As much as Leicester City have made me miserable over the past two years, the joy I felt seeing Claudio Ranieri, Kasper Schmeichel, Wes Morgan, Jamie Vardy and the heroes of 2016 finally made me feel connected to the club again, even if only for a little bit.
The feeling didn’t stick around though.
Making near 40-year olds play out a horrible 0-0 draw in a near empty stadium on a red hot day was humiliating, and very typical of Leicester of recent.
Of course, you can’t blame the higher ups for the lack of spectacle within the game itself (though whoever thought a game with a team managed by Tony Pulis was a good idea?). But you can and should question the way the event was organised and run.
From the tone-deaf social media team to the day itself, it was all wrong.
The fan zone and pre-match activities were typically dysfunctional.
Giving the fans an opportunity beforehand to meet and greet the players off the coach was a nice touch, granted. But no Jamie Vardy left a few fans feeling cheated, with a lot there solely for him; Leicester, England and Cremonese shirts with his name adorned the blue carpet.
Fans were also confused, having been told to stand in one place, then another and then another by some stewards.
The players got off the coach, to be greeted by Claudio Ranieri. A genuinely really nice moment. Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha also joined the players on the walk, for reasons I cannot comprehend.
On the official website, spectators were told that two players would be speaking on stage in the fan zone – only one actually did.
It’s okay if you were running late to the game though, as the club advertised that they would be selling tickets for the match up until 2.45pm, which was half time.
When you decided you had had enough of mooching about the club shop with the newly released remake 2015/16 black away shirt (without the Puma details for £45!), there was still, somehow, a 10 minute queue to get in, despite there being barely anyone there. Not all the turnstiles were open, for some reason.
The players warmed up and entered to a welcomed applause. It was a nice touch to see Birchy again, who was announcing the players onto the pitch. I enjoyed him mentioning that “the club couldn’t afford a new microphone at the minute”.
One pyrotechnic and fireworks display later and the game was underway – sorry – underwhelming.
As fun as it was seeing the boys, the absentees were very noticeable during the game and the atmosphere mirrored this. A handful of Marc Albrighton, Daniel Amartey and Wes Morgan chants arose, but for most of the 90 it was dead silent.
I nipped down at half time for a cold drink on a very warm day, to see that there were no soft drinks available. Make of that what you will.
The second half came and went. Still no goals.
Penalties it was.
Finally a bit of quality was shown by none other than Anstey Nomads legend Conrad Logan, a player who was playing his football in a different country altogether in 2016.
Troy Deeney was the big name for the ‘All-Stars’, and he wasn’t even there.
Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha and Jon Rudkin were in attendance, however. I do wonder what they thought as the players who should have been welcomed back by the whole city were greeted by only about 5,000 fans, and whether, after the year we’ve had, this game really should have gone ahead.
Having spoken to fans there, no one really enjoyed the game.
Could the club not have organised an event similar to the Guardiola goodbye? You can still retain the blue carpet meet and greet and have Alan Birchenall back present that way. I also assume that other members of the 2015/16 team would have been more inclined to come.
With the match going ahead, the club could have filled out the stadium by giving season ticket holders and members free tickets as a gesture of goodwill, rather than posting nearly 200 times on social media to try and sell tickets.
It’s been said before about many things over the past 12 months, but this event was a great reflection of how far Leicester City have fallen as a football club.
The Fosse Way 