50 Fun Facts About Leicester City

Leicester City were founded in 1884 under what name, taken from the road where they first played?

The founders were old boys of Wyggeston School; the club became Leicester City in 1919 as the borough gained city status.

Leicester's record victory, 13-0 in an FA Cup qualifier in 1894-95, came against which club?

Their first Football League match that season was a 4-3 defeat at Grimsby Town.

Which East Midlands rival inflicted Leicester Fosse's record 12-0 defeat in 1908-09?

They were relegated after that single season in the First Division.

In 1928-29 Leicester finished First Division runners-up by a single point to which club?

It stayed their best league finish for 87 years, until 2016.

Leicester's first FA Cup final, in 1949, ended in a 3-1 defeat to which club?

A week later a last-day draw kept them in the Second Division.

Which striker set Leicester's single-season scoring record with 44 goals in 1956-57?

He is still the Football League's all-time record scorer; Chandler holds Leicester's overall record with 273.

Leicester's 1962-63 side earned the nickname 'the Ice Kings' for what?

They led the First Division for much of the season and finished fourth, their best post-war placing at the time.

Leicester's first major trophy, the 1964 League Cup, was won 4-3 on aggregate over which club?

They lost the next year's final to Chelsea; manager Matt Gillies's 'whirl' and 'switch' system borrowed from the Austrian and Hungarian national teams.

Why did Leicester play in the 1961-62 Cup Winners' Cup despite losing the FA Cup final?

Tottenham's double meant Leicester became England's Cup Winners' Cup entrants.

Who managed Leicester in the 1969 FA Cup final, the season they were also relegated?

He had taken over from Gillies, who resigned in November 1968; the final was lost 1-0.

Whom did Second Division champions Leicester beat 1-0 to win the 1971 Charity Shield?

Steve Whitworth scored; the club later added the match to its official records, taking Graham Cross to 600 appearances.

Which Scottish manager, later famous at Rangers, won Leicester the 1980 Second Division title?

Wallace continued a line of successful Scottish managers at the club after Hodge and Gillies.

Which club bought Gary Lineker from Leicester in 1985?

Alan Smith followed him out two years later to Arsenal after Leicester were relegated.

Which former Leicester striker's penalty beat Leicester in the 1992 play-off final for a Premier League place?

They lost the next year's final 4-3 to Swindon before finally going up at the third attempt in 1994 by beating Derby.

Brian Little quit Leicester in November 1994 to manage which club?

His successor Mark McGhee left just as abruptly a year later for Wolves, opening the door for Martin O'Neill.

Martin O'Neill ended Leicester's 33-year trophy wait with League Cups in which two years?

Both wins put Leicester into the UEFA Cup, their first European football since 1961; O'Neill left for Celtic in June 2000.

Leicester's 2002 move to the Walkers Stadium ended how many years at Filbert Street?

The new ground is less than 300 yards away and its address, Filbert Way, keeps the link.

Which Leicester-based company held the naming rights to the new stadium from 2002 until 2011?

Walkers had already sponsored the shirts from 1987 to 2001 and remain the club's official snack partner.

When Leicester went into administration in October 2002, roughly how much debt did the club have?

A consortium led by former striker Gary Lineker rescued the club, and its promotion that season prompted the introduction of points deductions for administration.

Which manager lasted only four matches at Leicester in 2007 after falling out with owner Milan Mandarić?

Gary Megson followed and left after six weeks for Bolton; Ian Holloway then took the club down to League One.

Leicester's 2008-09 season in League One, their first outside the top two tiers, ended how?

Seven years later they were champions of England, one of the fastest rises in the game's history.

King Power, whose owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha bought Leicester in 2010, is what kind of business?

The Walkers Stadium became the King Power Stadium in July 2011.

Which former England manager was appointed by Leicester in October 2010 and left a year later?

He had been approached after a 6-1 defeat to bottom club Portsmouth; Nigel Pearson returned to replace him.

Beating Manchester United 5-3 in September 2014, Leicester became the first Premier League team to do what to United?

United had led 3-1 before the collapse at the King Power.

How many points had Leicester taken from their first 29 games before their 2015 great escape?

No team with fewer than 20 points from 29 games had ever survived, and they had been bottom at Christmas.

