Who was the first Leicester City player who truly excited you?
It's Muzzy Izzet for me. He was there from the start of my supporting life, remained talismanic for years, and stayed with us when others jumped ship. He very easily could have done the same, but didn't because he was happy and genuinely loved the club.
He was a class act who epitomised the Martin O'Neill years and still performed long after he'd left – my oft-trotted fact is that he got the joint-most Premier League assists in 2003-04, when we largely struggled.
You only have to read the testimonies of those who played with him to understand what a talent he was.
Joe Brewin
Muzzy Izzet always stood out from my childhood. Seeing him represent Leicester on the international stage for Turkey (however briefly) in 2 major tournaments filled me with a lot of pride.
Through my teenage years, both Iain Hume and Matty Fryatt naturally stole the spotlight. The latter especially, becoming our saviour after we plummeted to the depths of League One, helping to fire us back up the English football ladder.
Charlie Carmichael
It may be that time has distorted my memory, but I genuinely can't remember too many players who "got me off of my seat" in my early years. There definitely weren't many who did so during the years spent rooted to the lower end of the Championship, either. So, bearing that in mind, I think the first who probably did so was Paul Gallagher.
We'd just had, arguably, the most fun season in our history - winning League 1 at a canter and playing at grounds in which we had never contemplated playing. We had our black shirt with blue sash. After so many years of below-mediocrity, it was exciting to support Leicester again.
At the time, Gally just seemed to be that cut above the players we'd seen on show at Filbert Way. He seemed to do things on the ball that so many others before him couldn't. Our ‘Championship Mahrez’. And when he did score, it was quite often a banger; the header which secured his hat-trick against Scunthorpe, in particular, summed up his wiliness, his cheek and, most of all, his ability.
Ryan Hubbard
I've spent an inordinate amount of time thinking about this and I've settled on Max Gradel. I went to my first Leicester games in the mid 90s, and obviously we had good players then. But I don't think we had that many legitimately exciting players, and throughout the early/mid 00s we definitely didn't.
Gradel had the perfect combination of skill, unpredictability, and youth to make you feel things as a fan. I think potential is a huge part of this question and he combined that with enough flashes of quality to make you believe. It helps that he broke into the first team right at the crossing point between Bad Leicester and Good Leicester as well; the years before the relegation to League 1 were seriously bleak on the youth front.
He also still plays a small ceremonial role as the face of my laptop login screen as I uploaded a picture of him to be my avatar on Hotmail about 15 years ago and have never changed it, which has to count for something.
James Knight
Muzzy Izzet. In truth, I was probably too young to truly appreciate just how good he was when I was first taken to Filbert Street but he still stands out. I didn’t see Leicester win a lot in my first couple of seasons, but I quickly came to appreciate that with Izzet, alongside Neil Lennon, we had some special midfielders.
But Izzet stood out because as a kid, the goals and the little flashes of brilliance caught the eye. I may not have understood the technical side of it but he had me excited. I was emotional when I thought we might lose him and elated when he stayed a bit longer. He stayed when others didn’t. I was young but I appreciated loyalty even then.
It helps that he had a knack for scoring some superb goals over the years. His ability to just hit a ball for the first time so sweetly is nearly unrivalled in my head by anybody to wear the shirt since. Riyad Mahrez may have the best first touch we’ve ever had at the club, but in terms of converting that into goals, Izzet takes the prize. He just always knew exactly where to put it.
He always seemed (and still does) like a genuinely nice, trustworthy guy too. Meeting him and hearing stories of others meeting him has confirmed that and his cult status remains. I’ll forever argue that his name never gets the respect it deserves.
Helen Nutter
I think Ashleigh Plumptre was a great asset to the women's team last season. For a defender, she was doing everything she could to get Leicester on the scoresheet while stopping the opposition at the other end. What's better yet is that she was born in Leicester and that showed on the pitch when the stakes were so high in the WSL.
It certainly made all the difference. She's played in England and the United States where she's gained a lot of experience. Not a lot of people will be putting a defender as an answer to this question, but for me, she leaves it all on the pitch. Keep an eye on her next season, where if there's a set-piece she'll be the first one leaping above the rest to get the ball into the back of the net.
Renuka Odedra
At the risk of repeating what most of us have already said, it would probably have to be Muzzy Izzet. My earliest memory of him was scoring away at Vicarage Road in 1996 against Watford to sneak us into the play-offs. I think it was his first goal for us and I seem to remember watching it on The Big Match on ITV as it was a Sunday game!
I also remember thinking we'd scored against Crystal Palace at Wembley in the final because I couldn't really see, but Izzet had won us a penalty which was duly converted by Garry Parker. There are too many moments to mention but his volleys against Spurs and Leeds stand out, as well as that overhead kick against Grimsby.
He was a proper 90s box-to-box midfielder who could get beyond the strikers, he scored all types of goals too and he was deceptively good in the air for his diminutive figure. It was a testament that he remained so loyal when we were relegated in 2001/02 and helped us usher in a new era at the Walkers Stadium when he'd played in a World Cup semi-final for Turkey against Brazil just two months earlier.
I also named my cat after him, despite her being a girl!
Jordan Halford
You can tell a Leicester fan’s age by which player springs to mind when they hear the name Tommy Wright - the Scottish winger of the early 90s or the homegrown striker of a decade later. For me it’s the former and he was the most exciting player by far in the dismal Leicester side I first started watching.
But the real answer is probably Julian Joachim - every time he got the ball, Filbert Street would buzz with an electricity that helped seal my allegiance to the club.
I loved it when he would knock the ball past an opposing player and run. I like the idea that kids these days growing up supporting Leicester get the same feeling about Harvey Barnes.
David Bevan
It’s got to be Anthony Knockaert. The little French wizard is a bit of an icon at the club and it’s no surprise with his amusing character and amazing trickery on the pitch. When it comes to getting you off your seat, he provided that every single week.
He began the excitement when he scored his first two league goals for the club in ridiculous fashion. He rocketed a left-footed strike into the top corner from over 30 yards for his first against Huddersfield and his second would be even better as he made his mark by scoring an unreal scorpion kick.
Knockaert struggled in the Premier League after promotion but his personality, passion and superb ability leave him as a player most will always remember.
Jack Johnson