Are Leicester City Promotion Bound?

Article by Leicester City Correspondent Jonathan Smith

The last time Leicester City won promotion to the Premier League was back in 2003. Just over 10 years have passed and, with 14 games of the 2013/14 season ticked off, City find themselves in second place with a record that reads won 10, drawn 2, lost 2. That’s two wins more than the 2002/03 promotion winning side managed after the same amount of games.

There are a few similarities between the current squad and the one that finished second under Micky Adams. One feature that is being repeated is the small number of players used. With the club in administration at the time, Adams had to sell players without being able to bolster his squad a great deal. This resulted in very little room for rotation. The team pretty much picked itself on a week-by-week basis with injuries and suspensions the only cause for change. The consistency in team selection is a feature that is paying off this season for the Foxes. About 14 players have shared the majority of the workload during league matches so far. The trimming of the squad over the last season or so has been forced partially due to Financial Fair Play restrictions, which will be coming into action very soon, but a smaller squad may have resulted in a more united group of players.

The squad back in 2002/03 contained a lot of players who had progressed through the Youth Academy at Leicester City. It was a case of making up the numbers back then as the squad was so small but Jordan Stewart was one who did manage to break into the team on a regular basis. This season has seen a number of Academy graduates play crucial roles for the team. Liam Moore has become a first team regular alongside Andy King and Jeff Schlupp has made valuable contributions from the bench along with the occasional start thrown in. With Conrad Logan sitting on the bench and Tom Hopper getting the opportunity to sit next to him every now and then, there really is a strong connection between the first team and Academy this season. Supporters feel more of a connection with players who have come through the youth system at the club, even if they’re not from the city of Leicester itself or even the county of Leicestershire. The fact that Liam Moore truly is a local lad has made the connection even stronger for fans of City.

Leicester went on to lose just 6 league games in 2002/03. If the current City side can replicate that, without drawing too many along the way, they shouldn’t be too far away from automatic promotion once again. The Championship isn’t that straight forward though and there will be twists and turns aplenty between now and May next year.

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