Leicester City

Leicester City FC were formed in 1884 under the name of Leicester Fosse FC, as they played at a ground by Fosse Road. They played at five different home grounds before they moved into Filbert Street in 1891, when they also joined the Midland League.

In 1894 Leicester joined the Football League Division Two. The club flirted with re-election and had a brief spell in the top division until in 1919 Fosse hit financial problems. The club was quickly reformed as Leicester City. In 1929 City finished League runners up to Sheffield Wednesday; their highest ever finish.

City spent several seasons in each of the top two divisions, something that would become familiar in the ensuing years. In 1949 they were beaten by Wolverhampton Wanderers in the FA Cup Final. Two years later they signed one of the clubs greatest strikers, Arthur Rowley from Fulham. When manager David Halliday sold him after seven years, the outcry was so big that he lost his job. Former 'Filberts' or 'Foxes' player Matt Gillies took over and before long signed quality youngsters such as Gordon Banks, Frank McLintock, Graham Cross and Colin Appleton. City reached the FA Cup Finals of 1961 and 1963, losing to Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United.

However in 1964 silverwear was delivered to Filbert Street as Stoke City were defeated in the League Cup Final over two legs. They went on to be the final the following season, but they went down to Chelsea. In 1968 Gillies resigned owing to ill health. Frank O'Farrell came in but The Foxes were relegated after spending the previous twelve years in the top flight. They did however reach the FA Cup Final of 1969, but a Neil Young goal for Manchester City meant another defeat.

In 1971 Jimmy Bloomfield took over as team boss as he assembled another fine team who played entertaining football, with favourites such as Len Glover, Keith Weller, Alan Birchenall and Frank Worthington starring. They returned to the First Division and lifted the Charity Shield. The popular Bloomfield moved on in 1977. Former player McLintock took over as the team were relegated, to be replaced by Jock Wallace. The Scotsman oversaw the introduction of local youngster Gary Lineker.

Lineker was sold on and several managers had a turn at the helm. Alan Smith was picked up from non league Alvechurch and subsequently sold during this time. The club nearly sank into the Third Division but won their final league game to secure safety before Brian Little took over as boss in 1991. In his first season in charge City lost the Play Off Final to Blackburn Rovers. The following season saw further heartbreak as Swindon Town beat them in another final 4-3 in one of Wembley's greatest ever games.

City were not to be denied as they won promotion via the Play Off Final in 1994 as they defeated Derby County. Little left the following November. Mark McGhee couldn't keep the side up and left after a year to be replaced by a man who would in time become a legend at the club, despite a very rocky start. Martin O'Neill gradually turned things around and signed players such as Neil Lennon, Muzzy Izzett, Tony Cottee, Robbie Savage, Matt Elliott and Steve Claridge to join stalwarts such as Steve Walsh.

In 1996 after another Play Off win, this time over Crystal Palace, O'Neill led the side to four consecutive top ten league finishes as Filbert Street became a very difficult place for visiting teams to get a win at. In 1997 Leicester beat Middlesbrough after a replay to lift the League Cup. They repeated this in 2000 when Tranmere Rovers were defeated in the last League Cup Final at the old Wembley Stadium.

Atb the end of the season O'Neill left to join Celtic, while Emile Heskey was sold to Liverpool for £11M. Peter Taylor took over but O'Neill was a tough act to follow. He eventually departed to be replaced by Dave Bassett who made some poor signings as Chairman John Elsom made some poor decision regarding the financial prudence of the club. Mickey Adams arrived in the managerial hot seat but he could not stave off relegation. To end a dismal season, City also said goodbye to their Filbert Street home to move a few hundred metres to a new stadium named the Walkers Stadium after a ten years naming right deal with the local crisp makers.

The move cost more than the club had accounted for. Relegation meant lower gate revenues, the loss of the ITV digital money and some unwise transfer dealings led to the club entering administration in October 2002 with debts of around £30M. Adams led the side to promotion after a consortium led by Gary Lineker took over and restructured the debts. Many clubs felt City had cheated their way up as they suffered no punishment for their financial indescretions. It led to the rule of point deductions being introduced throughout football thereafter.

City were relegated once again in 2004, which led to the coming and going of more managers. Former Portsmouth Chairman Milan Mandaric bought the club in February 2007 and oversaw some poor managerial appointments. This culminated in Ian Holloway taking over in October 2007 and becoming the third permanent manger of the season. He took the club down to the League's third tier for the first time in their history at the end of the season.

Former defender Nigel Pearson led the side straight back up and then lost out on a return to the Premier League after Cardiff City knocked City out in the Play Offs. Pearson moved to Hull City to be replaced by Paulo Sousa and then Sven Goran Eriksson as the club was bought by Thai based Duty Free Company 'King Power'. The ground was rebranded The King Power Stadium and Pearson returned to replace the sacked Swede in November 2011.

In Pearson's first full season back in control he led City to the play offs, where they were defeated in dramatic fashion at the semi final stage by Watford.

Leicester City FC will play in the Football League Championship in the 2013-14 season.


My visits

Leicester City 1 Crystal Palace 1 (Saturday 3rd October 1982) Division Two

My Mum and Dad used to take us away as a family for the weekend and had found good value at breaks at Holiday Inn around England. My Dad had been to Leicester many years previously as he was mates with Scarborough and City star Colin Appleton, so it looked a nice idea with a good train ride thrown in. Added to the attraction was that City were at home so we could take a game in.

We arrived on the Friday when we had a look around the city. After visiting the market on Saturday morning Dad took me and Nick to Filbert Street. Mum went to bingo and Paul to a roller disco. We were early so we went round the back of the Main Stand where we watched as the players arrived by car, with several signing our programmes. I'd never experienced this before, so it was a bit of a thrill at the time. Dad managed to buy an old City programme from a shop in a terraced house in Burnmoor Street. I also found some bargains to add to my collection.

We entered the ground, where we sat near the half way line in the Burnmoor Street Stand or Popular Side as it was known. This was a former shallow converted terrace. To our right was the Filbert Street Stand. This had a lower tier of seats with early corporate boxes perched above it. Opposite was the Main Stand with a terracing paddock and a large tier of seats above it. Finally the Spion Kop was to our left. This was a huge double decker stand for behind a goal. The bottom was terraced with a section in there for visiting fans, with seats above. The ground was hemmed in but traditional. In time the Main Stand was replaced by a more modern stanchion free construction as the whole ground was seated before it was all demolished.

City, under Jock Wallace were hoping to be promoted at the end of the season, but they stuttered along in this game. Palace took the lead to the joy of around five hundred visiting fans. The home faithful next to them tried to rouse their charges. Dad commented as to how he was surprised how clubs at this level survived on such poor gates compared to yesteryears.

The match was being filmed for highlights to be covered on ATV/Central TV the following afternoon with the superb Hugh Johns commentating. Nick at the time had an early hoodie and it was a bright lemon colour. We joked that it was his banana skin. Anyway, everytime the ball crossed the half way line in the air we could spot him on the highlights.

City grabbed a draw through a late equaliser from Gary Lineker in one of his early appearences. Nick commented he would play for England. We laughed at this as he was only a sub and we'd only seen around fifteen minutes of him in action. How little we knew!

We headed off and went inside Welford Road, the home of Leicester RFC for a look at the fine arena and picked up a programme from their afternoon game with Coventry. The following day we did plenty of walking. We visited the following sporting arenas; Blackbird Road Speedway and Greyhound Stadium, Saffrons Lane Sports Centre and Leicester Velodrome as well as Grace Road the home of Leicestershire CCC.

The fact that I could still recollect the weekend over thirty years later when writing this page indicates that we had a great time. I wish we could do it all again.

Leicester City 3 Birmingham City 1 (Tuesday 13th March 2012) The Championship (att: 21,092)

I was running out of options of new League grounds I could reach after early shift and still get back from afterwards. As usual I checked the fixtures well in advance to enable me to get the best bargains on the trains. I booked through Megabus and East Midland Trains and bought a match ticket online, which I would collect before the match; more of which later!

I finished work in good form on a pleasant afternoon and walked from Baker Street to St Pancras to continue my fitness campaign. The journey was good and I arrived into Leicester at around 6pm. I decided to collect my match ticket and then find a pub that I had in mind. The walk took me past a much changed Welford Road since my last visit. It appeared that there was a game on later as the floodlights were turned on and a few fans were congregating outside. That scuppered any chance I had of popping in for some photos.

I was paying close attention to how long my walk was taking as I had to be on the 9.58pm train back to London later. I went down one of the terraced streets that led to Burnmoor Street. The memories were coming back to me. I continued on to the King Power Stadium, where I purchased a programme before going to collect my match ticket.

I was directed to the club shop for collection. The young lady informed me that I was in the wrong place and I needed to go to the portable outlet behind the Main Stand. I arrived to be told that they wouldn't be open for ten minutes. I was treated to an exhibition of breathtaking skill by the assistant who tried to like wording up on the side of the outlet, so customers knew where to queue. I was the only person waiting. Eventually the shutters came up so I went forward to collect. I knew from experience that the bloke was struggling. He asked me my name, and then after a forlorn search, how I spelt my surname. Again he went through his pile, as did his assistant. It was no good. It wasn't there. He sent me back to the club shop. Let's just say that I wasn't laughing. I returned where another young girl, quite possibly doing a part time job to supplement her grant, said she'd have to print me a new ticket.

Away I trudged after wasting at least a pint worths time with all the mucking around. I was heading for a pub with great reviews called The Swan and Rushes which was near to the Infirmary. I was certain I was going the right way, even though it was taking me longer than I anticipated. I saw the pub stood alone in not what I would term a celubrious location, but I was thirsty and not particularly bothered. I entered in to the packed bar. I was a bit surprised to find only Everard's beers on sale, but I was non too bothered as Tiger was very palitable. I managed to get a seat where an older group was sat. I had managed to generate plenty of stares when I walked in and plenty of the punters looked like they had seen pre and post match action over the years. I just assumed that the pub had recently changed management.

While sitting down I decided to discretely check the map app on my IPhone. I couldn't believe it. I was in a pub called the Sir Robert Peel. I quickly downed my pint and went in search of civilisation. After a few minutes walk I found my intended target and it was a cracking boozer with guest ales and food galore. If only I'd have found it earlier!

After a pint I walked all the way down Brazier Street with the growing crowds and then along Eastern Boulevard along the side of the river to the King Power. The atmosphere was building outside, but I chose to walk around to my designated gate and go inside to the concourse. I made a good move.

There were multiple TV screens inside and I could hear the pre match build up on the pitch. I went for the pie and beer offer. Another young lady student was on her first days work, so even getting a pie of my choice was as not as easy as it could have been. At least she was most pleasant. I went upstairs to find my seat in the corner of the stadium and to read the brilliant programme. It was as good as I'd seen all season.

Birmingham had a disappointingly low following for a relatively local match of 1,483, but they had been involved in a costly Europa League campaign earlier in the season. They were noisy enough and not for the first time I was disappointed by the lack of noise coming from a set of home fans to cheer on their side.

My seat was in the top corner of the Spion Kop. The stadium was one single tier of seating in one continuous bowl. It was very functional with every seat commanding a decent view of the action. It didn't have many features that made it stand out from other new stadiums that were built in the same era, which I found a bit of a shame.

The Brummies in the crowd had plenty to cheer when referee Mick Russell gave a very controversial penalty (he did the same at the Derby County v Crystal Palace game I attended a couple of weeks later, before he upset all at Doncaster Rovers in his officiating against Portsmouth which sealed their relegation). Wade Elliott slotted the spot kick away. Jermaine Beckford finished off a move from a set piece to put Leicester level ten minutes before the break.

I had been chatting with two decent lads of my age who had a young 'un with them. They were proper supporters who watched the game throeet ugh unbiased eyes. At half time I once again took advantage of the reasonable pie and pint offer, which if I remember rightly was £5.40.

I returned to my seat after the break and continued to update my new pals with the updated Championship scores from my radio,until the power ran out on it. City gradually became the more dominant of the sides, without looking too likely to score. Eventually Nigel Pearson made a change bringing on forward Jeffrey Schlupp who immediately livened things up. It was no surprise when Tom Kennedy sent the German through for him to fire the home side ahead.

The game ebbed and flowed with Leicester looking likely to hang on to their win when I had to call it a night to make sure I'd catch my train. On my way back along Aylestone Road Beckford sealed the win with his second goal of the evening. I tried to keep up with another fan with the same intention as me. He was some athlete!

I made my train and was at home in Kingsbury at 11.30 after a good evening out and another new ground ticked off my list.


The photos of Filbert Street have been taken from the internet as I can't locate the ones we took on our visit.

Alemannia Aachen (Germany)

Alemannia Aachen come from the spa town of Aachen in North Rhine-Westphalia, close to the border with Holland and Belgium. The club were formed in 1900 by eighteen high school students. There was already a club in the city called 1FC Aachen, so they decided to adopt Alemannia, the old latin name of Germany.

Because of decreased membership numbers after World War One, the club merged with Aachener Turnverein 1847 in 1919 to become TSV Alemannia Aachen 1900. The new partners members were more interested in 1924, so the clubs split in 1924.

Because of the city's location, the club frequently played teams from across the borders. After spending time in local competition, Alemannia joined the Oberliga in 1929 the year after they'd moved into The Old Tivoli Stadium. In 1933 German football was re-organised with sixteen regional top flights, or Gauligen as they were called. Alemannia were placed in Gauligen Mittelrhein.

In 1938 they topped their division to reach the national finals. Around this period the club were noted for standing up to the Nazi regime after they demanded the release of a Jewish member. After the war 'Kartoffelkäfer' (The Potato Beetles) as the lub are nicknamed, played primarily in Oberliga West, reaching the DFB-Pokal Final (German FA Cup) before losing to Rot-Weiss Essen. In 1963 the leagues were once again restructured with Alemannia being placed in Regionalliga West (II), which was one of the second tiers. 

In 1965 the club once again ended as beaten finalists in the DFB-Pokal as this time they were defeated by Borussia Dortmund. Two years later, Aachen won their division and were promoted to the Bundesliga. In their second season they finished runners up in the league to Bayern Munchen.

The original Tivoli across the park

Unfortunately their run soon ended and they were relegated the following season. They remained at that level until 1990, when Aachen were demoted to the third tier. In 1999 under coach Werner Fuchs, the side were heading for promotion playing an attractive brand of football when disaster struck. Fuchs dies of a heart attack, but the team managed to maintain form to go up at the end of the season.

Once in 2 Bundesliga the club struggled on and off the pitch. Their accounts revealed that they were close to bankrupcy. A new executive committee was formed and through sensible management and the coaching skills of Dieter Hecking, the club recovered. In 2004 they reached their third DFB-Pokal Final, where they lost 3-2 to Werder Bremen.

Their performance led to a campaign in the UEFA Cup the following season. Alemannia reached the last sixteen of the competition before losing out to AZ Alkmaar. Their success bought increased finances into the club which helped to a promotion in 2006 back to the Bundesliga. However, they were relegated after just one season.

In 2009 the New Tivoli Stadium was opened near to the old stadium to give Alemannia a stunning new home. However, their new surroundings did not inspire the team or the fans. The club hit huge financial worries as crowds dropped. The club were relegated to 3. Liga at the end of the 2011-12 season. Even worse was to come as the club were declared bankrupt, but managed to continue.

There was no rest bite as no money was available for players as the team went down anopther level to fourth tier Regionalliga football. 

Alemannia Aachen will compete in Regionalliga West in the 2013-14 season.


My visit

Alemannia Aachen 0 Hansa Rostock 0 (Sunday 19th February 2012) 2 Bundesliga (att: 14,178)

I was staying for the weekend with my good Boro supporting pals Karl and Carl in Dusseldorf. We had been to the Bayer Leverkusen v Augsburg game the previous day and then had a marvellous night out in the Aldstadt of Dusseldorf where the carnival was in full swing.

The following morning we enjoyed a good breakfast at our fine digs, Hotel Furstenoff and then taken the tram to the Haubtbanhof, or main railway station. As in common with previous years, I'd bought our regional rail ticket the previous day to save queueing and any last minute panics. This fine value ticket offered travel on any non inter city trains, local buses, trams and ubahn services in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia for up to five people for a total cost of 39 euros.

The train was packed as far as Cologne where people were heading for their carnival celebrations. This fine tradition in the state is known as 'The Fifth Season'. It begins each year at 11am on the 11th November, which is perhaps a more positive way of looking to the future each year? It continues until Ash Wednesday each year with each weekend having celebration. However, unbeknown to us before we arrived we had picked the final weekend of fun when everything reached its climax. Once we got past Cologne the party goers including a man who randomly played his accordian, alighted.

Karl was quick to point out that the skyline had a rather black colour in the distance. We weren't aware of a bad weather forecast, but sure enough it started to snow and got heavier as we arrived in the beautiful old city. It was around midday and kick off wasn't until 1.30, so we decided to walk towards the old town. We heard a lot of noise down the road, so we went to investigate. There was a Kinder Karnival (childrens procession) in full swing, with floats and bands filling the streets and throwing gifts to the crowds. It really was a gladenning sight, apart from having to dodge sweets being thrown at high speed from the youngsters on high who were oblivious to how hard they were coming down.

We walked to the Markt area by the Town Hall and found a bar. The landlord offered to order us a taxi to Tivoli, which suited us perfectly. We watched the German equivalent of Sky Sports News and saw the embarrasing after fight fiasco from the previous evening involving Chisora and Haye. We finished our drinks and went to where we were told the taxi would arrive. We were there for ten minutes, but nobody came. Carl asked a local if he spoke English. He said he did and he would take us to a taxi. Here started the fun!

Here I impersonate Nanook of the North

He hardly spoke a word of English, but he did rattle on in German. He led us through the streets to where he gave the impression that he knew where we would find a cab. We hit the road where the procession was passing, and after several minutes it seemed to hit home that the road was closed to traffic. Our new friend was either lacking in speed of thought, or he had also imbibed heavily to celebrate. The snow was coming down ever heavier and I was losing my composure at a rate of knots.

We were led to another bar. I did my best to get the message across that kick off was approaching and we didn't have time to stop. My travelling companions were doing their best to hide their mirth from a few steps behind me, but I knew I would pay later for it. My attractive waitress rung for a taxi, but it was immediately clear from her body language and facial expression that we were out of luck.

We trudged off again. My feet were frozen as owing to the good forecast I'd travelled it normal shoes. Ahead we saw a taxi. I cheered and our guide was jubilant. I went to open the door only to find there was no driver. I must have been doing a passable impression of Victor Meldrew as I cam out with his famous catchphrase with a few extra words thrown in for good measure. We set off again, this time without our local mate. I saw a taxi approaching and went to flag it down. It went straight by! Fortunately another cab arrived and we were on our way at last, with kick off time less than twenty minutes away.

The snow was laying on the approaches to Tivoli. I took a photo of the old stadium across the car park and we then made our way to the Bitburger Wall, where we were to stand. I collected us the free programmes from the club holders and we then got up the steps to join in with a fine rendition of "You'll Never Walk Alone"

Tivoli was a magnificent new arena, with all four sides under cover. The Bitburger Wall was a large steep terrace behind the goal. To our right was the AachenMunchener Tribune, which was all seated. To our left was the Sparkassen Tribune, which again was seated and had boxes and all the corporate facilities incorporated into it. The far end was the Tabac Original Tribune, which was seated with a terrace in the Nord West corner for visiting fans, who were also allocated a couple of blocks of seats next to it. There were two video boards facing each other across from two corners and excellent facilities under the stands.

Carl and Karl with some Red Indians who I hope were dressed for the carnival!

We climbed our way up the terracing to get a better view. Karl was really impressed with being able to stand up at a decent level of football. He was even happier when a vendor came up the gangway with a tub of gluwein on his back. The teams were due out but the snow was laying all the time on the pitch. The away fans opposite us were just about visible. Hansa had taken a following nearing 1,000 which was a tremendous effort for a lunchtime kick off considering they were based on the north east coast of the country.

An announcement came over the tannoy after the officials had been on the pitch, which sounded sombre. There were boos afterwards. Fortunately a Borussia Dortmund fan on the step below spoke good English and explained that kick off was being delayed for a while to try and clear the pitch. The lines had already been painted on in red and the lines cleared, but it really was getting heavy. I had more or less given up on the game being played to be honest. The situation wasn't lost on my mates.

The officials went out again to inspect as the snowfall decreased a little. Another long announcement was met with cheers. They were going to start the game fifteen minutes later after the teams had chance to warm up. The sides were eventually led out with the young mascots not hanging around after reaching the centre of the pitch. There was none of the players shaking hands cobblers. The simply walked out together and went to the middle of the pitch to give a quick wave to the crowd before leaving the skippers and officials to get the formalities over with.

The pitch was obviously hazardous and it led to early errors, as the illuminous pink match ball skidded across the surface. The Rostock on loan number 22, Marek Janecka was having a nightmare at right back and forward Freddy Borg nearly put a corner in his own net from the edge of the box when he was attempting to clear the ball. For reasons best unknown to themselves Alemannia stopped playing the ball wide and went up the middle where they were far less productive. The game was poor, but the atmosphere decent and even the sun came out as the snow ceased. Karl was most impressed by the two home 'capos' who led the singing from their platforms while facing away from the pitch. They gave plenty of encouragement to the sections they had considered not to be giving the Aachen team enough vocal support.

With not a lot happening on the pitch, Alemannia's centre forward Benjamin Auer broke through. He pushed the ball past the Rostock keeper Kevin Muller who upended him. It was a certain penalty and red card as far as everyone around us was concerned. Elfmeter I screamed (penalty) using up one of my few German football terms. Amazingly the referee Herr Wingenbach waved the appeals aside. The crowd, including me and Karl went beserk. Someone was so fuming the dropped their beer, which soacked him from behind. Carl had his doubts whether there was deliberate contact made.

We went downstairs at the interval where fans were shaking their heads and showing general disapprovemnet to the injustice they'd thought they'd seen. We bought a Tivoli Card so we got a bockwurst and a gluwein each and returned to the terrace. Fir the second half we stood in the lower section for a quick get away and a view closer to the action. Some at the game were in their carnival fancy dress, so we watched the game next to a male and female red indian!

Hansa were much improved after the break, while Aachen most certainly weren't. The pitch caused problems, but some of the basics were sadly lacking. The visitors had a couple of opportunities from crosses, but their shooting was less than woeful. They were being aided by Aachen's Nigerian centre back Seyi Olajengbesi, who put in a catastrophic performance and yet he put in one goal saving tackle. Alemannia had a couple of efforts, but when the whistle blew it was the away fans who were the happier as their bottom of the table side grabbed a valuable point. Alemannia were hovering just above the drop zone and we agreed that they would need to improve to remain in the second tier.

We headed for the free bendy buses into town and somehow managed to squeeze on board. It was interesting when it went round corners! We got out at the bus station but then caught another to the trains. After a quick drink in a desolate bar we caught a direct train via Moenchengladback to Dusseldorf where we headed straight for Aldstadt and another tremendous night out.

It had been a great day out. It was lovely to stand at a game in a modern stadium, and even though the game was very poor, there had been some real comedy moments to cheer us up.

Stoke City

Stoke City FC were formed in 1863 as Stoke Ramblers FC by pupils of Charterhouse School. The club are based in the city of Stoke-on-Trent, famous for its pottery heritage in Staffordshire. The city is made up of six old towns and nearby villages, which produced a large conurbation which became Stoke.

In 1878 the club merged with Stoke Victoria Cricket Club to become Stoke FC. They moved from their old ground at Sweetings Field to the Athletic Ground, which soon became known as the Victoria Ground. At this time they adopted red and white stripes as their colours for the first time and in 1885 they turned professional. 

In 1888 Stoke became founder members of the Football League. However, after two years they were not re-elected and they joined the Football Alliance. They won that league at the first attempt and they returned to the League. They suffered relegation in 1907 and then resigned from the League the following year amid financial troubles. Stoke played in the Southern and Birmingham & District Leagues' before returning to the League in 1919 after World War One.

In 1928 the club changed their name to Stoke City FC, three years after Stoke-on-Trent was awarded city status. The Victoria Ground was extended around the same time to a capacity of 50,000. In 1932 a local youngster called Stanley Matthews made his debut for the club in what would become an iconic career. 

In 1947 City came agonisingly close to being crowned League champions, but they lost their final game of the season as Liverpoool overtook them. Matthews had left to join Blackpool two games previously. 'The Potters' were relegated in 1953 and remained in Division Two for nine seasons. Tony Waddington had been appointed manager in 1960 and he enticed a forty six year old Matthews back to the club. His influence worked as he helped the team to promotion.

Matthews became the first ever 'knighted' footballer in the New Years Honours List of 1965, and a few months later he played his final top flight game at the age of fifty! Gordon Banks joined the club in 1967 for a record fee of the time of £52,000. In 1971 and 1972 City reached the FA Cup Semi Finals, losing to Arsenal on both occasions. However, the found consolation winning the League Cup in 1972 after beating Chelsea 2-1 at Wembley.

City's stars of the time included Banks, Jimmy Greenhoff, Terry Conroy, Denis Smith, John Ritchie and George Eastham. Not long after the victory Banks was forced to retire following a car crash where he lost an eye, although he was replacedproperly two years later by Peter Shilton. The team failed to push on, and when the Butler Street Stand roof blew off in 1976, the club hit financial troubles. Mike Pejic, Alan Hudson and Pejic were sold to pay for the repair work.

After Waddington's departure the teams performances declined with Eastham and Alan Durban being amongst the bosses trying to halt the slide. City were relegated in 1985 after collecting just three wins all season. The next dozen years were the worst in the clubs post war history as managers came and went. Names of the calibre of Mick Mills, Alan Ball, Lou Macari and Joe Jordon all had spells at the helm. During that time the club plummeted and spent two seasons in the third tier before being promoted. They did win the Football League Trophy in 1992 after defeating Stockport County at Wembley.

In 1997 City left the aging Victoria Ground to move to the Britannia Stadium. It didn't bring luck as three managers all failed in the inaugural stadium in their new surroundings as the club were relegated back to the third tier. The following year City were sold to an Icelandic consortium for £6.6M who appointed fellow countryman Gudjon Thordarson as boss. He led the team to another Football League Trophy triumph in 2000 and promotion in 2002.

Despite this Thordarson was sacked days after promotion to be replaced by Steve Cotterell. His appointment didn't work out as he was replaced by Tony Pulis within four months. However, after a disagreement with the club owners he was dismissed at the end of the 2004-05 season. Dutchman Johan Boskamp was appointed the following day!

In May 2006 former Chairman Peter Coates, a local businessman and lifelong fan who had previously been hounded out after fans protests, bought the club back from the Icelandic owners. He immediately re-appointed Pulis to run team affairs.

On the final day of the 2007-08 season City won automatic promotion to the Premier League. Coates invested heavily in the club and under Pulis' direct style the club consolidated. Big name signings such as Peter Crouch, Jonathan Woodgate and Jermaine Pennant joined up with the squad who had got them up there. City reached the FA Cup Final in 2011 but they were defeated by Manchester City. However, this led to a place in the Europa League for the following season.

The club continued to gradually build, but this was not enough for some fans, who were becoming disgruntled by the style of football offered up by Pulis' teams. After several weeks of murmuring Pulis left the club by mutual consent in May 2013, to be replaced by Mark Hughes.

Stoke City FC will play in the FA Premier League for the 2013-14 season.


My visits

Stoke City 0 Hull City 1 (Saturday 8th March 1986) Division Two

I visited the Victoria Ground for the only time to watch The Tigers, although in truth I should never have made the match. I worked for Wallace Arnold at the time and they ran buses to every home match calling at Filey and Bridlington on the way. They were well used, so away games were covered. These too were popular for local matches. However, for the Stoke trip just six of us boarded the bus in Scarborough.

Our regular driver, the very rural Derek was a top lad and I reasoned that there was probably more to get on at the other stops. However, we left Brid with just the eight of us aboard. We should have turned back, but I was young and daft and Derek fancied the day out. There was plenty of room to stretch out!

We arrived very early on a lovely afternoon and parked up on the huge area near to the ground. There were some lads having impromptu kick abouts, but we headed for the away end. Stoke had a very rough reputation at the time, so finding a pub was definitely out of the question. We were the first ones inside our section!

The Victoria Ground was aging, but it was a traditional old ground. We were at the Stoke End. This stand had a terrace at the front with covered seats behind. This continued round the corner to the Butler Street Stand. The had a smaller terrace paddock and a large block of corporate boxes at the rear. Opposite behind the far goal was the large covered all terraced Boothen End. Finally to our right stood the Main Stand. This had a steep tier of seating with a small terraced paddock at the front.

It was a feisty atmosphere as we had anticipated. The home fans in the Main Stand paddock tried to intimidate the Tigers fans who weren't slow in coming forward. The regular larger than life face of Hull lad Wally pushed his luck too far. Derek said he had a good laugh with him by the coaches while he should have been watching the match. Stan McEwan sored the only goal with a bullet like diving header in front of us from a set piece. The 'Stokies' behind us were less than impressed. It led to an interesting time of watching our backs and the game at the same time, but there was at least an atmosphere. God, I miss days like that so much.

We got away easy enough in the customary police escort out of town and got back to Scarborough for 8.30pm. The following Monday morning was interesting for Derek and I as we explained to our boss what had happened to our supposed customers!

Stoke City 0 Valencia 1 (Thursday 16th February 2012) Europa League Round of 32 (att: 24,185)

As ever I was always on the look out to fit in a new ground when my work shift allowed. I was due to finish for the weekend on the Thursday lunchtime, and then meeting my pals and travelling to Dusseldorf on Friday afternoon. The Europa League draw offered opportunity for me, and I knew I'd see at least one team trying to play quality football!

I arrived at Euston with enough time for a beer in The Doric Arch to help me doze on my journey. I took a train with London Midland Trains. Their service was a lot slower with many stops, but their price reflected that. I wasn't in a huge rush so I sat back and relaxed.

I was to spend the evening at the Crown Hotel in Longton, a few miles from both Stoke town centre and the Britannia Stadium. It had some mixed reviews on the internet, but again it was cheap and it wasn't as though I was going to spend hours there. I caught a connecting train and then headed to the bus interchange over the road from the station. I asked a driver if there was a service to the stadium, but there wasn't. I was going to have to go into Stoke and then catch one of the special buses to and from the ground.

Longton really showed signs of neglect and the recession. It was an ugly place with a large indoor market and a depressing shopping precinct. Lots of shops were shut down. The distinctive shaped chimneys from the pottery works stood on the horizon. Youths sheltered in the interchange smoking weed and messing around on their BMX bikes, with a sense of submission. I checked out the bus timetable and it was obvious that they could spot a stranger.

I checked in at The Crown, which was friendly and warm, if basic. The floorboards all seemed to creek very loudly. It appeared that it was used as digs for travelling drivers judging by the clientele. After a short rest I decided I might as well make an effort to go to a decent pub. I went back over the road where the youths were showing each other their bike stunts and waited for a bus into town. This is where I had to be careful of where I was going.

If I'd got on a bus for the city centre, I'd have ended up in Hanley and not Stoke. Even though the railway station is called Stoke on Trent and the football club named Stoke City, it isn't where the city centre actually is! A bloke in a football hat got on board clutching a half bottle of whisky. At least I'd have a guide to where to get off. The helpful driver found out when I could get a return bus after the game.

I alighted near to Stoke town centre and then walked to Glebe Street. Club stewards in fluorescent jackets were on hand to hand out information regarding buses to The Brit. I continued up the road and into The Glebe pub. This was an inspired choice. The pub was a tied house for Joules Brewery of nearby Market Drayton. Their beers were lovely as was the pub. There was a good atmosphere inside. My only regret was not ordering one of the home made pork pies that came out on the table next to me just as I was about to leave. Instead I thought I'd get to the ground for a look around and then have a beer once I'd found my bearings.

The bus was to cost £3 return. I was impressed that there were lots of them lined up and they left at regular intervals and didn't wait until each one was full. I was outside The Brit at 7pm, still an hour before kick off. Badge and souvenir sellers were selling their goods, some at steep prices. I walked down the bank buying a £4 programme and the long lasting fanzine The Oatcake for £1.80. I then saw the shutters for Delilah's Bar were down and it dawned on me that no beer would be available because it was a UEFA controlled game.

I continued around the outside of the stadium and then used the maps app on my IPhone to establish where a sports centre was located that I'd read about. I was soon outside and joining the queue to get inside. The bouncers were only letting anyone in once someone left. Within ten minutes I was in and at the bar. It was busy inside but they were well organised. The reception desk and storeroom doors had been turned into bottle bars with draught available at the usual bar, where there was plenty of staff serving.

I got a pint of Tetley smoothflow and watched the Ajax v Manchester United clash on one of the many TVs. I was well aware of the reputation some Stoke fans had, but I found them to be warm and friendly. That said, I was one of them for the evening! It was certainly easier than my previous visit.

I walked back the same way I'd originally gone and found my turnstile. The concourse inside was busy, with not as much room as newer built stadiums. I bought a pie, chips and a bovril and went upstairs to my seat. I was located right at the end of the Boothen End. This continued round to the East Stand in one large tier of seating. The far South Stand was a separated structure. Again it was a single tier of seats with the control boxes at the rear. It also housed a section for the visiting fans. The dressing room clock was in the corner, next to the East Stand. This was the main stand at the ground housing most of the offices and facilities. It had a lower section, a block of corporate boxes and then an upper tier of seats. I quickly noticed that there wasn't much space between the seats and the legroom wasn't as large as I expected for a recently built arena.

Stoke were forced to enlarge the pitch to meet UEFA requirements.
It was made smaller for domestic games to enhance the advantage of long throws.

The atmosphere when the teams came out was electrifying. They were greeted by the song "We'll Be With You", which was released for the 1972 League Cup Final. My Dad bought it for me at the time and it sounded just as good all those years later. At least I knew the words! This was followed by a rousing rendition of "Delilah", which nearly took the roof off the place. The locals certainly knew how to get behind their team.

The Potters went at the Spanish opponents from the start, but couldn't carve out many clear but chances. Peter Crouch had a chance but he fluffed his lines, and Rory Delap's long throws caused plenty of concern in the Valencia box. They held out and gradually took control of possession. Their class began to tell. City's defence had some very nervous moments and in the thirty fifth minute the Turkish centre back Mehmet Topal strolled unchallenged and then let loose a thirty yard thunderbolt into the top corner of the Stoke net. It was a brilliant goal and I was pleased that many home fans applauded it. The fifty or so away fans were happy as well.

Stoke bounced back and could have had a penalty when Crouch was pushed in the area, but the Danish ref waved away their claims. The interval came and went and the game continued with the same pattern. Valencia had the majority of the ball, playing at a controlled pace. When Stoke got it, everything was at ninety miles and hour trying to pressure the visitors into errors. Valencia's keeper Vicente Guaita didn't really have to make any real saves.

I left when the board went up showing injury time was about to commence, popping back into the East Stand to take additional photos. I ran up the slope and was soon on board a bus. We were on our way as the final whistle blew and I was back in Stoke with five minutes to spare before a bus to Longton that I'd given up on when I saw the times. I thought I'd have time for a pint while waiting for the last service.

The bus took me back to Longton. I had a whisky nightcap in the very basic hotel bar and went upstairs. I was in bed and asleep by quarter to eleven. After a good nights sleep I was showered, dressed and on the bus to Stoke at 6.20am the following morning. I walked round to the station where I took up the rarest of offers; a good deal at the railway station buffet. A coffee and bacon sarnie set me back just £2.50!

I settled back in style on the way home. I'd bought a first class seat for a few quid more as I knew I would need some rest before my German adventure later in the day. By alighting at Watford Junction and using a local train and then a bus I was home a lot earlier.

It had been a great trip and I really warmed to the people of Stoke. I just wished their team would reward them by playing football in the fashion it was meant.

The old pictures of the Victoria Ground have been taken from the internet as I didn't have a camera with me on my visit there.