Why did Leicester part company with Nigel Pearson in June 2015, weeks after the great escape?

Pearson was later widely credited with laying the foundations of the title side that Claudio Ranieri inherited.

Jamie Vardy broke Ruud van Nistelrooy's record in 2015 by scoring in how many straight Premier League games?

He scored 13 goals during the run and finished the title season with 23 and the Golden Boot.

Leicester's 2016 title was sealed when Tottenham let a 2-0 lead slip in a match nicknamed what?

Around 240,000 people lined the streets of Leicester for the victory parade a fortnight later.

What pre-season odds did bookmakers offer on Leicester winning the 2015-16 Premier League?

The resulting £25 million payout was the largest in British sporting history.

Which Spanish club did Leicester beat 3-2 on aggregate in the 2016-17 Champions League last 16?

Leicester are still the only team to keep clean sheets in each of their first four Champions League matches.

When Claudio Ranieri was sacked in February 2017, how close to the drop were Leicester?

Gary Lineker called it 'inexplicable'; caretaker Craig Shakespeare then beat Liverpool 3-1 in his first match.

How did Leicester chairman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha and four others die outside the King Power Stadium in 2018?

A memorial garden opened a year later and a statue was unveiled on what would have been his 64th birthday in 2022.

Where did Leicester win 9-0 in October 2019, the biggest away win in top-flight history?

It equalled Manchester United's 9-0 over Ipswich as the Premier League's biggest margin.

Who scored the only goal when Leicester finally won the FA Cup in 2021, at the fifth attempt?

The club's record signing settled the Wembley final after defeats in 1949, 1961, 1963 and 1969.

Leicester's first European semi-final, in 2021-22, was in which competition?

They dropped in after finishing third in their Europa League group and lost to eventual winners Roma.

Before Leicester in 2023, who were the only former Premier League champions to be relegated?

Blackburn were relegated in 1998-99, four years after their title.

Which club did Enzo Maresca leave Leicester to join in June 2024?

Steve Cooper and then Ruud van Nistelrooy followed, and the club went straight back down.

In 2024-25 Leicester became the first team in English football history to do what?

It was statistically their worst Premier League season and ended in relegation with five games left.

By how much did Leicester breach PSR rules, earning a six-point deduction in 2026?

It was the first sanction the EFL had ever imposed on behalf of the Premier League, and appeals by both club and league failed.

The fox's head on Leicester's badge sits on a cinquefoil, which represents what?

A fox first appeared on the crest in 1948; fox and cinquefoil were combined in 1992.

Which tune has been played at Leicester home matches since 1941 to bring the teams onto the pitch?

It is still played live on the pitch before the first half; the anthem 'When You're Smiling' dates from the late 1970s.

What three-word motto is written above the tunnel at the King Power Stadium?

The stadium's capacity is 32,259, with plans approved in 2023 to extend it to 40,000.

What was Filbert Street's two-tier 1927 stand nicknamed?

Martin O'Neill joked he led new signings out backwards so they only saw the modern Carling Stand.

The first match at Leicester's new stadium in 2002 was a 1-1 friendly against which Spanish club?

Bilbao's Tiko scored the first goal there and Jordan Stewart the first for Leicester.

Leicester's all-time record goalscorer, with 273 goals in 12 years, is who?

He also scored in eight consecutive matches in the 1924-25 promotion season.

Leicester's fastest ever goal, after 9 seconds against Preston in 2006, was scored by whom?

Graham Cross holds the appearance record with 600 games between 1960 and 1976.

Manchester United's roughly £80 million for Harry Maguire in 2019 was a world record for what?

It was also the highest fee ever paid between two English clubs at the time.

Leicester's record crowd of 47,298 was set at Filbert Street in 1928 for an FA Cup tie against which club?

The King Power record is 32,242, against Sunderland on the opening day of the 2015-16 title season.

Who became Leicester's first black player when he featured in an away match at Stoke in March 1977?

He made his debut under Jimmy Bloomfield, whose side stayed in the First Division throughout his tenure.

Roughly how much did the new training facility Leicester moved into in December 2020 cost?

The club finished fifth that season and qualified for the Europa League for a second straight year.