Favourite City Moment

[Matt_B]

The argument that a full ground equates to a good atmosphere is certainly not true.

I have been to the KP so many times where various promotions have been ran and bumped the attendance up to 26/27000 and the atmosphere has been so much worse than when the hardcore 18000 are there.

It is certainly not the case that numbers will equal atmosphere and I dare say that after 10 games in the top flight the fans will not see winning at home as over achievement and will infact come to expect it, such is the nature of the support.

One thing I remember as a young lad on the way to Wembley was the hundreds of people and banners draping the M1 all through Leicestershire and beyond, as strange as it seems, it is this imgage that reminds me how much football has changed, I certainly don't think this would happen today.

I think there is an intangible element that has been lost amongst supporters these days, making it hard to understand or nail down exactly what it is.

I blame disenchantment due to media and money. And seemingly shorter memories. It wasn't long ago that we were battling relegation every season but now we seem to be expecting to be top of the tree. This is in part, imo, down to the hyped up spending prices in the media, the over-zealous bidding under Sven and,honestly, Football Manager. The increased money from Sky means that teams are spending more and more above what they can afford to attract top players and it's now at the point where they can't stop this for fear of a fan backlash. How many of our fans would be happy if we stopped spending and bought cheaper (which in this climate equates to mediocre) players for the trade off of financial stability?

Fans want to see the top players it seems but don't want to pay for it. Ticket prices are rising in line with player wages and transfer fees, which drives more fans away. We sold our soul to Sky and Champions League and are now paying the price. The worst thing is, we did it willingly.

 

[Miles Away]

Did anyone make the back to back London trips the year we went up under O'neill. I bet they were great to be at.

Charlton and Crystal Palace, wasn't it?

 

[M17TT C]

Definitely the best thread in a long while this. Some great memories watching the YouTube clips and I even got lost until 2 o clock last night on there reminiscing about the good days at Filbert Street.

Also interesting debate on the atmosphere and if/what has killed it. Some good points mentioned already but I do think the move away from Filbert Street and also the success we had under O'Neill have both played a part in leaving us how we are now.

Thankfully we do seem to be getting ourselves back on our feet ability wise but atmosphere side of things needs more than just Premiership football and for me, the atmosphere is mainly what draws me to wanting to go.

One last good moment for me though was the last game at Filbert Street, amazing atmosphere in the Kop and it was also my first pitch invasion. Also great fun digging up a nice bit of grass from the pitch with the back of my chair, both of which I still have planted in my parents garden and hanging on my LCFC 'shrine' wall respectively.

 

[FryattFox]

One thing I remember as a young lad on the way to Wembley was the hundreds of people and banners draping the M1 all through Leicestershire and beyond, as strange as it seems, it is this imgage that reminds me how much football has changed, I certainly don't think this would happen today.

I don't think that you would see it here any more. There is just a big expectations gap at our (and many other clubs) at present.

I think that were Barnsley or Swansea to make the Cup final, they would treat it with similar levels of excitement.

 

[FryattFox]

One last good moment for me though was the last game at Filbert Street, amazing atmosphere in the Kop and it was also my first pitch invasion. Also great fun digging up a nice bit of grass from the pitch with the back of my chair, both of which I still have planted in my parents garden and hanging on my LCFC 'shrine' wall respectively.

Genuinely agree that pitch invasions are one of the most exciting things in football (within reason). I'll never forget being on that pitch after Spurs.

 

[M17TT C]

One thing I remember as a young lad on the way to Wembley was the hundreds of people and banners draping the M1 all through Leicestershire and beyond, as strange as it seems, it is this imgage that reminds me how much football has changed, I certainly don't think this would happen today.

I also remember that but I'd say it's down to a change in how we live and times.

Unfortunately for many members of society now, they would see a tweet with #LCFC4daCup as showing the same amount of support.

 

[M17TT C]

Genuinely agree that pitch invasions are one of the most exciting things in football (within reason). I'll never forget being on that pitch after Spurs.

I can just remember being at Filbert Street when there were a few at the end of the seasons in the early 90's as it seemed to be a given back then a pitch invasion would happen.

I never got to be a part of them as I was well under 10 then and my Dad never wanted us to be in the standing Kop so always went in the double decker. I can remember it looked great fun to be down there though to be part of the celebrations so bit of a shame that my first and only to date was when we got bloody relegated!

 

[pds]

Did anyone make the back to back London trips the year we went up under O'neill. I bet they were great to be at.

Charlton and Crystal Palace, wasn't it?

