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'This little city — known all over the world.' (Michael Regan/Getty Images)
On 2 May 2016, in a bad-tempered game that became known as the Battle of the Bridge, Tottenham were held to a 2-2 draw by Chelsea. As the final whistle sounded, a city more than 100 miles away started to celebrate: the result confirmed Leicester, 5000-1 at the start of the season, as the most improbable league champions in English history.
To cap it off, 13 minutes after the final whistle, Mark Selby, “the Jester from Leicester”, won the World Snooker Championship for the second time. Both Selby and the Foxes had followed in the footsteps of Leicester Tigers, who secured their eighth Rugby Union Premiership three years previously, and Leicestershire County Cricket Club, who won their third T20 Cup in 2011. Leicester, it seemed, was the centre of the sporting world.
In the years since, however, the cricket team has not won anything, while the Tigers only won the Premiership again in 2022 after a long drought. Although Selby, recovering from a run of poor form related to his depression, reached the final of the World Snooker Championship again this month, he lost to the Belgian Luca Brecel. Then, on Sunday, came the greatest disappointment of all, as Leicester City were relegated from the Premier League. Seven years after that glorious Bank Holiday Monday, the city’s decline has started to feel endemic. How did it come to this?
There used to be a bar at Leicester station — or rather, a counter selling pasties and sandwiches that also sold cans of lager and had a small room next to it, fitted out with perhaps half a dozen small tables. Having written their match reports, London-based journalists would meet there before getting the train home. Its walls were a celebration of great Leicester personalities: not just David Attenborough and Gary Lineker, but Willie Thorne, Engelbert Humperdinck, Kate O’Mara, Showaddywaddy…
The bar disappeared years ago and, on the day Leicester lifted the league title, its absence was unnerving but also, it seemed, rather fitting. Andrea Bocelli sang on the pitch before kick-off as the grimy traditions of its former stadium Filbert Street yielded to the slightly antiseptic surrounds of the King Power: here, the fans are obsessed, in a way no other club’s are, by those weird cardboard clappers, as though they suddenly felt banging their hands together was not quite the modern thing. It was better than what had gone before but just as surely something had been lost. If that bar still existed, Jamie Vardy, Riyad Mahrez and Wes Morgan, the heroes of 2015-16, would surely take pride of place.
A Champions League quarter-final followed, then two fifth-place finishes and, in 2021, a first ever FA Cup success. Even last season, widely seen as a disappointment, Leicester finished eighth. But did Leicester itself ever seem like a city on the up? Perhaps sport casts an illusory glow. Perhaps too much was read into the discovery of Richard III under a car park in the city a decade ago, but it served to underline the impression of Leicester as a place where exciting things were happening, even if 40% of the city’s population reside in the most deprived 20% of areas in the country.
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SubscribeQuick question:
Leicester have won as many league titles in the past decade as Liverpool, Spurs, Arsenal, Man U combined.
How many top notch players were Leicester able to buy post 2016 compared to those clubs, or transferred to Leicester from those other “big” clubs (versus Leicester players snapped up by their rivals)?
“seemingly sparked by celebrations of India’s cricketing victory over Pakistan”
That little phrase actually tells a lot about the rest of the story.
Keep in mind, any distaste by sane minded people for the religion of peace is never “sparked” by mass grooming gangs, terror attacks, adherence to a backward cult. It’s never the muslims fault, always a “phobia” or “racist”
But when peaceful Indian Hindus, the group with the highest education levels, lowest crime levels in UK, gets terrorised by gangs of muslims, it’s because the poor dear islamics were “provoked” by those awful Indians, and you do your best to pretend it was two sides to the story rather than that one group doing what it does best.
And that captures the essence of Britain today.
A Britain that cares more about not being “racist” than victims of ethnic violence or grooming gangs, that cares more about following lockdown dictates than the actual well being of people in Leicester, or more about some conflict in Ukraine than mass illegal immigrants pouring into Britain everyday.
