After a famous FA Cup victory over Manchester CIty in 1920, Sir Oliver Stoll invited the Leicester City team to a variety show at the Palace Theatre on Belgrave Gate. He was the owner. The players were greeted rapturously, and club chairman William Jennings and club captain George Jobey were invited on to the stage to say a few words. Jennings was happy to oblige, but Jobey still had his game face on. He told Sir Oliver, 'I'll reserve my maiden effort as a public orator until Leicester have lifted the Cup'.
Jobey was born in Newcastle, and he played for his hometown club in the 1911 FA Cup Final against Bradford City. He was on the losing side. Now, nine years later, he believed he had the chance to put that right. We were in Division Two, but that 3-0 victory against Manchester CIty was so impressive that fans and players were dreaming of the Final. This is what the London Daily News said: Leicester's attitude of seeing their opponents as only human will help them on the rough journey, which, exuberant supporters say, is as likely as not to end at Stamford Bridge.
Stamford Bridge? That was the ground chosen to stage the final that year, the FA seeking a new venue after the owners of Crystal Palace had demanded too many of the best seats for themselves. The Empire Stadium at Wembley was still at the planning stage, and wouldn't be ready for another three years.
In Leicester, Cup fever was building. The competition had been suspended for four years due to the war, and now fans were flocking to Filbert Street in record numbers.The Leicester Chronicle had a full page of pictures from that Manchester City game, and while the quality of the reproduction here leaves something to be desired, the pictures still offer a wonderful taste of the atmosphere that day:
This was the old Spion Kop:
On that roof was the huge advert for Sir Oliver's Palace Theatre
Here's George Jobey leading the team out from the tiny old 'Main Stand':
A souvenir seller on what looks like Grasmere Street (as Burnmoor Street was then known):
Fans on the old Popular Side celebrate the first goal:
The Manchester City mascot was a fox!
Among the Leicester supporters that day was nine year old Harold Lineker, watching his first big match. Forty five years later, when we drew Man City in the Cup again, he would tell the Leicester Mercury he'd been there back in 1920. His grandson would have to wait a few more years for his first mention in the paper.
That win took us into the last 16 of the competition. We were three victories away from Stamford Bridge. But then, guess what - in the draw for the next round we were given an away tie - at Chelsea. We'd be heading to West London a little earlier than planned.
That day, February 20th, Leicester fans headed south in their thousands. This was the scene around lunchtime:
At Earl’s Court Station the spectacle was indescribable, supporters of both sides in a packed mass, vieing with each other in the amount of din they could create, not only by their voices but by every conceivable instrument.
This is George Jobey again, leading the side out:
Two weeks after meeting Sir Oliver Stoll, Leicester players were introduced to another VIP before kick-off.
The man in the hat is King George V.
Sadly, we couldn't repeat the heroics of the Man CIty game. We lost 3-0, so our journey did, after all, end at Stamford Bridge. And George Jobey would have to wait a little longer for that maiden effort at public oratory.
At the end of the season, he left Leicester City to join Northampton Town. Later, as a manager, he led Derby County very successfully through the 1930s. But when he died in 1962, he had never lifted the FA Cup. And nor, of course, had Leicester City.
We would have to wait almost another half century. Our victory over Chelsea in 2021 was the eighth time we had faced them in the competition. The tie in 1920 was the very first.
Coming right up, a look at a few of the highlights in between.
Jobey was born in Newcastle, and he played for his hometown club in the 1911 FA Cup Final against Bradford City. He was on the losing side. Now, nine years later, he believed he had the chance to put that right. We were in Division Two, but that 3-0 victory against Manchester CIty was so impressive that fans and players were dreaming of the Final. This is what the London Daily News said: Leicester's attitude of seeing their opponents as only human will help them on the rough journey, which, exuberant supporters say, is as likely as not to end at Stamford Bridge.
Stamford Bridge? That was the ground chosen to stage the final that year, the FA seeking a new venue after the owners of Crystal Palace had demanded too many of the best seats for themselves. The Empire Stadium at Wembley was still at the planning stage, and wouldn't be ready for another three years.
In Leicester, Cup fever was building. The competition had been suspended for four years due to the war, and now fans were flocking to Filbert Street in record numbers.The Leicester Chronicle had a full page of pictures from that Manchester City game, and while the quality of the reproduction here leaves something to be desired, the pictures still offer a wonderful taste of the atmosphere that day:
This was the old Spion Kop:
On that roof was the huge advert for Sir Oliver's Palace Theatre
Here's George Jobey leading the team out from the tiny old 'Main Stand':
A souvenir seller on what looks like Grasmere Street (as Burnmoor Street was then known):
Fans on the old Popular Side celebrate the first goal:
The Manchester City mascot was a fox!
Among the Leicester supporters that day was nine year old Harold Lineker, watching his first big match. Forty five years later, when we drew Man City in the Cup again, he would tell the Leicester Mercury he'd been there back in 1920. His grandson would have to wait a few more years for his first mention in the paper.
That win took us into the last 16 of the competition. We were three victories away from Stamford Bridge. But then, guess what - in the draw for the next round we were given an away tie - at Chelsea. We'd be heading to West London a little earlier than planned.
That day, February 20th, Leicester fans headed south in their thousands. This was the scene around lunchtime:
At Earl’s Court Station the spectacle was indescribable, supporters of both sides in a packed mass, vieing with each other in the amount of din they could create, not only by their voices but by every conceivable instrument.
This is George Jobey again, leading the side out:
Two weeks after meeting Sir Oliver Stoll, Leicester players were introduced to another VIP before kick-off.
The man in the hat is King George V.
Sadly, we couldn't repeat the heroics of the Man CIty game. We lost 3-0, so our journey did, after all, end at Stamford Bridge. And George Jobey would have to wait a little longer for that maiden effort at public oratory.
At the end of the season, he left Leicester City to join Northampton Town. Later, as a manager, he led Derby County very successfully through the 1930s. But when he died in 1962, he had never lifted the FA Cup. And nor, of course, had Leicester City.
We would have to wait almost another half century. Our victory over Chelsea in 2021 was the eighth time we had faced them in the competition. The tie in 1920 was the very first.
Coming right up, a look at a few of the highlights in between.
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