Game Three - Kettering away

26th July 2008

A real away pre season game involving a train and everything!! Happy days!! And boy was I prepared - what more could you need for an away trip to Kettering??



Bumped into a mate I knew on the train and so we and a couple of other guys we met on the train jumped in a taxi and headed to a pub near the ground before making the short walk to the A-Line arena. Beautiful sunshine, open stands and a first team squad. Should make for a good day!

An early goal from a sharp Matty Fryatt put us a goal to the good before a header from Nicky Adams doubled the advantage. Kettering reduced the deficit to 2-1 with a header from a corner after some shocking defending - So much for a clean sheet!!

Nicky Adams second and our third put us firmly in control going into the break. Confidence grew as the game went on and the players never really looked like conceeding anymore.
DJ Campbell's first of pre season in the second half made it 4-1 and from then on we just saw the game out comfortably.

The police were called out in the second half after numerous streakers and shoes appeared on the pitch as the lone Steward couldn't handle things on his own ... bless him! Next stop, the first home game of pre season against Birmingham!

Game Two - Quorn away

24th July 2008

So after finishing work early we headed off to another part of Leicestershire for the next game in the league one tour. After missing the away friendly in Luton midweek there was no chance of me missing this one. As we left we wern't sure what kind of team would be put out and so when we arrived and saw the youth team warming up we wern't sure what to expect from the 90 minutes ahead.



But still nothing could have prepared us for the game ahead and the Sappleton love that came from the stands (if you can call them stands as they were so small they didn't even register on the Barry Hayles scale of size)

The game started off at quite a pace and a mistake from the Quorn keeper gave us a 1-0 lead when he kicked the ball against trialist Milos Malenovic only to see it loop back over his head and into the goal. The lead didnt last long though as Quorn equalised ... and then the real fun started. Sappleton and Odihambo put us 3-1 up and then King was tripped in the area allowing Sapplton to slot home his second from the spot. Two goals from Andy King and a third for Sappleton gave us a quite comfortable 7-1 lead at half time as the sun set on a very entertaining 45 minute performance.

In the second half we switched to the other end of the ground and stood on the grass behind the other goal to see all the action... or thats what we thought anyway but in truth the players were happy just to see the game out without injury and have fun. Billy McKay scored out only goal of the second period and 3 goals from Quorn left the final score at 8-4.

Two games gone of pre season and 21 goals seen..... not bad!

Game One - Hinckley United away

13th July 2008

I don't think I've looked forward to a game as much as this one in a long long time. Starved of live football after two and a half months just didn't seem right. Yeah, Euro 2008 had helped to pass the time but it's hard to get fully involved in a tournament where you don't have a team competing. But that's in the past now, as is the misery of that horrible day in Stoke that confirmed our place in league one. We're back and up for whatever this new division can throw at us. So we started the pre-season campaign with the short trip to Hinckley with a new manager, five new signings and a new sense of optimism that had been missing for so long.



The Marston's Stadium. Capacity of just over 3000 and a small insight into what could be in store for us in the first round of the FA Cup and games in the St Johnstone's paint trophy. One small area of seating and two stands with terracing - this is real football where what happens on the pitch is more important than what happens in the boardroom. Love it!

And so to the game itself - we were stood behind the goal with the usual crowd of people and if we wanted entertainment then we wern't to be disappointed. Early strikes from Steve Howard and new boy Nicky Adams put us 2-0 before 3 quick strikes turned the game on its head giving Hinckley a 3-2 lead going into the break..... new season, new players, same old Leicester.

Second half brought the inevitable 11 substitutions as we got to see the rest of the first team squad in action. A stunning effort from young Max Gradel brought us level at 3-3 before an equally as good strike from the Hinckley number 9 instantly put them back in the driving seat. Good work on the left from Levi Porter and James Chambers won us a penalty that Matty Fryatt put away nicely before another youngster, Ashley Chambers, staked his claim for a starting role against MK Dons with a clinical finish to turn this topsy turvey game back in our favour at 5-4.

Wasn't a brilliant performance by any means but 9 goals, and a leicester side scoring five? Well Ive not seen that in all my time following the club. And the last team to put four past us..... Chelsea! Oh dear!

Introduction

So here we go again. Two and a half months of miserable contemplation as to how last season went so wrong is finally over. For the first time in our proud history, we find ourselves preparing for a season in the third tier of English football, a far cry from the heady days of top half premiership finishes and european adventures!! But as fans of Leicester City, we're used to misery and heartbreak and so we'll be there, cheering them on to glory or defeat, and hopefully we'll emerge from this 9 month rollercoaster in one piece. This is the season for the fans. Leicester City 2008/09 - On loan to Leage One.