Yep, both were awesome. The Palace one slightly soured by the coach braking down near London and having to wait 2 hours for the replacement.

 

[PEN3]

I can just remember being at Filbert Street when there were a few at the end of the seasons in the early 90's as it seemed to be a given back then a pitch invasion would happen.

I never got to be a part of them as I was well under 10 then and my Dad never wanted us to be in the standing Kop so always went in the double decker. I can remember it looked great fun to be down there though to be part of the celebrations so bit of a shame that my first and only to date was when we got bloody relegated!

I've been on the pitch twice. After beating Charlton 2-1 in 1980 to secure promotion and after drawing against Burnley in 1983 when we had to wait the score from Fulham's game at Derby which had been delayed to the crowd encroaching onto the pitch. Even dug a piece of the hallowed turf, laid it in my back garden but it never grew.

 

[Doggie_muz]

The argument that a full ground equates to a good atmosphere is certainly not true.

I have been to the KP so many times where various promotions have been ran and bumped the attendance up to 26/27000 and the atmosphere has been so much worse than when the hardcore 18000 are there.

It is certainly not the case that numbers will equal atmosphere and I dare say that after 10 games in the top flight the fans will not see winning at home as over achievement and will infact come to expect it, such is the nature of the support.

One thing I remember as a young lad on the way to Wembley was the hundreds of people and banners draping the M1 all through Leicestershire and beyond, as strange as it seems, it is this imgage that reminds me how much football has changed, I certainly don't think this would happen today.

I think there is an intangible element that has been lost amongst supporters these days, making it hard to understand or nail down exactly what it is.

Good post.

I wasn't trying to argue that numbers = atmosphere, just that a partially empty ground made an atmosphere very difficult to create, probably because there are separate small pockets of singing / noise, but it struggles to spread due to gaps in the stand.

I think one of the key phrases in your post was "supporters these days". I'm not as old as many on this forum, but even in my 20-25 years of watching football, crowds have changed immeasurably. I think you can put that down to a huge number of factors (all-seater, more family-friendly etc), but I genuinely think that the "average" fan is different to what they were 10-15 years ago. I think that the average fan now is much more of a day-tripper, something-to-do-on-a-Saturday type of person than someone to whom the result of a game will impact their mood for the next week. In turn, I think that this has been driven by rising ticket prices which has, in crude terms, shut out the working class and moved football into the middle classes. I'm not yearning for the days of hooliganism or anything like that, but I think many would agree that football was more fun when there was a more base element in the support, to whom the ongoings on the pitch really mattered.

 

[Micky]

Yep, both were awesome. The Palace one slightly soured by the coach braking down near London and having to wait 2 hours for the replacement.

Wow! I was on that bus. I was kept amused by a bloke who reeled off jokes for the whole duration. An amazing day.

 

[pds]

Wow! I was on that bus. I was kept amused by a bloke who reeled off jokes for the whole duration. An amazing day.

I was only 10 years old, crisps and chocolate kept me amused!

 

[Lako42]

Good post.

I wasn't trying to argue that numbers = atmosphere, just that a partially empty ground made an atmosphere very difficult to create, probably because there are separate small pockets of singing / noise, but it struggles to spread due to gaps in the stand.

I think one of the key phrases in your post was "supporters these days". I'm not as old as many on this forum, but even in my 20-25 years of watching football, crowds have changed immeasurably. I think you can put that down to a huge number of factors (all-seater, more family-friendly etc), but I genuinely think that the "average" fan is different to what they were 10-15 years ago. I think that the average fan now is much more of a day-tripper, something-to-do-on-a-Saturday type of person than someone to whom the result of a game will impact their mood for the next week. In turn, I think that this has been driven by rising ticket prices which has, in crude terms, shut out the working class and moved football into the middle classes. I'm not yearning for the days of hooliganism or anything like that, but I think many would agree that football was more fun when there was a more base element in the support, to whom the ongoings on the pitch really mattered.

Absolutely spot on.

I often look at photos and videos like the ones on this thread, and wonder how many of the fans you see in those pictures still attend games, and of those that do, do they still carry the same emotional attachment that they did then.

 

[spionfox]

The Palace one slightly soured by the coach braking down near London.

Problem with the breaks? :icon_wink

 

[pds]

Problem with the breaks? :icon_wink

Blame it on the phone.

Some of my best memories are from the first season I started going regularly. There was a period at the end of 91/92 where we seemed to win most home games. I remember Tranmere at home which we won 1-0 with a late goal from Russell. One of my earliest and favourite memories.
The original Tommy Wright remains one of my favourite ever players.

