Leicester when they were shopping. He suggested that I went to training with Leicester City on Tuesdays and Thursdays with George Dewis. He was a wonderful youth team coach. He was one of the main people in Leicester City’s history because he produced such a conveyor belt of talent, players like Graham Cross, Peter Shilton, Larry May, John O’Neill, Trevor Christie, Mark Goodwin and Steve Sims. There were loads. 
 
“I joined the Club when I was 16. It was brilliant for me because my job as an apprentice was cleaning the home team changing room. So from being a schoolboy, I’m suddenly mixing with all my heroes. like Weller, Whitworth, Worthington, Sammels, Rofe and ‘Birch’. As time went on I was actually training with them and I learnt so much from them. I still think that Jimmy Bloomfield’s team was the most entertaining and best footballing team of my generation.” 
Following Jimmy Bloomfield’s departure in May 1977, Frank McLintock became the new manager. He gave Tommy his debut as a 19 year-old at Chelsea in the 1977-78 relegation season. 
 
“It was a difficult time but it had its plusses. Bloomfield’s players were getting on a bit and being released. Frank McLintock was in a difficult situation. He had a fantastic crop of young players. Quite a few made their debuts. Unfortunately it was a year or two too early. The roots were with George Dewis and David Coates, the youth and reserve team managers at the end of the Jimmy Bloomfield era. That’s where it all started. Frank McLintock inherited it but we were all young 18 and 19 year-olds. I was 19 when I made my debut. We were probably a bit too young. I really enjoyed that season. Jock Wallace got the benefit of the youth set-up when he came in the following season. 
 
“With Jock we struggled in his first season. We finished in the bottom half of the old Second Division, and at one time we were looking at relegation. The following year we won the league. When we went up we didn’t disgrace ourselves in the old First Division against the best teams in Europe like Liverpool, Forest and Villa who had all recently been European Champions. We did the double over Liverpool. They had gone 85 home games undefeated and we beat them. We also beat them 2-0 at our place. Things like that stick in your mind. 
 
“What I enjoyed most was playing against the best players. I held my own against them. The player that sticks out the most was Kevin Keegan just after he’d returned from Hamburg as European Footballer of the Year. He was magnificent. He was the best player I ever played against. I never saw anyone who could touch him. 
 
“That season was enjoyable even though we got relegated. We played at the best grounds against the best players with a group of players that had come through together from the youth system.” 
The following season Tommy was a member of the last Leicester City side to reach an FA Cup Semi-Final, a match against Tottenham Hotspur at Villa Park. The game was a disastrous one for Tommy. 
 
“The thing I remember is that we were well outclassed. Men against boys. Tottenham, with Ardiles and Hoddle were far better than us. The pitch at Villa Park was awful. It was all sand. It was really bad. 
 
“I broke my leg in the game. The one thing in my life that I regret was making that tackle. The following season I broke my leg again in a training ground accident with Dave Buchanan. This set me back another eight months. I lost about a year and a half. You don’t feel part of the team because you are training on your own most of the time. And it is an effort to get back to the level of fitness that you had. In those days there was only one physio at the Club. There wasn’t the type of fitness programme that players nowadays would have. 
 
“Jock Wallace left and Gordon Milne came in. When a new manager comes you want to hit the ground running but I was laid up and it took me a while to get back in the team. But I did and I had a couple of seasons in the old First Division. The manager brought in his own people and a few players left. I found him a safety first manager. Jock Wallace wanted to win games. Gordon was more interested in not losing them." 
In July 1986, Tommy signed for Birmingham City. 
 
“I was 28 at the time and I half expected to go. My last game for Leicester was against Oxford United at Filbert Street in October 1985. I played at centre-half alongside John O’Neill. We drew 4-4. They had (future Liverpool star striker) John Aldridge playing for them and he was a good player. 
 
“Leicester offered me a Testimonial when I left. At first I wasn’t sure but then I thought I don’t want to cut my nose to spite my face. It was a good night. Leicester City played an ex-Leicester side. Gary (Lineker) was doing really well at Barcelona and he came back. 
 
“I was at Birmingham City for a couple of years. Their manager was John Bond. If you could have a cross between John Bond and Jock Wallace, you would have the perfect manager. John was a flamboyant tracksuit manager. Unfortunately he was only there for a year. I enjoyed my time at Birmingham. They weren’t as big a club as Leicester. They used to train on a local park! 
 
“Looking back, I used to love playing against the top players and the top sides like Liverpool, Manchester United and Forest. 
 
“The best players I played with were Leicester’s midfielder Kevin McDonald who later signed for League Champions Liverpool and Mark Wallington. Kevin was an excellent all-round player. Wally (Mark Wallington) was the best goalkeeper I played with. His communication and shot-stopping ability were fabulous. 
 
“My time at Leicester City was probably the best part of my life, but unfortunately you have to move on. When my dad died I found out for the first time that he had kept clippings from newspapers and programmes about my career. I enjoyed looking through those!” 
 
Today, Tommy, now retired from his post-football career in the police force, still supports Leicester City and is a regular visitor to King Power Stadium on match days.
 

Read more at http://www.lcfc.com/news/article/former-player-remembers-tommy-williams-2329522.aspx#ilKkrxjvsbPm5FKl.99

johnny the fox

johnny the fox

Posted
Posted

 

Posted: Thu 12 Mar 2015 

Author: John Hutchinson

 
Tommy Williams made 271 appearances for Leicester City between 1977 and 1985, at centre-back, right-back and in midfield.
He recently spoke to Club Historian John Hutchinson about his time at Leicester City, which included two promotions, an FA Cup Semi-Final, two broken legs and a testimonial match. 
 