And that shows on the football field.
It’s all about the hilariously misnamed FFP, protection of the few “elite” clubs who rigged the game for their benefit in 1992, TV money….
Meanwhile, a club like Leicester wins the league fair and square…only to see their squad ripped apart rather than strengthening their squad and going on to challenge.
And no one cares, that losers like ManU Arsenal and Spurs can rely on a rigged football financial system to keep hoovering up the best players (while whining about how “unfair” it is to compete against Man City), while a well run club like Leicester slowly sinks.
Hear hear!
Some excellent observations in this comment, particularly in your middle paragraphs. Thank you.
Hear hear!
Some excellent observations in this comment, particularly in your middle paragraphs. Thank you.
Quick question:
Leicester have won as many league titles in the past decade as Liverpool, Spurs, Arsenal, Man U combined.
How many top notch players were Leicester able to buy post 2016 compared to those clubs, or transferred to Leicester from those other “big” clubs (versus Leicester players snapped up by their rivals)?
“seemingly sparked by celebrations of India’s cricketing victory over Pakistan”
That little phrase actually tells a lot about the rest of the story.
Keep in mind, any distaste by sane minded people for the religion of peace is never “sparked” by mass grooming gangs, terror attacks, adherence to a backward cult. It’s never the muslims fault, always a “phobia” or “racist”
But when peaceful Indian Hindus, the group with the highest education levels, lowest crime levels in UK, gets terrorised by gangs of muslims, it’s because the poor dear islamics were “provoked” by those awful Indians, and you do your best to pretend it was two sides to the story rather than that one group doing what it does best.
And that captures the essence of Britain today.
A Britain that cares more about not being “racist” than victims of ethnic violence or grooming gangs, that cares more about following lockdown dictates than the actual well being of people in Leicester, or more about some conflict in Ukraine than mass illegal immigrants pouring into Britain everyday.
And that shows on the football field.
It’s all about the hilariously misnamed FFP, protection of the few “elite” clubs who rigged the game for their benefit in 1992, TV money….
Meanwhile, a club like Leicester wins the league fair and square…only to see their squad ripped apart rather than strengthening their squad and going on to challenge.
And no one cares, that losers like ManU Arsenal and Spurs can rely on a rigged football financial system to keep hoovering up the best players (while whining about how “unfair” it is to compete against Man City), while a well run club like Leicester slowly sinks.
The article fails to mention “one of the great days in the history of Islam and Great Britain” that occurred in Leicester, according to Leicester East’s then-MP, Labour’s Keith Vaz. Vaz led a demonstration in favour of the Ayatollah’s fatwa against Salman Rushdie through the streets of Leicester.
Yes indeed! Anyone remember the short lived and gloriously crude cartoon series which Private Eye ran in honour of the Great Man? “Creepy Keith – he talks through his backside”?
How dare you defame Washing Machine Repairman Jim.
His devotion to European friendship was legendary.
In the early 1970s my father went for a job interview (headmastership) at a school in Leicester – he told us later that he was pleased not to get offered it, because when he arrived the car park was covered in broken glass. Nobody cared enough to clear it up and make the car park usable. The idea that a brief sojourn by a local football club near the top of the football ladder has changed that mentality is a pretty empty one in my estimation. Your example is another which contradicts the idea that Leicester had changed for the better because of football.
Yes indeed! Anyone remember the short lived and gloriously crude cartoon series which Private Eye ran in honour of the Great Man? “Creepy Keith – he talks through his backside”?
How dare you defame Washing Machine Repairman Jim.
His devotion to European friendship was legendary.
In the early 1970s my father went for a job interview (headmastership) at a school in Leicester – he told us later that he was pleased not to get offered it, because when he arrived the car park was covered in broken glass. Nobody cared enough to clear it up and make the car park usable. The idea that a brief sojourn by a local football club near the top of the football ladder has changed that mentality is a pretty empty one in my estimation. Your example is another which contradicts the idea that Leicester had changed for the better because of football.
