Why every Leicester City fan needs to watch a game with the New York Foxes
Our most recent This Leicester Life feature included a snippet about how great the New York Foxes are. Fully paid-up member of the NYF Fan Club Jack Holmes couldn’t resist taking that feeling and running with it.
If there’s one football chant that really gets me, it’s “Leicester’s a shithole, I wanna go home”. Not least for its lack of inventiveness. It’s also just plain wrong.
One of the BSLB Podcast’s great discoveries this year is the Leicester Fiesta song by Martin Harvey, a song that celebrates our great city. As the song goes, everything you want is right here.
After recently moving ‘back’ (long story, don’t ask) to the area it’s been amazing to spend some proper time here and enjoy the eclectic charm of the city. A city that has pride in what we’re about but also in true Leicestershire fashion combines that with self-effacing humour.
Now I heard someone say this week that if you’re not at the King Power or following the Foxes away then the place to watch us is a little place off West 33rd Street in New York City.
At this point you must be wondering what on earth I’m on about given the intro but if you haven’t had a chance to go to the Football Factory at Legends then I’m here to tell you that you really should imagine a little corner of Leicester in one of the biggest cities in the world.
Following any football team can seem like a drag at times. I don’t need to tell you that. I think of those who made the trip up to Newcastle last season on a Monday night when our fate seemed inevitable with a horrendously long journey back. At least though, you’re surrounded by fellow sufferers sharing the same pain.
Supporters from far-flung places, however, don’t necessarily have this privilege to share the pain and suffering of our pastime alongside fellow Foxes. I’ve always thought that following a sports team from afar is such a difficult thing to do as I just don’t get how you connect with it if you’re not amongst it. This is why it’s so amazing that stepping into the corner of this bar is just like stepping into Leicester - only everyone sounds like they’re in The Sopranos.
As you step into Legends and turn left down the stairs, you’re surrounded by flags from all over the world. A large South American influence, Italian teams, flags from the Premier League - none of which would surprise you given the melting pot of cultures that is New York. What you might be surprised about, however, is a giant blue flag emblazoned with the words ‘New York Foxes’ complete with the running fox imposed over the Empire State. There is, of course, a picture of Frank Worthington on the wall. In fact, it’s the most Frank Worthington venue you’ve ever seen – I can just imagine him holding court in the corner.
The venue itself, run by a bloke called Jack, is a sports bar in the way you only find sports bars in the US. Wall to wall screens, sensational Guinness, flags, shirts – it’s a venue that we just don’t get in the UK. With the time difference and the atmosphere in there you’ll find yourself emerging at about lunchtime into the light again, feeling the effects of the jet lag and the multiple beers you’ve had.
The first time I went was late 2017. I’d been to New York before a few times, but never made the trip – I was, as you can probably tell, a little sceptical. I don’t like glory hunting and I didn’t know the backstory. You also have to get up so ridiculously early over there to watch and the idea of doing that on my own was just not for me.
But I’d seen the New York Foxes’ social media following and they seemed like they knew their stuff. We were in New York for my wife’s birthday and she knew even by that early stage in our relationship that she gets little sense out of me for the hours surrounding a Leicester game, so she suggested I head that way while she caught up on some sleep.
On arrival I’m greeted by Jason and I quickly realise that he in fact knows more about the club, the county, the city (and I’m not taking about New York here) than I could ever get my head around.
What always sticks with me on this is quite how much effort and time goes into supporting this club from abroad. We, of course, even after the success the club has had, aren’t the biggest draw in the US. To get under the skin of this club, it takes time and effort - anyone that’s ever tried to follow a sport from afar will tell you that.
And you’re guaranteed a good time – I don’t think I’ve ever seen us win there, and it seems many others haven’t either - but there’s always laughs and fun.
The ritual of the post-match photo, which many of us have experienced, just makes you feel part of something bigger and it’s always great to see our club represented so far away.
Jason, along with his two brothers Ryan and Jordan, and the help of many others, have created this corner of Leicester in one of the world’s biggest cities. Emerging several pints down (I really must stress at this point, the Guinness is excellent) and heading into K town for a lunch to sober you up really is a memory that’ll stick with you. I was lucky enough to watch us smash Newcastle 5-0 with the New York Foxes when they travelled over to Leicester, and the club were brilliant towards them as they always have been.
And so they should be. The New York Foxes have been very good to Leicester City - putting our city on the map in the most ‘extra’ of places.
As the T-shirt says – From Braunstone to the Bronx… Viva New York Foxes and the Football Factory.
12 Days of Christmas at The Bridge
For the past 10 years, The Bridge Homelessness to Hope has served a 3-course Christmas Dinner with all the trimmings to hundreds of people in Leicester who are experiencing homelessness.
This year, they want to go one better and offer their guests (service users) not just one day of celebrations but 12 days of festive events over the month of December.
If you’re enjoying The Fosse Way, please consider donating to The Bridge’s Christmas appeal:
