The Fosse Way is 2: Revisiting year one of following the Foxes’ fortunes
To mark TFW’s second birthday, we’re going back through the archives to revisit a selection of the articles we published in our first 12 months.
That’s right, it’s a clip show…
July 2022
We started with four launch articles, one of which was Charlie Carmichael’s Leicester City Player Ratings from the previous season.
Catapulting into penultimate place, the recent recipient of a three-year contract ahead of his glorious return to the top flight.
“He was signed for his impressive distribution — an ability to slice through pressing lines in the build-up phase”
August 2022
The anticipation of a season ahead… we decided to find out where others thought Leicester would finish in 2022/23.
We’d like to reaffirm our apologies to “some guy you’ve never heard of from NBC Sports”, who, it turns out, was wildly optimistic compared to what actually transpired.
September 2022
As the full scale of the financial mishap became clear, some fans were quick to point out nobody was happy with our lack of spending.
But going back nearly two years, Joe Brewin wasn’t angry - he was disappointed. And he summed up the importance of careful stewardship rather than jeopardising the club’s long-term future:
“We might not like it, but we would quite like to see Leicester act sensibly where others haven’t in chasing dreams we’ve been very thankful to live out already.
The troubling part is that it all feels so haphazard; so sloppy and out of keeping with how we’ve been run in recent years.”
October 2022
Despite the horror show unfurling on the pitch, one of the few bright spots of following Leicester City in 2022/23 remained the effort and achievements of Union FS. We heard from the group on the making of The World-Famous City.
The total has been brought down significantly thanks to finding efficient ways of cutting costs.
Paint additives, shopping around and keeping suppliers within the UK have all helped represent fantastic value for money when looking at what other ‘groups’ in this country are churning out.
November 2022
With the first-ever winter World Cup slicing the season in two, Kyle Warman stepped up to share the 10 best Leicester City kits of all time:
You all remember your first Leicester City kit, the kit your favourite goal was scored in and the shirt you soaked your tears in as your parents told you to get used to defeat.
From Adidas to Joma, Bukta to Admiral, our heroes have worn them all and I’ve somehow got to whittle it down to 10. The final list has been chosen based on memories, occasion and designs.
And I’ve definitely missed off your favourite.
December 2022
Speaking of the World Cup, we managed to find 10 whole Leicester City talking points from the tournament. One of which involved a little-discussed or remembered “upturn in form”…
Interestingly, it turns out we were offered Croatian goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic in the summer. Albeit alongside a number of other Premier League clubs.
While Ward’s upturn in form doesn’t make the decision to pass on Livakovic a disaster (yet), I wonder what the decision-makers at the club have been thinking while watching his stellar displays over the past few weeks. Given Ward’s notoriously fragile confidence, is it going to be a topic we return to in the new year?
January 2023
“Pure sauce”. Sorry, Ric… (he wasn’t the only one….)
February 2023
There’s also still time for Harry Souttar to “take the Harry Maguire route” and make us all the millions, although hope is fading somewhat - in retrospect, perhaps David Bevan was wrong and Leicester City didn’t do all they could in the 2022/23 winter transfer window.
March 2023
That upturn in form seemed a long time gone by the time James Knight eviscerated Danny Ward with the threat of relegation looming:
“The question with his spell as Leicester’s number one is not about why he was dropped last weekend; it’s how he was ever there to begin with”
April 2023
With several weeks of the season still to go, Jack Holmes - along with many of us - was already fearing the worst. So how should Leicester have prepared for relegation?
“Add to this a manager in the mould of Michael Carrick or Vincent Kompany and could we see the phoenix rise from the ashes at the first attempt?
Plus we wouldn’t have to deal with all the patronising nonsense on Sky. Would it be that bad?”
May 2023
A common theme of the past two years has been a feeling of distance between the club and its supporters. Our Invitation To Rant series in May 2023 included this beautifully-written meltdown from Becky Taylor on the disconnect she felt with Leicester City.
“We've seen it all, we've had it (very) good but that's what is making this downfall so much more painful and unacceptable.
The club has squandered the best position it's ever been in to solidify itself as a mainstay top-half Premier League team, doing so without a care in the world”
June 2023
That fractured relationship was also a focus for Harry Gregory to round off our first 12 months - a call for unity rather than division:
“June is here now. A break is wise. The rumoured review shouldn’t just look at the playing side. Attitudes off the pitch need to change too.
It’s critically important that Leicester City FC stops being the club happy to bask in praise but ignorant of criticism. Strength is found in unity”
Wonder if that review ever got published…?