Tommy began by recalling how he arrived at Filbert Street as a youngster. 
 
“Davie Gibson (a Leicester City star in the 1960s) went to the same school as my mother in Scotland. By coincidence, when I was twelve, he bumped into my parents when they moved down to Leicester when they were shopping. He suggested that I went to training with Leicester City on Tuesdays and Thursdays with George Dewis. He was a wonderful youth team coach. He was one of the main people in Leicester City’s history because he produced such a conveyor belt of talent, players like Graham Cross, Peter Shilton, Larry May, John O’Neill, Trevor Christie, Mark Goodwin and Steve Sims. There were loads. 
 
“I joined the Club when I was 16. It was brilliant for me because my job as an apprentice was cleaning the home team changing room. So from being a schoolboy, I’m suddenly mixing with all my heroes. like Weller, Whitworth, Worthington, Sammels, Rofe and ‘Birch’. As time went on I was actually training with them and I learnt so much from them. I still think that Jimmy Bloomfield’s team was the most entertaining and best footballing team of my generation.” 
Following Jimmy Bloomfield’s departure in May 1977, Frank McLintock became the new manager. He gave Tommy his debut as a 19 year-old at Chelsea in the 1977-78 relegation season. 
 
“It was a difficult time but it had its plusses. Bloomfield’s players were getting on a bit and being released. Frank McLintock was in a difficult situation. He had a fantastic crop of young players. Quite a few made their debuts. Unfortunately it was a year or two too early. The roots were with George Dewis and David Coates, the youth and reserve team managers at the end of the Jimmy Bloomfield era. That’s where it all started. Frank McLintock inherited it but we were all young 18 and 19 year-olds. I was 19 when I made my debut. We were probably a bit too young. I really enjoyed that season. Jock Wallace got the benefit of the youth set-up when he came in the following season. 
 
“With Jock we struggled in his first season. We finished in the bottom half of the old Second Division, and at one time we were looking at relegation. The following year we won the league. When we went up we didn’t disgrace ourselves in the old First Division against the best teams in Europe like Liverpool, Forest and Villa who had all recently been European Champions. We did the double over Liverpool. They had gone 85 home games undefeated and we beat them. We also beat them 2-0 at our place. Things like that stick in your mind. 
 
“What I enjoyed most was playing against the best players. I held my own against them. The player that sticks out the most was Kevin Keegan just after he’d returned from Hamburg as European Footballer of the Year. He was magnificent. He was the best player I ever played against. I never saw anyone who could touch him. 
 
“That season was enjoyable even though we got relegated. We played at the best grounds against the best players with a group of players that had come through together from the youth system.” 
The following season Tommy was a member of the last Leicester City side to reach an FA Cup Semi-Final, a match against Tottenham Hotspur at Villa Park. The game was a disastrous one for Tommy. 
 
“The thing I remember is that we were well outclassed. Men against boys. Tottenham, with Ardiles and Hoddle were far better than us. The pitch at Villa Park was awful. It was all sand. It was really bad. 
 
“I broke my leg in the game. The one thing in my life that I regret was making that tackle. The following season I broke my leg again in a training ground accident with Dave Buchanan. This set me back another eight months. I lost about a year and a half. You don’t feel part of the team because you are training on your own most of the time. And it is an effort to get back to the level of fitness that you had. In those days there was only one physio at the Club. There wasn’t the type of fitness programme that players nowadays would have. 
 
“Jock Wallace left and Gordon Milne came in. When a new manager comes you want to hit the ground running but I was laid up and it took me a while to get back in the team. But I did and I had a couple of seasons in the old First Division. The manager brought in his own people and a few players left. I found him a safety first manager. Jock Wallace wanted to win games. Gordon was more interested in not losing them." 
In July 1986, Tommy signed for Birmingham City. 
 
“I was 28 at the time and I half expected to go. My last game for Leicester was against Oxford United at Filbert Street in October 1985. I played at centre-half alongside John O’Neill. We drew 4-4. They had (future Liverpool star striker) John Aldridge playing for them and he was a good player. 
 
“Leicester offered me a Testimonial when I left. At first I wasn’t sure but then I thought I don’t want to cut my nose to spite my face. It was a good night. Leicester City played an ex-Leicester side. Gary (Lineker) was doing really well at Barcelona and he came back. 
 
“I was at Birmingham City for a couple of years. Their manager was John Bond. If you could have a cross between John Bond and Jock Wallace, you would have the perfect manager. John was a flamboyant tracksuit manager. Unfortunately he was only there for a year. I enjoyed my time at Birmingham. They weren’t as big a club as Leicester. They used to train on a local park! 
 
“Looking back, I used to love playing against the top players and the top sides like Liverpool, Manchester United and Forest. 
 
“The best players I played with were Leicester’s midfielder Kevin McDonald who later signed for League Champions Liverpool and Mark Wallington. Kevin was an excellent all-round player. Wally (Mark Wallington) was the best goalkeeper I played with. His communication and shot-stopping ability were fabulous. 
 
“My time at Leicester City was probably the best part of my life, but unfortunately you have to move on. When my dad died I found out for the first time that he had kept clippings from newspapers and programmes about my career. I enjoyed looking through those!” 
 
Today, Tommy, now retired from his post-football career in the police force, still supports Leicester City and is a regular visitor to King Power Stadium on match days.
 

Read more at http://www.lcfc.com/news/article/former-player-remembers-tommy-williams-2329522.aspx#ilKkrxjvsbPm5FKl.99

 

Ind coop..whatever happened to them? in the top photo is that steve moran? ex LCFC..

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