The article fails to mention “one of the great days in the history of Islam and Great Britain” that occurred in Leicester, according to Leicester East’s then-MP, Labour’s Keith Vaz. Vaz led a demonstration in favour of the Ayatollah’s fatwa against Salman Rushdie through the streets of Leicester.
“In the years since, however, neither the rugby nor cricket sides have won anything. “.
Leicester Tigers won the Rugby Premiership last year, beating Saracens 15 – 12 in the final. They made it to the semi finals this year, not bad considering they lost their manager to England mid way through the season.
Was about to make this point. Kind of a big oversight given the dramatic way the Tigers won the Premiership last year! I suppose it doesn’t fit the narrative but can’t believe that it was allowed to slip through!
Was about to make this point. Kind of a big oversight given the dramatic way the Tigers won the Premiership last year! I suppose it doesn’t fit the narrative but can’t believe that it was allowed to slip through!
“In the years since, however, neither the rugby nor cricket sides have won anything. “.
Leicester Tigers won the Rugby Premiership last year, beating Saracens 15 – 12 in the final. They made it to the semi finals this year, not bad considering they lost their manager to England mid way through the season.
Lockdown. And Leicestershire MP Neil O’Brien, among many others (though few so stridently), was baying for more of it.
Lockdown. And Leicestershire MP Neil O’Brien, among many others (though few so stridently), was baying for more of it.
On the plus side we have the unbelievable story of Luton effectively replacing Leicester after their incredible journey from almost oblivion. Come on you Hatters!!
Much bigger story. Luton for years has been an avatar for civic disgrace (lots of worst town polls etc.). Premiership football could be a once in a generation chance to change perceptions and deliver badly needed rejuvination. Still, shame it had to be a team in the London orbit rather than a properly provincial town/city. The Premiership comes with huge investment but I wouldn’t be suprised if Luton (as in the local government) fluff their lines.
I lived there for a short spell; Luton is very downmarket and covered in concrete, and certainly lacks any kind of elegance. What is does have however is a very big population and the potential for a huge fan base. It is also extremely well connected by the M1, rail network and airport. It’s the perfect place for a football club to thrive. Next step is to get that stadium built, and the rest will follow.
I think Luton’s got some potential – it doesn’t look much today, but has some old parks and nice countryside quite close. And a bit of history. In some ways similar to Leicester. Someone a long time ago described Luton as a “Midlands industrial town stranded in the south east”.
I’m thrilled Luton bounced back from the EFL’s crazy attempt to kill them off with a 30 point deduction all those years ago. That’s modern Britain for you – the “punishment” for a business error is made not on the business but on the football field.
[I’d also have been thrilled if Coventry City has won instead. Another long-suffering club who deserve a break.]
Luton certainly has some good reasons to visit it, especially that museum which allegedly has the largest collection of horse drawn vehicles in the world. Admittedly I had the jets from the Airport roaring low overhead, so I could study old and new modes of travel at the same time.
Luton certainly has some good reasons to visit it, especially that museum which allegedly has the largest collection of horse drawn vehicles in the world. Admittedly I had the jets from the Airport roaring low overhead, so I could study old and new modes of travel at the same time.
I think Luton’s got some potential – it doesn’t look much today, but has some old parks and nice countryside quite close. And a bit of history. In some ways similar to Leicester. Someone a long time ago described Luton as a “Midlands industrial town stranded in the south east”.
I’m thrilled Luton bounced back from the EFL’s crazy attempt to kill them off with a 30 point deduction all those years ago. That’s modern Britain for you – the “punishment” for a business error is made not on the business but on the football field.
[I’d also have been thrilled if Coventry City has won instead. Another long-suffering club who deserve a break.]
