Leicester City’s story from being promoted from Championship in 2014 and then merely avoiding relegation in 2015 and then winning the Premier League title in 2016 and reaching the quarters of UCL and now winning the FA cup. A movie in it surely, a bigger fairytale in Premier League history. None of these accomplishments, or the club for that matter, would have been possible without a host of great players that have worn the Foxes shirt and kept the blue flag flying high. Here are the ten greatest.
Leicester city is one of the most renowned football clubs based in the East Midlands. The club competes in the Premier League, England’s top division of football, and hosts their home games at King Power Stadium.
Leicester City is the seventh out of the forty-eight participating teams to win the premier league since its inception in 1992. The other five clubs being Manchester United (13), Chelsea (4), Arsenal (3), Manchester City (2) and Blackburn Rovers (1).
Claudio Ranieri, the manager of Leicester City in 2015-16, made his club victorious in the final of the Premier League, after the club had narrowly avoided relegation the season prior. The club has produced a plethora of phenomenal players over the years.
So without further ado, let’s crack on.
JAMIE VARDY
The man who held the record for becoming the first-ever player to score in 11 consecutive Premier League matches. Vardy is an exceptional player, who is known for his flexibility and striking ability. With a lot of memorable and match-winning performances, Vardy has managed to score 150 goals in his career of almost 12 years. The striker made his debut against Buxton in 2010, where he scored the winning goal for his team. In 2019, Jamie became the oldest player to win the Premier League Golden Boot award. Also, becoming the first-ever player to feature in every round of competition by playing the FA Cup Final in 2021.
GARY LINEKER
Gary Lineker is a former English Footballer, who was extremely famous for his consistency and striking ability had an extraordinary career in the game of football. He is the third-highest goal scorer among English Footballers and holds an impeccable record for the maximum number of goals in FIFA World Cups. Linker has scored a total of 330 goals across all formats of the game throughout his 16 years old career.
His performance in the 1986 World Cup in Mexico made him a global superstar as he ended the tournament with the most number of goals (six) for his respective team. Further, he moved to Spanish club Barcelona where he scored 21 goals in the first season and in the second season, he helped his team emerge victorious in the final of the Copa Del Ray tournament in 1988, followed by the European Cup winners in 1989.
After his phenomenal career in football, he had a successful career in broadcasting as well. He has been a sports presenter, columnist and a football show host. Currently, he hosts the most popular BBC football show ‘Match of the Day’.
KASPER SCHMEICHEL
Kasper Schmeichel is one of the most stylish goalkeepers that Leicester City has produced so far. He has been the number one goalkeeper for Leicester City throughout his career of ten years, lifting the Premier League, Championship titles as well as the Emirates FA Cup.
The Copenhagen born keeper was also named in the English Football league’s team of the decade from 2005 to 2015. Schmeichel continued to give remarkable performances in the European Championship by making crucial penalty saves in almost each leg of a dramatic Round of 16 tie with Sevilla FC to earn his team a place in the quarter-finals.
One of the memorable moments in Kasper’s career was when the 34-year-old broke a record previously held by his father, Peter Schmeichel, by going around almost 500 minutes without conceding a single goal in Demark’s jersey. Also, in 2016, 2017 and 2019 he bagged the Danish Footballer of the Year award, one time less than record-holders Brian Laudrup and Christian Eriksen.
ARTHUR ROWLEY
Arthur Rowley, popularly known as ‘The Gunner’, was an astonishing football player in the 1920’s. He is one of the most famous players among the football playing nations. He holds a phenomenal record for the most number of goals scored in the entire history of English League football, scoring 434 brilliant goals.
Rowley has spent almost 20 years in the Football League and is Leicester’s second-highest goalscorer, netting 264 times for his club, 8 goals short of Chandler’s record. During 1956-57, his 45 league goals in 42 games took him to the top of the table for the second time and broke another record for the most number of goals scored in a single season. In 1957-58, The Gunner scored 20 astounding goals, finishing off his career on a high note.
WES MORGAN
Westley Nathan Morgan is a Jamaican former footballer who featured in more than 700 games for Nottingham Forest, Leicester City as well as the Jamaican national team. In 2016, he made history by becoming the first-ever Leicester City captain to lift the English football’s top tier trophy as well as representing the Club in the most popular tournament, UEFA Champions League.
Manager Claudio Ranieri said, “Wes Morgan is the Baloo of The Jungle Book. He is a big gentle bear who looks after all the lads. He doesn’t speak much but when he does, everybody listens. He is the perfect captain. I never knew anything about him before I came here. But I watched all the matches, I watched how solid, strong, and intelligent he was”. In the Premier League for the 2014-15 season, Morgan had a phenomenal tournament where he scored much-needed goals against Newcastle and Tottenham Hotspur respectively. And was brilliant in the defence too. In 2015, Morgan was selected in the “Football Manager Team of the Decade”.
GRAHAM CROSS
Mr. Cross, known for his flamboyant personality, holds a record for Leicester City, making almost 600 appearances for the club across all competitions. He is also the record appearance holder for featuring in the most flight matches (415 matches), the maximum FA cup appearances (60 matches) as well as the League Cup appearances (40 matches). He played in several positions such as right-back, central midfield and defence and was truly the backbone of his team. Graham has also played club cricket from 1961-1977 for Leicester City.
FRANK WORTHINGTON
Frank Worthington is one of the greatest players to have played for Leicester City because of his consistency and versatility in the game of Football. Frank was a mainstay in Leicester City from 1972-1975. He had won eight caps for England in 1974. Frank made a promising debut against Northern Ireland in the 1974 British Home Championship, where he helped his team emerge victorious in the match. Joe Mercer, the manager for six of Frank’s International appearances described him as the best centre forward player of all time.
NGOLO KANTE
There are some players you just cannot dislike. Ngolo is one of them. He is someone who can take the game away from the opposition in no time as he can run across the entire pitch to recover a ball. He is arguably the best defensive midfield player the world of football has produced so far. In 2015, he became part of Leicester City and was essential to their maiden Premier League title. He was one of the four foxes (Leicester City) players featured in the PFA Team of the Year. Kante was also named as the French Player of the Year in 2017.
ARTHUR CHANDLER
Paddington-born striker Arthur Chandler was one of the most popular players in the 1920’s. The veteran holds the record of astonishing 273 goals during his career of 10 years between 1920-1930. Being Leicester City’s record goalscorer, he is also the record appearance holder for smashing most number of goals in a single top division season (34 goals), scoring the most top-flight goals for the club (202) as well as scoring incredible 17 hat-tricks, which is the most by any club player. The striker was part of the City side which ended in the club’s highest ever league finishes of First division runners-up in 1928 and 3rd place in the year 1927.
ANDY KING
The 31-year-old has been a star player for the foxes and prominently, is the only player to win the title in each of the top 3 tiers of England football in the same club. King is known for his versatility and consistency which helped his team to win the League One, Championship and Premier League trophies in 2009, 2014 and 2016 respectively. The fiery central midfielder played most of his matches for Leicester City, featuring in 379 matches across all competitions and smashing 62 goals. He was also part of the UEFA Euro 2016 where his team reached the semi-finals.
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