A Tale of Foxes and Lions

Two Unlikely Title Wins

A Tale of Foxes and Lions

I am writing two stories in one article this week that will be forever linked in my memory due to them happening simultaneously, one on a professional football level (obviously not my own!) and one on a personal level. I feel there would be too much shifting back and forward to tell them simultaneously so I will tell one and then the other, starting with the more famous one.

I previously wrote of Manchester City’s (very, very) late comeback to win the Premier League in 2011/12 and posed the question as to whether or not it was the greatest finish to a season. There is a debate to be he had about this but there is no question however (in my mind at least) when it comes to the title of the greatest ever fairytale season. That accolade belongs to, and potentially will always belong to, the Leicester City team of 2015/16.

Leicester had only been promoted to the Premier League again for the 2014/15 season, after languishing in the Championship (and even League 1) for the previous decade, and managed to survive a relegation battle (in fact winning 7 of their last 9 games) to stay up. Nobody saw their triumph coming, let alone the bookies, some of whom had then priced as long as 5000/1 to win the league at the start of the season (much to their cost later on).

The majority of the squad stayed the same with only a few key signings such as Christian Fuchs and Shinji Okazaki coming in. The jewel in the crown though arrived on the 3rd August when N’golo Kante signed from Caens. At that point, very few had heard of the diminutive, battling midfielder, but by the end of the season, everyone would know his name.

There had also been a significant change in the dugout as Nigel Pearson, the manager who had kept them up the previous season, was sacked by the club who stated that his relationship with the board was ‘no longer viable.’ There were all sorts of rumours of other reasons but I will stick with the official one given here.

He was replaced by the Italian Claudio Ranieri, an appointment that was initially met with skepticism due to very inconsistent results as a manager in the past, despite a fairly solid 4 years at Chelsea, although this would always be overshadowed by being followed by Jose Mourinho. Regardless, Ranieri took over and began to go about his business.

The season started well with two wins and two draws and then momentum just kept on rolling. In fact, the only defeat that Leicester suffered up until Christmas was a 5-2 home defeat by Arsenal in late September. They didn’t let this phase them though, following this up with five wins from their next six matches.

The tandem of Jamie Vardy and Riyadh Mahrez were scoring goals for fun, tearing opposition defenders apart. In fact, on the 28th November against Manchester United, Vardy broke the record of most consecutive games scored in during a Premier League season, scoring for the 11th match in a row. Mahrez would get his own personal accolade at the end of the season by winning the PFA Player’s Player of the Year award.

There weren’t many clean sheets kept in the first part of the season (this would change after Christmas) but the defensive unit of goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel, captain Wes Morgan and Robert Huth (who had played under Ranieri during his time at Chelsea) at centre back, with Kante sweeping up everything in midfield in front of them (it was often joked that there must have always been two Kantes in the pitch as he covered so much ground) were solid enough to allow the goals of the forwards to keep winning them matches.

By the New Year, everyone was asking whether Leicester could maintain the pace that they had set for themselves and remain at the top of the table but nobody seriously believed it would happen. However, after a slow start to January, from the 23rd of that month through to the end of the season, they only lost one match (again to Arsenal), winning 11 (including back-to-back victories against Liverpool and Manchester City) and drawing four. This, coupled with poorer runs of form by their competitors, meant that they actually won the title with two games to spare after Tottenham (their closest remaining competitors) drew 2-2 with Chelsea in the infamous ‘Battle of the Bridge.’

Understandably, the celebrations were incredible, fans having the time of their lives lapping up something that they never thought would happen in a million years and savouring the thought of Champions League football the following season. These are the things that every supporter of a traditionally average club always dreams of.

The core of the team stayed together initially (although it was a major blow when Kante left for Chelsea) before eventually falling apart over time and being relegated back to the Championship at the end of the 2022/23 season. They did win the FA Cup in 2021 though. The story of their title win is one of momentum which bred belief paired with transitional seasons for other teams, something which could never be replicated again. It really was like bottling lightning.

Whilst this fairytale was going on, I was going through my own amazing football journey.

I had never been much of a player (I said last week that most of my childhood football experiences were spent on the touchline) but I had always enjoyed playing and once I had realised that my talents (for what they were) were much better suited to the defensive end of the pitch rather than being a deadly striker, I was in a much better place.

However, in the summer of 2014, I hadn’t played competitive football for around 15 years, and never gave any serious thought to doing so ever again. I was very happy watching and supporting the teams that I followed. All of this would change with a Sunday afternoon trip to the pub (always a good way to embark upon a sporting endeavour!)

As mentioned in my article on ‘The Slip’, my local pub in Bexleyheath was The Rose, but there were plenty of other bars in the area, and on this Sunday myself and my flatmate Nick, ended up taking the short walk along to the Golden Lion, as it was a lovely day and they had a decent sized beer garden. I had been to the pub sporadically over the previous year, including enjoying the atmosphere during that summer’s World Cup, but Nick and my other housemate Brian had been going more frequently than me and knew some of the locals.

