Colin Appleton RIP

[Polar Bear]

Another one of our great players has passed on. Maybe some of the oldest TBers have memories of watching Colin play?

Colin Appleton: 1936-2021

It is with great sadness that we heard the news that Colin Appleton, the captain of Leicester City’s famous ‘Ice Kings' team, which was a realistic contender for the league and cup double in 1963, died on 31 May, 2021 at the age of 85.

www.lcfc.com

 

[Volpone]

I saw him play and yesterday I was thinking of him when I was watching Michael Appleton's Lincoln City losing their playoff final.

 

[Brown Nose]

Apparently, he was another ex-footballer to suffer with dementia. I wonder how many thousands of balls he headed away for Leicester City over the years?

He fully merits his place in the history of our club. Our first captain to lift a major trophy. He's 20th in the all time list of appearances for us. Vardy overtook him this season but he seems pretty secure in that list for now.

My only recollection of Colin Appleton was his time as a manager rather than a player. I remember there being quite a bit of fuss when we opened the 1989/90 season against his Hull side. What with him being such a highly regarded former player of ours.

I saw this on YouTube - highlights from that match. I remember being in that away end and the main topic of excitement for the new season was not record signing Wayne Clarke, or Tommy Wright or Rooster Russell's debuts, it was seeing another new signing Allan Evans sporting his trademark wrist bands. Such were the thrill levels of the late 80s away trips. Appleton's return as Hull manager that season failed after just a few weeks and he was out of work and never got back into football.