RODNEY FERN
I was over the moon when Chris asked me to contribute to the ‘Leicester Till I Die’ web site by writing a blog about my memories regarding Leicester City Football Club and it has given me the opportunity to share those memories with you. I was also recently asked if it was possible to incorporate a look back at past players and write a ‘where are they now ‘ feature, so I thought I would give it a go and the player I have chosen first is a personal favourite of mine Rodney Fern
Rodney is a local lad and he was born in Burton-on- Trent on 13th December 1948. Rodney played local football for Measham (the village where I live) alongside another Leicester legend and local hero David Nish (but more about David another time).
Rodney was given the nickname ‘Marty’ because of his resemblance to the late comedian Marty Feldman, although Rodney was far from being a comedian on the football field
Rodney was given a chance in the first team at Leicester by coach Bert Johnson who was placed in charge of team affairs following an illness to manager Matt Gillies, and Rodney made his debut on February 3rd 1968 against Leeds United at Filbert Street. Unfortunately I wasn’t at the game and like other Leicester supporters I watched Rodney’s impressive debut on ‘match of the day.’ In his next game which was against Liverpool at Anfield, Fern scored Leicester’s goal in a 3-1 defeat. He then scored again in the following 3-1 home win v Sheffield United and managed to score two more goals on May 4th at Filbert Street in a 4-2 home win against rivals Nottingham Forest. He also scored one of the goals in a fourth round F.A.Cup replay at Filbert Street where Leicester beat Manchester City 4-3 in an epic cup tie.
Rodney made a total of 13 league appearances and one as substitute and scored 4 league goals,he also made 5 F.A.Cup appearances scoring 1 goal. Not bad in his first few months as a City player.
In 1968-69 season which was the bitter-sweet season which saw Leicester relegated from division 1but also reach the F.A.Cup final losing to Manchester City. Rodney Fern made a total of 29 league appearances and 6 as substitute scoring 6 goals, 7 F.A.Cup appearances with 1 as substitute scoring 2 goals and 2 League Cup appearances scoring 1 goal
In our first season back in division 2 Rodney established himself in the first team with a string of superb displays, indeed in the first game of the season v Birmingham City he scored with a dramatic overhead kick that is still talked about today, Leicester winning 3-1.
Playing in a forward line that included Glover, Gibson, Lochhead and Brown. Fern excelled and put in many star performances and one of the best I ever saw from any Leicester player was at Villa Park on August 27th 1969 when Rodney Fern was rampant and was given man of the match for a breath taking display. Leicester won 1-0 with a Lenny Glover goal.
Unfortunately despite Rodney’s heroics Leicester missed out on promotion, finishing 3rd in the table and had to be content with spending another season in division 2. Rodney Fern made a total of 39 league appearances and 1 as substitute scoring a total of 17 goals. He also made 5 F.A.Cup appearances and 5 League Cup appearances scoring 1 goal, Rodney was Leicester’s top scorer that season.
In 1970-71 season Leicester finished as champions but Rodney played only 23 league games with 4 substitute appearances and managed only 2 league goals. He made 5 F.A.Cup appearances scoring 2 goals and 4 League Cup appearances scoring 1 goal.
The 1971-72 season saw Leicester back in division 1 but it was to be Rodney Fern’s last season as a City player. Jimmy Bloomfield arrived as manager and started to assemble a star studded team that was to capture the imagination of Leicester supporters. Rodney played a total of 29 league games with 7 substitute appearances scoring 3 goals, and he made just 1 League Cup appearance.
In 1972 Rodney Fern was transferred to Luton Town where he played 39 matches and scored 5 goals. He then moved to Chesterfield and played 152 matches and managed 54 goals and his last transfer was to Rotherham United were he had a satisfying spell playing 105 games and scored 34 goals
When he retired Rodney became a publican and if you were ever in The Ferrers at Lount there is a chance that you just may have been served by Rodney Fern. From being a publican he then became a coal merchant and as recently as last year I still saw Rodney Fern delivering coal in the area.
When we moved to Measham in 1995 Rodney used to drink in my new local ‘The Swan’ in Measham and on a Friday evening he used to be in there enjoying a game of cards. On one particular Friday I was in the Swan with my wife Theresa and there was Rodney in his card school. I sat patiently waiting for my hero to get up from the table and when he went to the gents I duly followed him, he must have thought I was a raving nutter as I entered the loo and burst into a chorus of R-O-D-N-E-Y—R-O-D-N-E-Y he laughed as I explained he was a hero of mine in the days when I stood on the kop at Filbert Street singing his praises. My wife just couldn’t believe it when I told her-but these things have to be done. LEICESTER TILL I DIE
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