LEICESTER CITY 1969-70 SEASON

LEICESTER CITY 1969-70 SEASON

     

Following the disappointment of losing to Manchester City in the F.A. Cup Final and getting relegated to Division 2 after losing 3-2 at Manchester United on the final game of the season ( incidentally I actually stood in the Stretford end that day) the new season began with a new optimism, and could City go straight back up.

This is the season that I started to travel to more games home and away. Travelling to games in those days wasn’t easy for me and to get to home games I would have to catch a midland red bus from Dordon to Leicester and then catch another bus from the city centre to Filbert Street. I didn’t mind doing this but it was a bit of a drag having to get back home. I was only eighteen years old and money was tight and any spare cash I had was spent on watching Leicester (not much has changed over the years really!)My eldest brother Mick would travel to games with me whenever he could (he lived in Lichfield) and we would sit in the double decker stand. It used to cost us 8/- for a ticket up there, but what a view. As the season went on our Mick stopped going with me to Leicester because of the cost and travelling for him, but my younger brother Roy would join me and he still goes with me to Leicester

We still used the midland red from Dordon to Leicester until we found that Wainfleet coaches from Nuneaton travelled to Leicester matches and so for many years we would travel to games using Wainfleet. We still had to catch a midland red bus to Nuneaton but it was a lot easier and better and we made lots of new friends from Nuneaton and Hinckley. We also moved from the double decker to the spion kop

On the football pitch Leicester started well with a 3-1 win at home over Birmingham and following a 2-1 away defeat at Middlesbrough and a 2-2 home draw with Bolton I attended my first game of the season at home v Norwich City on August 23rd. I sat in the double decker stand and I was one of the 26,716 who saw Leicester win with goals from Lochhead, Sjoberg and a Duncan Forbes own goal

My first away game of the season followed and at Aston Villa I saw the best display from anyone ever to wear a Leicester shirt in a 1-0 away win. The goal was scored by Len Glover but the accolades went to Rodney Fern who produced a superb man of the match display.

Leicester would be battling it out at the top of the table all season but unfortunately we fell just short of our target of automatic promotion by finishing in 3^rd place (no playoffs in those days).Some of my personal highlights of this season were: Travelling to games with my brothers, seeing that awesome display at Aston Villa by Rodney Fern. Travelling to more away games although going to Hull and seeing us lose 4-1 was not a highlight! But travelling to Birmingham, Blackburn and Oxford and seeing us win were.

One of the memorable away games from that season was travelling to Charlton Athletic and the old valley, I have never seen terracing so steep and what a massive ground. In those days there was little segregation and I remember Charlton fans making their way to where we were standing and they were at the top of the terracing throwing coins at us. We had the last laugh because we won 5-0 and I actually went out of the stadium with more money than I had when I went in.

Another highlight was at home on April 4^th a Saturday evening kick off and we beat Aston Villa 1-0 and that was enough to send Villa down to the third division.

In the cup competitions we had decent runs. In the League Cup we went out in round five losing 2-1 at West Bromwich Albion after drawing 0-0 at home. At West Brom I was there and we played well and in one attack both Sjoberg and Cross hit the crossbar but it wasn’t to be

In the F.A. Cup we also went out in round five. In the third round I was sat in the double decker with our Roy it was January 3^rd and our kids birthday I remember he had a dedication played over the tannoy. We beat Sunderland 1-0 with a Bobby Roberts goal. In round four I had a lift with work mates to Southampton and John Farrington scored for us in a 1-1 draw. In the replay at Filbert Street I stood in the Filbert Street end(don’t ask me why!) and it was a thrilling match with City winning 4-2 Lochhead 2, Farrington and Nish scoring. In round five a trip to Liverpool and Anfield, and a memorable day out and a credible performance drawing 0-0. In the replay at Leicester I remember standing in the Kop and the crowd were packed so tight you could lift your feet of the floor and the crowd would be holding you up! 42,100 was the attendance that night, and things were going well on the pitch until Liverpool introduced there substitute Alun Evans and he scored twice to seal a Liverpool 2-0 victory.

Fond memories for me from that era and I often look back at my programmes to reminisce, some great memories. I still enjoy my football and still love Leicester just as much as I always have, but there was something magical about those days. Until the next time - Leicester Till I Die

         

FA CUP

FA CUP 

So on Sunday 18^th March 2012 Leicester City travel to Stamford Bridge to take on the might of premiership Chelsea and to hopefully get us a place at Wembley in the semi-final of the FA Cup(when some of you read this our fate will have been sealed)

In past years Leicester have been known to be a good cup team and indeed in the 1960’s we reached the final three times to add to our 1949 appearance but unfortunately never got the chance to bring the cup back to Leicester having lost  all four finals we appeared in.

