10 times Leicester City bounced back early to spark success
Monday’s game against Nottingham Forest feels like one of the biggest early season games in Leicester City’s history.
So, with the fate of the manager, his team’s confidence and the club’s Premier League status on the line, here’s a look back at 10 times in the past 30 years when Leicester halted an early decline or setback to set up a successful campaign…
26 September 1992 - Watford 0 Leicester City 3
Scoring goals was the problem at the start of the 1992/93 season. Leicester had only managed eight in the first eight games, including back-to-back goalless draws at Filbert Street going into their trip to Vicarage Road.
Bobby Davison, David Lowe and Ian Ormondroyd scored to lift Little's men into the top six – Leicester remained there in May and were soon off to Wembley for the second year in a row.
11 December 1993 - Leicester City 3 Bristol City 0
After five games without a win, Leicester turned to marksmen old and new. Two goals from David Speedie and one from Julian Joachim gave Brian Little’s side victory over Bristol City.
We finished 4th at the end of the season, and although Speedie missed Wembley after being sent off in the semi-final second leg, Little's team finally triumphed under the Twin Towers to secure a first shot at the big time.
17 December 1995 - Leicester City 3 Norwich City 2
How many changes in fortunes do you want in one day? This landmark date in Leicester City's history featured three.
The game saw Leicester come back from 2-0 down to win with goals from Mike Whitlow, Iwan Roberts and a young Emile Heskey.
This win halted a run of five games without a victory and set Leicester on course, after a few setbacks, for the play-offs… and promotion back to the Premier League.
The third change on this day was off the pitch. Norwich manager Martin O'Neill had tendered his resignation at 11.30am; before long, he was beginning a defining spell in charge of their opponents.
22 September 1996 - Tottenham Hotspur 1 Leicester City 2
After one win from the first six games, Leicester needed a spark. It’s hard to imagine now, but in those pre-Kane and Son days, what you really needed to get back on track was a game against Tottenham. Steve Claridge and Ian Marshall brought us home three points from White Hart Lane.
It was always particularly enjoyable in the O'Neill era, going to clubs that considered themselves above the likes of us and winning with goals from the scruffiest strike partnership of all time.
This first Premier League away win under O'Neill was a fitting way to start a period when his bunch of upstarts disrupted the natural order with glee.
13 September 1997 - Leicester City 3 Tottenham Hotspur 0
Aston Villa, Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal: the first four fixtures of Leicester's second successive season at elite level looked daunting. In the most Leicester thing ever, we went unbeaten throughout that period, only to lose at Sheffield Wednesday in the next game.
What we really needed to get back on track was a game against... yep, Tottenham. Steve Walsh, Steve Guppy and Emile Heskey got the goals and Leicester finished 10th the following May.
3 October 1998 - Leeds United 0 Leicester City 1
3rd October and looking in trouble after the first seven games? At least we had one win to our name already in 1998 – and at least we had Tony Cottee.
The veteran striker scored the only goal at Elland Road to lift Leicester from 17th to 16th in the table ahead of a 16-day break. When football returned to Filbert Street, Muzzy Izzet's spectacular volley downed Tottenham, O'Neill stayed and Leicester finished in the top half again.
29 October 2002 - Leicester City 2 Coventry City 1
After losing at home to Burnley, which would go on to feel like an annual occurrence, and drawing 2-2 at Nottingham Forest, Leicester had slipped out of the automatic promotion places for the first time since August.
Liverpool loanee Richie Partridge scored an excellent solo goal to give Coventry the lead, but Leicester roared back with typically scrappy goals from Gerry Taggart and Brian Deane, the latter in the 89th minute.
This win put Micky Adams' side back into the top two – a position they held for the rest of the season in pursuit of eventual champions Portsmouth.
1 November 2008 - Leicester City 2 Bristol Rovers 1
In League One, four games without a win constituted a mini-crisis for a club of Leicester's size and ambition. That was the reality for the visit of Bristol Rovers.
Rickie Lambert led the line for Rovers, but it was his strike partner Jo Kuffour who opened the scoring on the hour. Still trailing entering the final three minutes, two Matty Fryatt goals secured all three points in the first of a 23-game unbeaten run that powered Leicester to the League One title.
28 December 2014 - Hull City 0 Leicester City 1
If it had understandably felt like Nigel Pearson's men had cracked the Premier League with a 5-3 win over Manchester United, confidence quickly eroded in the next 13 games.
Relegation appeared inevitable, but a trademark Riyad Mahrez goal at Hull helped stem the tide. Although there was more misery to come in the short term, three points here aided the greatest of escapes in the spring.
3 October 2015 - Norwich City 1 Leicester City 2
Seven years to the day as we aim for a desperately needed turnaround in our fortunes, this sunny trip to Norfolk resulted in a momentous switch that helped set up one of the greatest achievements in sporting history.
Of course, we're talking about the introduction of Danny Simpson and Christian Fuchs to the full-back positions, after the more attacking duo of Ritchie De Laet and Jeff Schlupp had been exposed in our first defeat of the season, a 5-2 reverse at home to Arsenal.
The goals that afternoon also told the story of the season - Jamie Vardy netted for the fifth time in a row en route to making history, while Schlupp’s second showcased both N’Golo Kante’s ability in the buildup and our team’s lightning counter attacking capabilities.
Never mind two in a row, Leicester only lost three games in the whole campaign. But you might remember that.
