Are Leicester City on course to repeat history?

Article by Leicester City Correspondent Jonathan Smith

Leicester City’s dramatic 4-3 victory over Fulham on Tuesday night booked them a League Cup Quarter-Final place for the first time since they last won the competition back in the 1999/2000 season. City were beaten finalists the season before that and winners in 1997 so it’s a competition that’s never been taken lightly by the fans. If a first League Cup Quarter-Final for 14 years wasn’t exciting enough for Leicester supporters, the prospect of Manchester City coming to town has clearly made people eager with anticipation for the tie.

It’s not long since the big spenders from the North last paid a visit to Leicester. Their star-studded team travelled down for an FA Cup match back in 2011 and were forced into a replay after an Andy King equaliser made it 2-2. There are only three players still with Leicester who started that day and only four Man City players remain, both clubs have changed managers since and even the stadium has changed name having replaced the Walkers sponsorship with King Power.

One thing that hopefully will be the same is the near sell-out crowd that witnessed the match just under three years ago. If this is the case, some supporters will wonder where the extra 10,000 or so people have been all season, but a full house wouldn’t be a bad thing financially for the club. Also, if Leicester were to beat City and make their way into the Semi-Finals, it could cause a new generation of football supporters from Leicestershire to decide it’s not always more fun supporting the big boys. In the long run that could boost attendances for league matches. Clubs rely on historic moments to help attract new supporters. I wonder how many Leicester supporters who are in their 20’s first caught the football bug as a result of City’s last League Cup success? I’m sure there are quite a few. Some will have stuck by the club during the years that have since passed; where even survival has sometimes been deemed a success.

If Man City are expecting an easy match they’ll probably be mistaken as Leicester are yet to lose a home match in all competitions so far this season. The only team who managed to hold the Foxes to a draw were Leeds and the rest have left empty handed. Not a bad record considering we’re into November and the season is well and truly underway. Despite the fantastic home record, it’ll be a struggle for the Championship side to beat a Champions League side but it’s this unpredictability that makes football such a captivating sport to watch.

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