In 1949 which was just a little before my time Leicester started their cup campaign away at Birmingham in round 3 and Don Revie scored for Leicester in a 1-1 draw. In the replay at Filbert Street the score finished 1-1 again, with Griffiths scoring for us, and so the tie went to a second replay (unheard of these days) and Harrison and Revie saw us through to the 4^th round in a 2-1 win. Preston was the visitors to Filbert Street in the 4^th round and goals from a Lee penalty and Griffiths gave us a 2-0 win to earn us a 5^th round tie at Luton. At Luton there were goals galore with the game ending 5-5 Lee scored four and Griffiths again for Leicester. In the replay there was another goal fest at Filbert Street and Lee 2 Griffiths 2 and Chisholm scored the goals that saw us through 5-3. In the 6^th round we were away at Brentford and they were swept aside 2-0 Lee and Griffiths the scorers. The semi-final against Portsmouth was played at Highbury and City won 3-1 with goals from Revie 2 and Chisholm. Sadly at Wembley we lost 3-1 to Wolverhampton with Griffiths our scorer.

Leicester had to wait until 1960 before they reached Wembley again and the cup run started at Filbert Street with a 3-1 win against Oxford (Walsh, Leek, Riley) setting up a 4^th round home tie against  Bristol City and Leicester were comfortable winners 5-1 ( Wills, Leek 2 , Walsh2 ). We travelled again to Birmingham in round 5 and drew 1-1 ( Riley) and once again as in 1949 a replay was needed to see Birmingham off (only one this time though) and Ken Leek scored both Leicester goals in a 2-1 win. In round 6 Barnsley were the visitors to Filbert Street and drew 0-0 but in the replay at Oakwell goals from Riley and Leek earned City a 2-1 win and a semi-final place. At Elland Road - Leicester faced Sheffield United and the game ended 0-0 taking the tie to a replay at Nottingham Forest’s City ground, where the score once again finished 0-0 and so to a second replay at St Andrews and Leicester finished the job 2-0 with goals from Jimmy Walsh   and Ken Leek. And so to Wembley and yet another heartbreak as we crashed 2-0 to Tottenham.

Leicester didn’t have to wait long before returning to Wembley to try again to win that elusive trophy and in 1963 we set off in round 3 with a 3-1 win at Grimsby( Gibson 2, Keyworth) and in round 4 another 3-1 win this time against Ipswich at Filbert Street ( Cross, Keyworth 2 ) Leyton Orient were the hosts in round 5 and a goal from Ken Keyworth was enough to earn Leicester a quarter final  tie away at Norwich which Leicester won with goals from Stringfellow and Gibson. The semi-final beckoned again and at Hillsborough Mike Stringfellow scored the only goal of the game to send Leicester to their third Wembley appearance. The final saw Leicester have the honour of being favourites with Manchester United still rebuilding their team and also being involved in a relegation battle all season. Unfortunately on the day Leicester froze and United blossomed and the cup went to Manchester with United winning 3-1. Keyworth scored for Leicester

And so to 1969 and Leicester’s fourth and to date, last FA Cup Final appearance. The foxes also had the distinction of getting relegated to division 2 as well as reaching the FA Cup Final.

The road to Wembley started at Barnsley with a 1-1 draw and Lenny Glover scored the Leicester goal. In the replay at Filbert Street City won 2-1 with Fern and Glover scoring. Millwall away in round 4 and Glover scored again in a 1-0 City win. In round 5 Leicester played Liverpool at Filbert Street and the score ended 0-0 but in the replay at Anfield Andy Lochhead scored the only goal of the game to put Leicester into the 6^th round. Mansfield away beckoned and Rodney Fern scored the only goal of the game to put City into the semi-final against West Bromwich Albion at Hillsborough and Alan Clarke scored the winner for Leicester in a 1-0 win. Unfortunately in the final it was once again a case of what might have been as Leicester crashed to Manchester City 1-0

On Sunday 18^th March I will be one of the 6000 foxes making the trip to Chelsea hoping to see us progress to the semi-final of the FA Cup and you never know- it just may be 5^th time lucky.