Football isn’t going to change the mentality of the people living there, of of the local council. It won’t change the place. This idea is as bad as Marx, “opium for the masses”.
I lived there for a short spell; Luton is very downmarket and covered in concrete, and certainly lacks any kind of elegance. What is does have however is a very big population and the potential for a huge fan base. It is also extremely well connected by the M1, rail network and airport. It’s the perfect place for a football club to thrive. Next step is to get that stadium built, and the rest will follow.
Football isn’t going to change the mentality of the people living there, of of the local council. It won’t change the place. This idea is as bad as Marx, “opium for the masses”.
Much bigger story. Luton for years has been an avatar for civic disgrace (lots of worst town polls etc.). Premiership football could be a once in a generation chance to change perceptions and deliver badly needed rejuvination. Still, shame it had to be a team in the London orbit rather than a properly provincial town/city. The Premiership comes with huge investment but I wouldn’t be suprised if Luton (as in the local government) fluff their lines.
On the plus side we have the unbelievable story of Luton effectively replacing Leicester after their incredible journey from almost oblivion. Come on you Hatters!!
I kind of echo Paul Simpson’s sentiment. I barrack for a football club (Melbourne) that had not won the Premiership for 57 years. Many of those seasons were abject embarrassments, or illusory lights at the end of the tunnel, or better than average but cruelly snuffed out by bad luck, lack of skill, poor decision making and/or combinations thereof; we’re lucky there is no relegation. I’d given up hoping we could ever win the flag, and had concede that my comfort zone was mid-table mediocrity, and convinced myself that the entirely rational reason was because we had been cursed by a malevolent football witch or warlock (or witlock, if you will). And then in 2021, seemingly out of the blue, we won the Premiership with such an extraordinary performance in the Grand Final that if we don’t win a flag for another 57 years, and as we edge back down the ladder, at least I have seen one Premiership.
I love the Australian use of the phrase “barrack for”. I think it would be better for supporters to be called “barrackers” (as in the Collingwood song) than “fans” – as in fanatics. It lends a more detached and responsible air to support for a team. Any non-antipodeian who hasn’t watched AFL I heartily recommend doing so – though you will need a seasoned eye to talk you through.
I love the Australian use of the phrase “barrack for”. I think it would be better for supporters to be called “barrackers” (as in the Collingwood song) than “fans” – as in fanatics. It lends a more detached and responsible air to support for a team. Any non-antipodeian who hasn’t watched AFL I heartily recommend doing so – though you will need a seasoned eye to talk you through.
I kind of echo Paul Simpson’s sentiment. I barrack for a football club (Melbourne) that had not won the Premiership for 57 years. Many of those seasons were abject embarrassments, or illusory lights at the end of the tunnel, or better than average but cruelly snuffed out by bad luck, lack of skill, poor decision making and/or combinations thereof; we’re lucky there is no relegation. I’d given up hoping we could ever win the flag, and had concede that my comfort zone was mid-table mediocrity, and convinced myself that the entirely rational reason was because we had been cursed by a malevolent football witch or warlock (or witlock, if you will). And then in 2021, seemingly out of the blue, we won the Premiership with such an extraordinary performance in the Grand Final that if we don’t win a flag for another 57 years, and as we edge back down the ladder, at least I have seen one Premiership.
It’s the rarity of winning trophies that makes “real” football fans care so much.
Some of the traditional long-term Manchester City fans will tire of their (hyper funded) success if they just keep winning.
As their previous “hope” turns to “expectation” the magic will dissolve ….
City fan since 1982. Not bored yet thanks.
