A tribute to Craig Shakespeare - the everyman who helped Leicester City win it all
Yesterday evening, Leicester City fans were shocked by the news that the club’s former manager Craig Shakespeare had passed away at the age of just 60.
Although we had known Shakespeare had been diagnosed with cancer, months had passed since that announcement and there was a hope that he must be on the road to recovery.
There’s really little we can add to the glowing tributes paid by so many of Shakespeare’s former colleagues, players and supporters. Some of them were so eloquent and heartfelt they were difficult to read.
But out of respect, we must try to briefly sum up his contribution to the football club and his impact on the most successful period we’ll probably ever have.
He was clearly one of football’s nice guys, one of the nicest guys, someone who flourished as a right-hand man and then went on to achieve again when he was the number one.
The club’s social media post of four photographs - Shakespeare with the League One trophy, celebrating the Championship win, with the Premier League trophy and on the pitch at Filbert Way after the Champions League victory over Sevilla - neatly encapsulated that period of unprecedented success over so many years.
Another image obviously comes to mind when we think of Craig Shakespeare - striding onto the training pitch in a tracksuit with a ball under each arm, a big smile on his face.
It was striking how much that image was reflected in the tributes that flooded in from those he had worked with. The hard work, the good humour, the sense of togetherness and perhaps a bit of devilment beneath it all too.
Those qualities all came to the fore when Sevilla were beaten and Leicester City marched on to the quarter-finals of the Champions League. Leicester fans have never been more together than in the stands that night - creating one of the greatest atmospheres we’ve ever known, inspired by the relentless workrate of players under Shakespeare’s direction.
Another picture - the Union FS tifo quoting another Shakespeare as our home fizzed and crackled with anticipation ahead of what the Spanish call a remontada. The comeback.
But then Craig Shakespeare was an old hand at comebacks - returning to Leicester with Nigel Pearson after a brief exile to Hull, helping to mastermind the greatest escape to Premier League safety, coming back the next season with Claudio Ranieri to achieve the unbelievable and then arriving again for one final spell with the club in another hour of need the season before last.
Over the course of a football club’s history, relatively few people at the top will get right into the bones of what it’s about. Amid the recent soul-searching about our style of play and the connection between those in charge and those who follow, this horrible news was a bit of a jolt.
It may feel like Craig Shakespeare got Leicester City but there’s a bit more to it than that. What we want from our football club is shaped by periods of success, optimism and positivity. He was right at the heart of so much of all those things in our recent history that he actually helped make it clear what we want Leicester City to be.
If we could have one wish today, it would be that Craig’s family understand just how valued he was by all Leicester City supporters and how appreciative we are of his time with our club.