I am sure that we all have our own memories of the FA Cup with Leicester over the years; I know I have loads of them. And I am sure that whatever the outcome at Chelsea we will have some more memories to treasure with Leicester City and the FA Cup

Leicester till I die

THE GOLDEN ERA

THE GOLDEN ERA

In my first blog that seems such a long time ago I talked about my introduction to football and the start of my long affair with Leicester City Football Club and after all these years I still look upon the late 1960’s as the golden era of football.

Every team seemed to have at least one star name in their line up and of course England were basking in the glory of being world champions after defeating West Germany 4 - 2 in the 1966 world cup final at Wembley stadium. And for Leicester supporters it was even sweeter because we had one of the winning team in our ranks, probably one of the greatest goalkeepers ever to grace the game Gordon Banks.

After being introduced to football from an early age in the late 1950’s by my Father who used to sit in the double decker stand (will that view ever be bettered) football became a massive part of my life, playing at school, playing in the street and everyone wanted to be the next Bobby Charlton, Geoff Hurst or in my case Bobby Moore, so England winning the world cup was amazing to happen in my lifetime.

I was fortunate to go to Wembley stadium on two occasions in 1963. On May 22^nd I was at Wembley to see the European cup final Benfica v AC Milan, for the record I was cheering for Milan because I used to admire their German full back Schnellinger , Milan won 2-1 and on 23^rd October  I was there again to see England v Rest of the World, a game that was to celebrate 100 years of the F.A. and on view that day were some of the greatest players the world has ever seen and I had the privilege of being in the 100,000 crowd to see them. I was 12 years old at the time and the school organized both trips to Wembley.

Playing for England that day were some of the stars who were in the 1966 world cup squad. Bobby Charlton, Moore, Greaves, Banks and Wilson and the world team included Denis Law, Eusabio, Schnellinger, Lev Yashin, Jim Baxter and the great Di Stefano. England won the game 2-1 with goals from Terry Paine and Jimmy Greaves and Denis Law replied for the world team.

I would travel to Filbert street whenever I could after my father died in March 1967. I had just left school and to travel to games wasn’t easy to do, I had to catch a Midland red bus from Polesworth that used to take us the scenic route to Leicester through Market Bosworth etc and going to games was an all-day affair. In 1967 I made it to a few games. On March 25^th I saw us lose to Tottenham 1-0 but when you look at their team it was full of star names. Jennings, Kinnear, Knowles, Mullery , England, Mackay, Robertson, Greaves, Gilzean, Venables and Saul.

I was there again in August to see us play Tottenham again on the opening day of the 1967-68 season, and this time they inflicted a 3-2 defeat on us with virtually the same side as before. I also made it to City v Chelsea on October 25^th which was an entertaining 2-2 draw. I remember Bobby Roberts scoring twice after we were 2-0 down, and Chelsea had stars galore in their side. Bonetti, Butler, Mcreadie, Hollins, Hinton, Harris, Cooke, Baldwin, Osgood, Houseman, Tambling.

On 23^rd December I also managed to see us play Manchester United. The last time I saw us play United was on November 13^th 1965 and we were hammered 5-0. This time it was an entertaining encounter finishing 2-2 with Sjoberg and Tewley scoring for City and Charlton and Law for United. I remember after the game standing outside Filbert Street waiting for a glimpse of the players before going home and in my programme I have the autographs of Peter Shilton and Willie Bell.

With no sky and no saturation of football on TV it was left to highlights on Match of the day to see the players we adored, Ken Wolstenhome ‘ magic!’ or listening to a radio unless you could make it  to a game.  A magical era of football was the 60's and I was privileged to be there

Leicester till I die

Sven Goran Eriksson

Sven Goran Eriksson

So once again the revolving door is back in use at The King Power Stadium and the latest casualty Sven Goran Eriksson departs

It would be easy to get carried away and look for excuses as to why Sven should have been sacked, or not, as the case may be, but that debate is no more as Sven, rightly or wrongly is given his marching orders.

When Sven arrived at Leicester I was unsure whether he was the right choice to  get us out of a precarious situation lying at the wrong end of the championship, but Sven went about his business and not only lifted us up the table but placed us on the verge of the promotion fringes, only to fall away again. But Sven had us playing attractive football and the signs for a promotion push this season looked promising, especially with the amount of money he had at his disposal.

Unfortunately spending loads of cash doesn’t always guarantee results and despite being only two points off the play off positions performances have been disappointing with only the occasional glimpse of the football we know we are capable of playing, being put on show.  