As we walked in that day, I spotted a sign on the door saying that the pub were starting a new football team and gave a number to call Joe if interested. Normally I wouldn’t have even given it a second glance but I had arrived at a little bit of a crossroads myself that summer. I had greatly enjoyed my first year of teaching but the friends I had made through work had moved on to other jobs and although I enjoyed spending time with Nick and Brian, they very much had their own things going on too which meant that a lot of the time, I was left to my own devices.

I decided to take a chance and texted the number to ask about the team and where they would train. Joe replied fairly quickly, asking a few questions about who I was but also giving me a date for training at the local park. It was only much later that I found out that Joe and some of the boys had actually been in the pub as well that afternoon and had been wondering who this strange person texting was as the team was pretty much made up of people they already knew. If you don’t take a chance you don’t get though!

The day for training came and, although I was a little nervous, I was looking forward to a new challenge. Brian had said he would come along with me as he already knew some of the boys from the pub anyway. This was helpful as I didn’t actually have any idea of who I was looking out for! We arrived at the park, wandered around for a bit and then found a group of lads setting up. Brian recognised them and introductions were made.

We got started on the first session which was mostly fitness based as it was pre-season. I was definitely not in the best shape but gave it all that I could. The boys were all really good with me, considering I had never met any of them before and was probably at least 6 or 7 years older than anyone else as well, and at the end of the session was told that there was a pre-season friendly in a couple of weeks.

At this point I hadn’t even got any boots so I had to get myself organised!

At the end of training, some of the team said they were going back to the Lion for a drink. Although it was a week night and I would be teaching the next day, I agree to go to continue to build these new friendships (this would become more of a theme over time - never to excess though!) Conor, who had taken training, introduced me to a few more of the locals, including his brother Dan, who would eventually become the team’s unofficial super fan. I’ll always remember that rather than introducing himself, the first thing he said to me was simply ‘Yes or No?’ It took me a minute to realise that he was talking about the upcoming Scottish independence referendum and that this was his way of scoping me out a bit. Luckily I gave an answer he was satisfied with so I was accepted!

It took me a few games at least to get any sort of fitness going and my age old position on the bench was well and truly reinstated. However, I was enjoying every training session and match, and soon I built up more confidence, as well as the ability to run around for more than 5 minutes at a time. The boys were all great and, as well as getting to know them on the pitch, there were also plenty of opportunities for drinks back at the Lion afterwards. I was starting to get what I wanted out of the whole thing in the first place, a sporting outlet but also more to do socially as well. It is always difficult to settle in new surroundings and it was nice to have a place where I felt like I belonged.

The first season was a bit of a struggle for the team to be honest. We were brand new and there were different ideas throughout the season and over the course of the year there were a few changes in leadership and players. I think it took us until near Christmas to get our first proper league win (we had previously won a cup game on penalties) and we were always around the bottom of the table. We had some good players, it just wasn’t clicking yet.

However, on a personal level I was growing all the time. I had found myself a pretty regular starting slot at right back and, although I was limited in ability from a creative aspect, I would say I became fairly solid defensively (some may disagree!) and always gave 100% effort.

Despite improving in the second half of the season, we did eventually finish bottom of the table but that didn’t really matter to me. What did matter was that I had made a great new group of friends and was starting to feel a lot more settled in my new area to live. 

In the end, we weren’t actually relegated due to a restructuring of the league system and, thanks to a few new signings and some solid training sessions over the summer, we went into the new season with a bit more confidence. Everyone knew each other and how they played a little better and there was more structure on and off the pitch.

The 2015/16 season started well and, despite more competition in my position, I was still playing regularly enough. However, I was starting to struggle a bit more to balance the time that football took up at weekends and during the week with training with my own work, as I was having a bit of a tricky time with my class that year. I eventually made the tough decision that I was going to keep following the team and going to training whenever I could but that I wasn’t going to play on the matches any more which meant that if I ever needed to miss a weekend, I felt I could do so without letting the team down.

I was still very much accepted as being part of the team and still took part in all social occasions (footgolf, greyhounds and visits to Welling FC among them) as well as joining Dan on the sidelines with a few cans watching most games.

Very much like Leicester that year, the team gathered momentum and the wins just kept on coming. By the time it came to the last few games of the season, it was fairly clear we were going to win the league and the day we clinched it was one I will always remember. Everyone rushed into the pitch celebrating before we went back to the pub and made a giant banner which we proceeded to parade down Bexleyheath high street with. Passers by must have wondered what on earth was going on.

The season was capped off by getting the chance to play at Millwall’s ground, The Den, in a charity tournament, and I dusted off the boots again to take part.

Taking the chance on replying to that sign on the door of the pub that day was one of the best things I ever did and helped to create memories that will stay with me forever. 

To all of the lads at GLFC (Joe, the Conors, Kel, Cotty, Olly, Rees, Meade, Brooke, Hudson, Marc, Alex, Chris, Ryan, Scorer, Sean, Phil, Rob, Tyler, Dan, Brewer, Jacob, Glenn, Jamie and anyone else who passed through) thank you for taking a chance on an unfit, older Scotsman and accepting him as one of your own. I hope you are all well, and never forget 2015/16.