Leicester City and the Myths

Myth, mystery or conspiracy, the real reason why Ken Leek never featured in the 1961 Final is the one that still haunts me. He broke his silence just before his death, saying;

'We celebrated very hard after the semi-final win and I got into a bit of bother,' he said. 'The manager, Matt Gillies, took a dim view of it and I was left out of the final side.

'I didn't even get get a ride to Wembley on the team bus. I regret it even to this day.'

So what on earth did Ken do, to justify replacing the Cup goal machine of the day with eleven year old Wee Hughie?
 
Matt Gillies was having a bit of a snooze when Ken Leek thought it would be a bit of a lark to stick his todger in the managers ear hole. Oh how the rest of the team roared, but Gillies was cut to the quick and never forgave him.
 
All photographic evidence of the above was lost when the box brownie containing the film was ‘accidentally dropped’ in the Soar on a team bonding rowing outing.
 
The saga of ‘Arthur’s Six Swans’ still rumbles on even though the last person who went to that game passed away years ago. Many a friendly argument has turned sour in the pubs and clubs of Leicestershire; some families are still at war over this farcical claim. Our whistle blower who wishes to remain anonymous claims that his late grandfather was at that match and the story is ‘total bollocks’ and he has proof. He has shown me some genuine, if a little grainy, photographs of the birds in question flying low over Filbert Street that his grandfather took, they are not Swans at all, they are in fact Barnacle Geese in their early winter plumage, and as Mr X quite rightly points out there wasn’t five or the laughable ‘sixth straggler’ there was thirty-seven of em, all en route to Groby Pool and got themselves lost in the fog. So, there we have it, Leicester City folklore once again blown to smithereens via the power of the internet.
 
The Johan Cruyff myth in 81, which fecker started that one, left me scarred for life I will have you know… 😳
 
One of my favourite's - though it is less a myth than, as I understood it, a particular representation of some facts - is that we played in front of the smallest crowd ever to watch a football league game (13 away at Stockport... 13 apparently being the number of people who paid to see it after another 10,000+ had already paid to see an earlier game in a double header). Even though somewhat ignominious, as a kid I loved almost ANY mention of LCFC in record books ("almost" because we kept appearing on the wrong side of the biggest top division win/defeat column) and the first time I saw that one was on the back of a card that came with my gum (can't remember who/what was on the front of the card, wonder if it is still at me mum's).
 
According to most accounts, there were around 2,000 who stayed to watch after the Man Utd v Derby game, at Old Trafford.
So Stockport and Old Trafford hold the (incorrect) lowest crowd.
Edgeley Park had been closed by the FA, due to crowd disturbances at Stockport's home game against Blackpool.
Surprisingly, Edgeley Park is the closest ground to the River Mersey...
 
sixthswan said:
at Old Trafford.
Click to expand...
Indeed, I should have said "against Stockport" rather than "at". Still, one of my favourite "facts". Kind of felt like it sat well alongside other notables such as "most 2nd Division/tier titles" (I wouldn't have wanted to have to want to hold that outright once more but now we're here it would be nice to) and most FA Cup Final Appearances without winning (RIP). Neither of which were remotely myths.
 
sixthswan said:
According to most accounts, there were around 2,000 who stayed to watch after the Man Utd v Derby game, at Old Trafford.
So Stockport and Old Trafford hold the (incorrect) lowest crowd.
Edgeley Park had been closed by the FA, due to crowd disturbances at Stockport's home game against Blackpool.
Surprisingly, Edgeley Park is the closest ground to the River Mersey...
Click to expand...
Thanks Google.
 
If not for a signwriter running out of paint we would've been called Leicester Posse.
 
We never won in the hideous Ind Coope Green away kit.

Yet we wore said kit the night we won 2-0 at Stamford Bridge in the League Cup....but went out on pens....
 
buz_not_buzz said:
Indeed, I should have said "against Stockport" rather than "at". Still, one of my favourite "facts". Kind of felt like it sat well alongside other notables such as "most 2nd Division/tier titles" (I wouldn't have wanted to have to want to hold that outright once more but now we're here it would be nice to) and most FA Cup Final Appearances without winning (RIP). Neither of which were remotely myths.
Click to expand...

One of my favourite facts as well., the attendance one. Which is why I read a bit more about it. Though that seems to be a crime nowadays, you know, reading about stuff.

Without looking, because it isn't allowed - I'm sure we do still hold the 2nd tier champions record?
 
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