So the axe falls, perhaps Sven’s tinkering with the squad and/or, the system were to blame for our misfortunes or perhaps our squad were just not playing to their capabilities. Whatever, it is too late to look for reasons and we now have to look forward.

Sven is a gentleman and he remains dignified in his departure. I for one wish him well

I am not going to try and speculate who will be the next man to try and get us to the promised land of the premier league; I just hope that our owners make the right call! - And get it right. Because the one thing we don’t want to see back in regular action at The King Power Stadium; is the revolving door.

DEREK DOUGAN

DEREK DOUGAN

This week I am reminiscing about one of the greatest showmen the game has ever seen and we were lucky enough to have him at Leicester City, be it only for a short while.

Take a bow ALEXANDER DEREK DOUGAN

The ‘Doog’ was a flamboyant character who was not only a great footballer but also he was a lover of rock music and loved watching Leicester’s own favourite band The Roaring Sixties who were later to become Family and he was a massive Jimi Hendrix fan. The ‘Doog’ also made a record and dabbled at being a DJ. He also wrote several books, became a politician a TV pundit and even managed to become chairman of the PFA and later was to become chairman of Wolverhampton Wanderers. So as you can see there is enough material there to write many articles about the ‘Doog’

Derek Dougan was born in Belfast on 20 January 1938 and played for numerous clubs starting with Distillery in Ireland and then going on to play for  Portsmouth, Blackburn Rovers, Aston Villa, Peterborough United, Leicester City, Wolverhampton Wanderers and  Kettering Town who he also managed. Dougan also played in the states making some guest appearances. He also represented Northern Ireland at schoolboy, under 19, amateur and B level and he won 43 senior caps scoring 8 goals.

Derek Dougan signed for Leicester City in the summer of 1965 for a fee of £21,000 pounds from third division Peterborough United, it is reported that the ’Doog’ even took a pay cut to join City to resurrect his career in the top flight of English football  and alongside another newcomer Jackie Sinclair the ‘Doog’ soon became a fans favourite.

Leicester had a star studded team in this era and we managed to have international representatives for all four home countries with Dougan (Northern Ireland) Gibson (Scotland) Rodrigues (Wales) and Banks (England)

In Dougan’s first season he had to take a back seat in the scoring charts to fellow newcomer Sinclair who scored two in the opening three games and Dougan found the net in his fifth start in a 4-1 win at home against Sunderland, now he had found the net Dougan became a prolific scorer  as was Sinclair. It was Jackie Sinclair who finished as top scorer in the league with a total of 22 goals and Dougan managed 19 another legend Mike Stringfellow chipped in with 12.

Leicester finished in a creditable 7^th place in division 1 and reached the fifth round of The FA Cup and the second round of The League Cup losing to Manchester City in both competitions

Dougan also managed one FA Cup goal to Sinclair’s two (perhaps I should have written about Jackie Sinclair)

In the following season 1966-67 little did we know that this was to be the ‘Doog’s’ final season with us and he made a total of 31 appearances and scored 16 league goals and 5 League Cup goals that season( for the record Jackie Sinclair scored 21 league goals and 1 League Cup goal)   

Dougan’s final game for Leicester was on March 4 1967 in a 2-2 home draw against Everton and then out of the blue (literally) Dougan was sold to Wolverhampton Wanderers for a fee of £50,000 and the sale incurred the wrath of Leicester supporters   who had taken Dougan to their hearts, and some fans even boycotted Leicester’s games to watch the ‘Doog’ play for Wolverhampton as he scored a hat trick on his debut at home v Hull City and helped Wolves gain promotion to the first division in that season.

The Leicester supporters loved the ‘Doog’ so much that they sang a song about him; to the tune of ‘I see the moon’ the lyrics went something like this

 I see the Doog the Doog sees me, We bought him out of division three, He scored the goals we made him our king, But now Doog has gone away, Over  the  midlands to Molineux, With Wolverhampton he started a new , He still scores the goals that made him our king, Dougan for ever more-Dougan-Dougan 

The ‘Doog went on to become a legend at Wolves and played for them for over eight seasons making 323 appearances and scoring 123 goals.

Sadly on 24 June 2007 Alexander Derek Dougan died of a heart attack in Wolverhampton aged 69

I was fortunate to meet the ‘Doog’ some years after he had retired. I was at Atherstone Council waiting for a job interview when a friend of mine who also turned up for an interview for the same job (it was on the bins) said to me that my idol was in the pub over the road, I was torn whether to stay for the interview or go over to the ‘clock’ as it was known to see Doog. Dougan was there to open a betting shop in Atherstone, I went to the ‘clock’

I was cheeky and introduced myself and I was fortunate that I not only had a chat with Derek but I also had a drink with him and we talked about football. I asked him why he left Leicester so soon and he hinted that he clashed with the manager Matt Gillies over tactics.