 

[Jeff]

The original Tommy Wright remains one of my favourite ever players.

This one?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommy_Wright_(footballer_born_1928)

 

[LeeCovFox]

Good thread.

I've a few to contribute. The first came in spring 1994. We'd gone down early on against Grimsby to a Clive Mendonca goal. I was there with my Dad, a Birmingham fan whose main concern when the clock hit 90 was to get out and avoid the end of game rush. I threw a strop, as ten year olds not getting their own way are wont to do so when Julian Joachim's late equaliser rippled the net the combined feeling of ecstasy and vindication was quite something. The game is also something special to me as it's the first one I really remember being at. I had been to several before but didn't care about football when I was really young, despite my Dad's best attempts.

The next 'moment' was when I realised we had beaten Tranmere in the play off semi final that same year and that we'd be going to Wembley. I was at home, listening to the radio, with my Uncle. I went absolutely beserk at our winner to the point my that my Uncle gave me a bit of a bollocking. I didn't much care about that; I'd read all about our previous two Wembley trips and now, even though I wouldn't be there myself, I'd get to experience my club being part of a showpiece footballing event. I couldn't have been more excited. As for my Uncle, he died less than four years later which serves him right for shouting at me.

As much as I enjoyed watching us beat Derby at Wembley on the telly in '94 it can't come close to experiencing my first Wembley visit two years later. The whole day was magical to me and the nerves were indescribable. Of course, the way that match ended puts a special gloss on the day. I was sat behind Nigel Martyn's goal as Claridge's shot flew past him and I haven't celebrated a goal as much since. We were close enough to the front that I shook Martin George's hand as he walked around the ground during the celebrations. My Dad asked him if he was going to spend money the time around, at which George grinned and waved a fiver at him.

I was delighted as a secondary school kid surrounded by Man United fans when we won the League Cup in '97 but after the play off win over Palace I was never going to enjoy seeing us winning stuff as much unless I was there to experience it in the flesh. These next two moments are going in as one because of their association with one man; Matt Elliott. The first was his headed winner in the League Cup semi-final second leg versus Aston Villa at Filbert Street in 2000. The atmosphere at that match is still the best one I've experienced and Elliott's winner ensured that I was going to Wembley to watch my team in a cup final for the first, and so far last, time. I don't remember too much from the final other than the goal, but I do recall my Uncle driving me back up the M1 in near pitch darkness feeling as though nothing could dampen my mood.

There is nothing since to match up to those formative footballing experiences or the Wembley successes, but other moments and matches do merit a mention. Others have mentioned this but that 5-2 win over Sunderland remains one of my favourite City memories. In Collymore we had signed a player who, when his head was right, a genuinely top class talent. His partnership with Heskey that day was frighteningly good. I felt as though we were on the verge of breaking through into the top six of English football that day. It is a bittersweet memory given what has happened since and I wish I'd savoured the feeling more. The same goes for most of that era.

Another favourite is the 3-1 win over Scunthorpe after Sousa was shown the door. Nothing spectacular in itself, but before that game I thought we might be in real trouble that season. Te manner in which we won the game, albeit against a poor side, gave me confidence that we'd be okay and that the problem had been removed. The two six goal wins this season should also go in here. I'd never seen us score six in a match before this season so to do it twice in a matter of weeks isn't something I can take for granted. I'll chuck in a bit of a wildcard, too. The 5-1 home win over Doncaster a couple of seasons back. Not for any memory that is attached to it, but because that second half was great fun. We had gone behind and played appallingly until we were awarded a dodgy penalty just before half time. But in the second half we were truly brilliant and attacked with real conviction and flair. Halves of football like that aren't too common.

 

[Jenks]

Heskey got the first goal against Arsenal (Seaman) before Elliott and the equaliser from Walsh. Prem '97 I think?? Just that I was sat behind Seaman's goal and saw Emile's face was a picture. Luvly memory and Seaman accepted and acknowledged how good that goal was. Fair play.

 

[Profondo Rosso]

The two six goal wins this season should also go in here. I'd never seen us score six in a match before this season so to do it twice in a matter of weeks isn't something I can take for granted.

Definitely. Knockaert's second against Huddersfield on New Year's Day will love long in the memory in particular for me. Went mad when it went in. Don't think I've ever seen a Leicester player score such a sublime individual goal live as that live.

 

[Orifice]

Is it not Mr. Heskeys birthday today, Friday 11th?