For the second day in succession, we go back to the 1980/81 season for ‘On This Day’. Today’s programme is from Leicester City’s match with Stoke City at Filbert Street. Read our notes on the Foxes issue below and see the other top-flight issues from 1980/81 here.
Leicester’s programme for their first season back in the top-flight opened with a short column from Foxes manager Jock Wallace, who expressed concern that some of his players seemed overawed playing away at the larger Division One stadiums. General Secretary Alan Bennett also penned a column, in which he noted the increased use the team was making of TV coverage of the club for coaching purposes, while ‘City Desk’ and ‘City Extra’ both provided news updates.
The centre pages of the programme featured an interview with City midfielder Mark Goodwin, in which he remarked on the mental challenge of playing in Division One, following the club’s recent promotion. The spread included a full-page colour picture of Goodwin from a recent match. In other coverage, there was news of a cricket match played between the Leicester team and Loughborough Town, during which Gary Lineker (who had captained Leicestershire Schools) “hit an outstanding 80”.
The programme also contained two pages of action shots from the club’s recent 2-1 victory against Tottenham Hotspur and a comprehensive stats section. This included average attendances from the Division One clubs, with Leicester averaging over 23,000 on their return to the top tier of English football. ‘Guest Spot’ featured an article from local radio presenter Steve Lambden, a City supporter since the mid-1960s, while there were brief notes on Leicester’s other teams in ‘Reserve Report’ and ‘Youth Focus’.
Coverage of visitors Stoke City took the form of an article discussing the club’s early season results, as well as key members of the squad, noting the goalscoring form of Dutchman Loek Ursem. ‘Star Talk’ meanwhile featured an interview with Stoke defender Ray Evans and there were pictures of five of the Potters’ team.
This was a solid programme from Leicester, featuring a decent amount of content. Whilst not among the strongest issues of the season, this was a programme that covered all the basics, offering decent value for the 30p cost.