How many footballers today would buy you a drink and chat with you in a pub!

 Derek signed a beer mat for me as well. In case you are interested I never got the job on the bins, my mate Billy Cooper did but I didn’t care. I had a lifetime memory of meeting my idol the ‘DOOG’

R.I.P. Derek Dougan a true legend---Leicester Till I Die

 

GRAHAM CROSS

GRAHAM CROSS

‘The Tank’ Graham Cross is probably my favourite Leicester player of all time, simply because being a centre back myself in my playing days, I used to watch Graham’s positional play and precision tackling in awe. I believe that in his day Graham Cross was one of the finest centre backs ever to pull on a City shirt.

Graham Frederick Cross was born in Leicester on 15^th November 1943 and made his Leicester debut on April 29^th 1961 against Birmingham City at Filbert Street in a 3-2 win and Graham even managed a debut goal.

Graham made six more appearances in the league the following season and managed another goal in the final league game of the season in a 2-3 defeat at home to Spurs. He also made two appearances in the European Cup Winners Cup, one against Glenavon away in a 4-1 win and also in the away leg at Atletico Madrid in a 2-0 defeat which saw City go out of the competition losing 3-1 on aggregate.

In the 1962-63 season Graham established himself as a regular in the starting line-up and was shuffled between defence and attack throughout the season and he scored seven league goals and one F A Cup goal and he picked up a losing F A Cup final medal after playing against Manchester United in the Wembley final, City losing 3-1. Graham was to pick up another losers medal in 1969 after the 1-0 defeat to Manchester City.

It would take up loads of room to catalogue all of ‘The Tanks’ achievements and appearances on here ,so here is a watered down version that I am afraid doesn’t do him justice

In his spell as a Leicester player Graham Cross made 495 league appearances and 3 as substitute 59 F A Cup appearances 40 League Cup appearances and 2 European Cup Winners Cup appearances. Graham scored 29 league goals 6 F A Cup goals and 2 League Cup goals, He also picked up 2 losing F A Cup final medals and 1winners and 1 losers Football League Cup final medals.

I firmly believe that Graham Cross was Leicester City’s finest ever player and his appearance record for me testifies that, he holds the record for most appearances made in a foxes shirt, a total of 599 appearances in all competitions, a record that I believe will never be broken especially in today’s football climate where loyalty means less to players than it did in what I call the golden era of football.

It was Graham Cross’s central defensive partnership with ‘big John Sjoberg’ that formed the rear guard for Leicester City for many seasons and without taking anything away from Alan Woollett, if Sjoberg had been fit for the 1969 F A Cup final I believe we may have won. Graham went on to play for Leicester until 1975.

Graham Cross was not only an accomplished footballer playing for his home town team he was also a first class cricketer playing for Leicestershire (whose Grace Road ground is not far from City’s Belvoir Drive training ground) between 1961-1977. It was cricket that ultimately ended his Leicester City career. In the summer of 1975 Leicestershire captured the Championship for the first time and despite everyone’s excitement the football clubs directors decided to suspend Graham Cross for failing to report back for pre-season training. Graham was playing cricket for Leicestershire.

Graham went out on loan for a short while at Chesterfield before joining Brighton for the 1976-77 season where he was an ever present in there side helping them gain promotion from the 3^rd division, and the following season he moved to Preston and once again he was instrumental in helping Preston gain promotion. Graham then joined Lincoln but unfortunately his spell with them ended in relegation. Graham then had a spell at coaching before taking up the reigns as manager of Hinckley Athletic. 

A sad note to Graham Cross’s illustrious career happened in February 1993 when it was reported that he had been jailed for using post office funds to pay off his gambling debts, despite this blip in his life for me ‘The Tank’ Graham Cross is a true Leicester legend.

For those of us that remember the great days at Filbert Street we are in for a special treat as I am sure many of you will know Micky Bates has made a replica model of Filbert Street that he is kindly letting Leicester City put on display as of the next home game v Derby County it is a true work of art and will bring back many happy memories. I am sure Micky wouldn’t mind me mentioning it to you all        

RODNEY FERN

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 13^th 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 3^rd 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 4^th 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 27^th 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 3^rd 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