Good
Give it time
I am a City fan who was complaining earlier in the season that City were not playing the beautiful football of previous seasons with Haaland in the side.Obviously Pep knew what he was doing and they have been fantastic in the CL but no team has ever won the premier league/old division 1 4 seasons in a row or 6/7 so it will not be a suprise to me if City fail next season to win premier league although as long as Pep stays would expect City to make the top4 every season
Good
Give it time
I am a City fan who was complaining earlier in the season that City were not playing the beautiful football of previous seasons with Haaland in the side.Obviously Pep knew what he was doing and they have been fantastic in the CL but no team has ever won the premier league/old division 1 4 seasons in a row or 6/7 so it will not be a suprise to me if City fail next season to win premier league although as long as Pep stays would expect City to make the top4 every season
I don’t think so. Not the real long term fans. They went decades in the wilderness. Only 24 years ago they were in the old third division. But still getting 30,000 attendances at Maine Road (and brought 5000 fans to an away match at Reading). Not a Man City supporter, but those fans never stopped caring.
I was at the Reading v Man City match in 1998. The City fans were singing (to the tune of Guantanamera) “You’re going down with Pompey, down with the Pompey…”. It was Reading and Man City that were relegated, Portsmouth stayed up.
I missed that match – was that at Elm Park ? I was at the 1999 match where we got thumped 3-1 by City in our new stadium (something about building a new stadium seems to bring on relegation). “Twenty thousand to be precise – to record the Madejski Stadium’s highest ever attendance, without doubt the largest gate receipts in the history of the club, and the biggest crowd to watch the Royals at home for decades. Before the game kicked off, predictably 30 minutes late, the atmopshere was amazing with the whole East Stand in fine voice, and the away end sold out. All of this was too perfect. It had to go wrong, and so it did.”
Can’t believe it – apparently our record against City is level – W6 D1 L6:
https://www.royals.org/history/Man%20City
Whereas we’re 0/0/10 against Arsenal !
Yes, Elm Park. I went to quite a few matches in the ’90s, a good atmosphere. Never got to see the Royals at the Madejski but did watch London Irish there a couple of times before they folded.
The 1998 game must have been one of the last big events at Elm Park. The old stadium was still standing in May 1998 when I moved to Michigan. I returned to Reading in July 2000 and the site was covered by high density housing.
Yes, Elm Park. I went to quite a few matches in the ’90s, a good atmosphere. Never got to see the Royals at the Madejski but did watch London Irish there a couple of times before they folded.
The 1998 game must have been one of the last big events at Elm Park. The old stadium was still standing in May 1998 when I moved to Michigan. I returned to Reading in July 2000 and the site was covered by high density housing.
I missed that match – was that at Elm Park ? I was at the 1999 match where we got thumped 3-1 by City in our new stadium (something about building a new stadium seems to bring on relegation). “Twenty thousand to be precise – to record the Madejski Stadium’s highest ever attendance, without doubt the largest gate receipts in the history of the club, and the biggest crowd to watch the Royals at home for decades. Before the game kicked off, predictably 30 minutes late, the atmopshere was amazing with the whole East Stand in fine voice, and the away end sold out. All of this was too perfect. It had to go wrong, and so it did.”
Can’t believe it – apparently our record against City is level – W6 D1 L6:
https://www.royals.org/history/Man%20City
Whereas we’re 0/0/10 against Arsenal !
I was at the Reading v Man City match in 1998. The City fans were singing (to the tune of Guantanamera) “You’re going down with Pompey, down with the Pompey…”. It was Reading and Man City that were relegated, Portsmouth stayed up.
Very true. Anyone who lives in one of the north-western footballing towns outside the city of Manchester will understand how the two Manchester clubs suck “support” and the lifeblood out of their local teams by enticing “glory hunters”.
On the same note, sad to see Rochdale relegated from the football league after a stay of 102 years, with all the odds stacked against them and winning nothing. (Three promotions in all that time, but never as Champions of their division.) They might make it back into the EFL but unlike Luton for instance, have no history of competing in the top two divisions and a much smaller fanbase.
Equally sad that Jeff Stelling (of Sky Sports) won’t be around to mention them …
Equally sad that Jeff Stelling (of Sky Sports) won’t be around to mention them …
Just like nobody cared about human rights when Arab countries bought billions of deadly weapons, acquired banks and prime real estate in Britain, or their dictators got to meet the Queen or business leaders, but their stance on gays suddenly became very crucial when they bought into Man City.
Similarly, nobody cared about “real” fans or the “hollowness” of spending money to buy players when it was the cartel clubs hoovering up all the trophies.
I’m still waiting to see someone fail the Premier League’s “fit and proper persons test”. It’s certainly been stress-tested. But they’ve all passed !
Half the Premier League shirt sponsorship by betting companies. Because money laundering ones don’t want the publicity.
Meanwhile, teams like Luton got deducted 30 points (10 or more years ago) for running into business difficulties. Always the way with financial criminals in this country, isn’t it ?
I’m still waiting to see someone fail the Premier League’s “fit and proper persons test”. It’s certainly been stress-tested. But they’ve all passed !
Half the Premier League shirt sponsorship by betting companies. Because money laundering ones don’t want the publicity.
Meanwhile, teams like Luton got deducted 30 points (10 or more years ago) for running into business difficulties. Always the way with financial criminals in this country, isn’t it ?
I’ve been watching City since 1975 and will be at Wembley on Saturday and in Istanbul next Saturday. Winning never gets old. If it does for a football fan, go find another pastime ….
City fan since 1982. Not bored yet thanks.
I don’t think so. Not the real long term fans. They went decades in the wilderness. Only 24 years ago they were in the old third division. But still getting 30,000 attendances at Maine Road (and brought 5000 fans to an away match at Reading). Not a Man City supporter, but those fans never stopped caring.
Very true. Anyone who lives in one of the north-western footballing towns outside the city of Manchester will understand how the two Manchester clubs suck “support” and the lifeblood out of their local teams by enticing “glory hunters”.
On the same note, sad to see Rochdale relegated from the football league after a stay of 102 years, with all the odds stacked against them and winning nothing. (Three promotions in all that time, but never as Champions of their division.) They might make it back into the EFL but unlike Luton for instance, have no history of competing in the top two divisions and a much smaller fanbase.
Just like nobody cared about human rights when Arab countries bought billions of deadly weapons, acquired banks and prime real estate in Britain, or their dictators got to meet the Queen or business leaders, but their stance on gays suddenly became very crucial when they bought into Man City.
Similarly, nobody cared about “real” fans or the “hollowness” of spending money to buy players when it was the cartel clubs hoovering up all the trophies.
I’ve been watching City since 1975 and will be at Wembley on Saturday and in Istanbul next Saturday. Winning never gets old. If it does for a football fan, go find another pastime ….
It’s the rarity of winning trophies that makes “real” football fans care so much.
Some of the traditional long-term Manchester City fans will tire of their (hyper funded) success if they just keep winning.
As their previous “hope” turns to “expectation” the magic will dissolve ….
Having been born in Leicester and lived here for all but seven years of my life and also having been a regular attendee at LCFC matches since 1964, I find ths attempt at linking City’s relegation to some supposed decline in Leicester itself risible.My guess is that with a few well chosen examples, the same could be written about every city or town with a Premier League team were they to get relegated. Ignoring evidence that doesn’t fit your point of view seems to be the essence of journalism these days not to mention BTL comments on Unherd!.
Sporting wise the Tigers are on the up and what about Leicester Riders, a serial title winning basketball team. As regards LCFC, the owners did a brilliant job for many years, buying players cheap and then selling them on to the bigger clubs. They have just made a few bad mistakes over the last couple of years. Allowing players to run down their contracts, poor recruitment in terms of improving the squad and hanging on to a manager who had lost the plot towards the end of the previous season.
However my main objection is to the comment below
“If there had been any naive sense of the city as a place of harmonious immigration, it disappeared then.”
There was nothing naive about it. Leicester has had an excellent and well deserved reputation as a multi-cultural City for many years with annual Caribbean carnivals, Hindu and Muslim celebrations, all going on with no serious incidents. I also take issue with the typical BTL comments that always blame the Muslim community (e.g. Samir Iker). There is going to be an enquiry into last summer’s violence and it might be best to await the outcome of that before jumping to conclusions. The local community leaders that I know through my voluntary work are determined to sort this out and return to the peaceful co-existence that has been the norm.
My own take on it for what it’s worth is that there are probably more disaffected youth post Covid and the ratcheting up of tensions between Hindus and Muslims back in India by Modi and his thuggish government no doubt contributed.
“Thuggish” what an apposite word!
To read the article and comments, you would never know that DNA fingerprinting was invented at Leicester University. Of course, that was used to confirm the identity of Richard III, apart from transforming police investigations around the world. The Space Museum is another reason to visit the city. There are numerous ways to improve a city’s reputation and economy.
https://le.ac.uk/dna-fingerprinting
“Thuggish” what an apposite word!
To read the article and comments, you would never know that DNA fingerprinting was invented at Leicester University. Of course, that was used to confirm the identity of Richard III, apart from transforming police investigations around the world. The Space Museum is another reason to visit the city. There are numerous ways to improve a city’s reputation and economy.
https://le.ac.uk/dna-fingerprinting
Having been born in Leicester and lived here for all but seven years of my life and also having been a regular attendee at LCFC matches since 1964, I find ths attempt at linking City’s relegation to some supposed decline in Leicester itself risible.My guess is that with a few well chosen examples, the same could be written about every city or town with a Premier League team were they to get relegated. Ignoring evidence that doesn’t fit your point of view seems to be the essence of journalism these days not to mention BTL comments on Unherd!.
Sporting wise the Tigers are on the up and what about Leicester Riders, a serial title winning basketball team. As regards LCFC, the owners did a brilliant job for many years, buying players cheap and then selling them on to the bigger clubs. They have just made a few bad mistakes over the last couple of years. Allowing players to run down their contracts, poor recruitment in terms of improving the squad and hanging on to a manager who had lost the plot towards the end of the previous season.
However my main objection is to the comment below
“If there had been any naive sense of the city as a place of harmonious immigration, it disappeared then.”
There was nothing naive about it. Leicester has had an excellent and well deserved reputation as a multi-cultural City for many years with annual Caribbean carnivals, Hindu and Muslim celebrations, all going on with no serious incidents. I also take issue with the typical BTL comments that always blame the Muslim community (e.g. Samir Iker). There is going to be an enquiry into last summer’s violence and it might be best to await the outcome of that before jumping to conclusions. The local community leaders that I know through my voluntary work are determined to sort this out and return to the peaceful co-existence that has been the norm.
My own take on it for what it’s worth is that there are probably more disaffected youth post Covid and the ratcheting up of tensions between Hindus and Muslims back in India by Modi and his thuggish government no doubt contributed.
I am pleased that the article mentioned (eventually and in passing) my favourite comic playwright, Leicester-born Joe Orton. But how could an article list famous Leicesterians and omit my favourite comic novelist, Sue Townsend?
or Joss Hanbury legendary Quorn Master?
Didn’t Hanbury come a cropper recently over some COVID nonsense?
don’t know: sadly I haven’t ridden to their Hounds for 7 long years!
don’t know: sadly I haven’t ridden to their Hounds for 7 long years!
Didn’t Hanbury come a cropper recently over some COVID nonsense?
And Julian Barnes, Graham Chapman, Gok Wan, Parminder Nagra John Deacon, and last but not least, Joseph Merrick otherwise known as ‘The Elephant man.’ I believe also ‘The Flashman Papers edited by George McDonald Fraser bringing old ‘Flashy’ to life were discovered in auctioned off goods from a country house in Ashby, Leicestershire.
or Joss Hanbury legendary Quorn Master?
