Hoop Dreams - QPR FC

QPR welcome Leicester City tomorrow night with both club's pulling a few surprises in their ascent of the Championship table.

Team news and all that malarkey on QPR to follow, but first, a minute on their opponents who sit one point and two positions above QPR in fifth.

Nigel Pearson has the luxury of a close to full squad to call on with no recent injuries or suspensions to speak of. The only current absentees are defenders Aleksandar Tunchev and midfielder Stephen Clemence.

The biggest bit of team news for Leicester could be the arrival of Edgar Davids. Unlikely as it sounds, Leicester have been 'wooing' (for want of a better word) the former Milan, Inter and Juventus player for the past couple of weeks. Leicester chairman Milan Mandaric has had his fill with David's procastinations and has given the player until midday tomorrow to make a decision. The Mail reckon that Portsmouth have gazumped Leicester though: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1221448/EXCLUSIVE-Dutch-star-Edgar-Davids-make-surprise-return-English-football-Premier-League-strugglers-Portsmouth.html. Their current transfer embargo doesn't apply as the player is a free agent.



Formed in 1884 by the pretty wonderfully named Old Wyggestonians. Wander from ground to ground looking for a home. Apply to join the Midland League in 1891 but their plans are nearly scuppered by the shadowy Leicester Corporation who decide to close the club’s Mill Lane ground. By 1891, the club finally reach their promised land at Filbert Street. Oh yeah, at this time they’re not even called Leicester City but Leicester Fosse. Finally make it to the Football League, beat Notts Olympic (?) 13-0 but football wasn’t very good then was it?

Not much happens, times are hard, Leicester Fosse are no more but come back to life as Leicester City in 1919. Things look up now, and the club, with record goal-scorer Arthur Chandler finish as runners-up in the top-flight in 1929. Up, down, up, down. Brian Clough’s mate, Don Revie, as a player, then guides the club to their first-ever FA Cup Final in 1949 with two goals in a semi-final against Portsmouth. Watch the highlights here on British Pathe: https://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=26598. Best bit of commentary: “Leicester were given two chances – a dog’s chance and no chance at all” – it puts Clive Tydlesley to shame. 

Lose the final and Revie misses the game because of a nose-bleed (Wikipedia so possibly not true: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Revie#As_a_player) which has to be the worst excuse for missing an FA Cup Final in history.

The 60s are less about short-skirts and more about losing Cup Finals in Leicester – three in the space of eight years, though they do win their first League Cup in that decade and have a World Cup winner between the posts in the form of Gordon Banks and they clearly know how to pick their keepers because Banks is replaced with Peter Shilton, still England’s most capped player.


Up, down, up, down with nice football in between, arise Gary Lineker who starts his career with Leicester in 1979 and winds up as joint top goalscorer in Division One in 1984/85. Lineker buggers off but he does wind up playing for Barcelona so you can’t really blame him. Up, down, up, down, lots of trips to Wembley with Brian Little and Mad Martin and a further two League Cup wins. The quality of the managerial dug-out dips slightly with the dual appointment of Micky Adams and Dave Bassett, new stadium, down, administration, Gary returns to save the day, up, down, down to the third (first time ever), back again, in the play-offs.


Surely the second of those League Cup wins in 1997. Leicester debatably reached a historic peak under boss Martin O'Neill who oversaw three successive top-half finishes in the Premiership and three League Cup final visits to Wembley. The second ended in defeat against Spurs, the third was a wonderful send-off for O'Neill as they beat Tranmere, but that first one, against the unpredictable madness of a Middlesbrough side containing Juninho, Emerson, Ravanelli and current Leicester boss Nigel Pearson, will surely take some beating. It took two attempts as well, Steve Claridge scoring an extra-time winner in the replay.


You don't have to go too far back for this. For all their to-ing and fro-ing throughout their history, Leicester held proudly to the honour of never having played in England's third tier. Sadly for them,  general decline throughout much of this decade culminated in relegation to League One just two seasons ago under former Hoops manager Ian Holloway. 

I can remember Ian Holloway sounding like a genuinely broken man on the day Leicester succumbed to the third tier but I can't currently find the clip anywhere. Below though is his famous 'pulling' analogy whilst as QPR boss when he channelled the spirit of David Brent (not for the last time). Everyone will have heard this before but I'd never heard the bit after when he suddenly craps himself when he thinks what his wife will make of it: