What's your most memorable Leicester City pre-season friendly and why?
We'd just had ‘Eiffel Tower-gate’, replaced one of our best ever managers with a guy who'd most recently been nobbled by the Faroe Islands, and had the news that Esteban Cambiasso couldn't hack another season trying to avoid relegation.
But we didn't care. Rather than descend into the inevitable darkness coming our way, more than a thousand of the Blue Army packed behind a Sincil Bank goal to watch a 2-2 draw against Lincoln City. "Ranieri/whoah-oh/he came from Italy/to manage the City" got its first airing that night. A shame it wasn't ever going to work out for him at Filbert Way...
Ryan Hubbard
Presumably a popular pick, but it has to be when we hosted Real Madrid back in 2011.
Not only was it a brilliant occasion (I still can’t believe Lloyd Dyer has a goal against Real Madrid on his CV?!), but it also gave us this piece of gold, courtesy of Thai TV. Any advert that markets Richie Wellens in the same manner as Kaka is a winner in my book.
Charlie Carmichael
Barcelona, 8th August 2003. My first memory of being awestruck at the Walkers Stadium – he had flair, boundless technical ability and distinctive flowing locks which bounced around as he bamboozled the opposition. But enough about Lilian Nalis.
It was my dream to watch Ronaldinho in the flesh, and even though he seemed to canter around without breaking a sweat, just seeing flashes of his brilliance was enough to leave me buzzing for weeks. Javier Saviola’s winning goal wasn’t bad either.
Matt Jedruch
For the wrong reasons, it's probably Villarreal last year. I honestly think our entire season went to pieces that day. A lot of bad decisions and negative energy stemmed from the moment Wesley Fofana broke his leg, and I doubt I will ever forget that game.
Kind of forgotten is the fact that we were absolutely brilliant before his injury as well. We absolutely ran rings around a good team, which probably contributed to the injury as they were getting rattled. It was the perfect final friendly for an hour, then it effectively ruined the season ahead before it had even started. Pretty memorable as these things go.
James Knight
I’d have to say the only time I’ve watched three Leicester City teams on one day. It was 11th July 2009. A Leicester XI mostly comprising youth team players won 3-1 at Loughborough Dynamo in a lunchtime kickoff that left just enough time to drive over to Tamworth, where the first team drew 1-1 (Bruno Berner the scorer). Then it was a quick trip up the M1 to Nottingham to see a City side win a four-team Masters tournament also featuring Derby and the two Notts teams…
Although not a friendly, the Masters tournament is probably the most interesting to look back on. Derby included Marc Edworthy, who’d just been released by Leicester following a year as a squad filler in League One, along with former Foxes Phil Gee and Dean Sturridge. Another ex-Leicester player, Gary Mills, was certainly named in the Forest squad - whether he actually made it having managed Tamworth earlier in the day I can’t recall. Even Notts County had two former City players - Alan Paris and Ian Baraclough, now the Northern Ireland manager.
But Leicester had the best player of all, Muzzy Izzet, bossing the whole evening. We may not have conquered tricky Tamworth that day but the kids did alright and our old boys were the kings of the East Midlands.
Dave Bevan
It's very tempting to say the 3-3 draw at Filbert Street with Roberto Mancini's Fiorentina – Dean Sturridge bagged a hat-trick, and Nuno Gomez and Enrico Chiesa both scored from memory.
There also has to be an honourable mention for the first game at the Walkers Stadium, an explosive 1-1 draw with Athletic Club when legendary striker Aritz Aduriz got himself sent off for headbutting Matt Elliott.
But I'd have to pick our 4-2 defeat in Stockholm against Barcelona in the International Champions Cup. Me and my Dad flew out, and it was a sign of things to come ahead of playing in the Champions League that season. To see Lionel Messi play in the flesh for the first time, and against Leicester, was completely surreal – him and Luis Suarez ran rings around us in the first half.
It was a bit of a humbling experience, but who can forget Ahmed Musa's brace?
Jordan Halford
Real Madrid in 2011 – there was so much build-up and buzz around the fixture (and a gloriously OTT advert for it). With Sven in charge, there was also big expectation on us during that summer where we splashed the cash on Matt Mills, Jermaine Beckford, Kasper Schmeichel, Paul Konchesky and Sean St Ledger.
Jose Mourinho brought a star-studded side that included Iker Casillas, Sergio Ramos, Pepe, Marcelo, Xabi Alonso, Kaka, Karim Benzema, and Cristiano Ronaldo. They just about coped with our right flank of Lee Peltier and Paul Gallagher.
Dante Clarke