And Julian Barnes, Graham Chapman, Gok Wan, Parminder Nagra John Deacon, and last but not least, Joseph Merrick otherwise known as ‘The Elephant man.’ I believe also ‘The Flashman Papers edited by George McDonald Fraser bringing old ‘Flashy’ to life were discovered in auctioned off goods from a country house in Ashby, Leicestershire.
I am pleased that the article mentioned (eventually and in passing) my favourite comic playwright, Leicester-born Joe Orton. But how could an article list famous Leicesterians and omit my favourite comic novelist, Sue Townsend?
Which makes it hard to have any sympathy for a fanbase that comes to Anfield every year to sing about poverty.
Which makes it hard to have any sympathy for a fanbase that comes to Anfield every year to sing about poverty.
Leicestershire still has superb Hunting country: lots of challenging hedges and fences and grass.
So why is the Quorn NOT what it used to be?
furious infighting between Masters and a failed merger plan with Cottesmore, I believe
Thanks.
Thanks.
furious infighting between Masters and a failed merger plan with Cottesmore, I believe
So why is the Quorn NOT what it used to be?
Leicestershire still has superb Hunting country: lots of challenging hedges and fences and grass.
Good idea ruing by facts really
Tigers won last year and were losing semi finalists this yeae
Snooker player is back to his best
In fact its just tye football team, vastly over paid snd not fromLeicester who have struggled to show sny interest
Bit harsh to write off the whole city
The greatest tragedy Leicester ever suffered besides the near total total destruction of the Roman city was the loss its great Augustinian Abbey church around 1538/9.
A Cathedral sized building, and also the burial place of Cardinal Wolsey, it was the richest monastic house in the Diocese of Lincoln.
Its destruction was a national disaster from which it has yet to recover.
Well, that and Claudia Webbe.
We are a bit embarrassed about Showaddywaddy as well.
We are a bit embarrassed about Showaddywaddy as well.
I used to cross over the road at lunchtime from my knitwear factory to pay my respects to the great man.
Well, that and Claudia Webbe.
I used to cross over the road at lunchtime from my knitwear factory to pay my respects to the great man.
The greatest tragedy Leicester ever suffered besides the near total total destruction of the Roman city was the loss its great Augustinian Abbey church around 1538/9.
A Cathedral sized building, and also the burial place of Cardinal Wolsey, it was the richest monastic house in the Diocese of Lincoln.
Its destruction was a national disaster from which it has yet to recover.
Good idea ruing by facts really
Tigers won last year and were losing semi finalists this yeae
Snooker player is back to his best
In fact its just tye football team, vastly over paid snd not fromLeicester who have struggled to show sny interest
Bit harsh to write off the whole city
An inconsistent, somewhat illogical and downbeat piece of writing, containing some factual inaccuracies and unfounded allegations. More at home in the Grauniad than UnHerd surely?
An inconsistent, somewhat illogical and downbeat piece of writing, containing some factual inaccuracies and unfounded allegations. More at home in the Grauniad than UnHerd surely?
Let’s call a thing by its name; Leicester has been destroyed by mass immigration, resulting in warring enclaves of Pakistani Muslims and Indian Hindus, both enthusiastic practitioners of the worst aspects of sweat-shop labour, first-cousin marriage, religious and secular exclusion and intolerance. There is NIL integration of any of these alien communities into the local population and culture.
Drive through its increasingly run-down streets and see the shuffling, impoverished Pakistani population. There is nothing “British” about these people at all. See the scowling old men sitting in ruined front gardens of over-crowded houses on battered kitchen chairs, the gangs of garishly dressed young men, the women scurrying along heavily veiled or traipsing four steps behind their strutting husbands and sons.
As for lockdown, look at the constant travel to and from Pakistan (a major focus of infection) when all other travel was paralysed. Look at the rates of vaccine refusal on religious grounds. Look at Matt Hancocks admission that local lockdiwn was “politically undesirable “