Over the years a number of foxes have been seen in red and white as the two clubs have swopped players and managers. Jesse Lingard is one who recently played for Forest, he has earlier been on loan at Leicester.
Going back to the 1977/78 season. Forest had just returned to the top flight and instantly became a hit in English football. Brian Clough and Peter Taylor managed the unlikely, copying their League triumph win with Derby, five years earlier. In that same season, Leicester got relegated with an aging group of players.
Peter Shilton who had left Leicester City a few years earlier, made a switch from Stoke to Forest. He had been picked up by Brian Clough and was back in the limelight and showing a form that eventually made him an England first choice again, winning European Cup’s, League Cup’s as well picking up that special League winners medal.
Martin O’Neill never played for Leicester City, but the Forest and N Ireland legend became an “icon” at Leicester as a manager, guiding them back to a steady performer in Premier League. This was done together with another Forest great, John Robertson.
Former Leicester City boss Nigel Pearson is born in Nottingham, but never played for either Leicester or any of the Nottingham teams. Funny to see him overlooked by his local clubs and instead playing for Shrewsbury, Sheffield Wednesday and Middlesbrough.
Micky Adams, Dave Bassett and Matt Gillies are managers who have been in charge at both clubs alongside Martin O’Neill, having a short stint at City Ground. So it’s been a few connections over the years.
Gary Mills was given his debut at Nottingham Forest by Brian Clough and later became an important player at Leicester City, representing the club in 200 league appearances. Mills played at City Ground in two periods, first from 1978 to 1982 and from 1983 to 1987, adding up 132 league games for Forest during his spells.
Wes Morgan might be the greatest player to be seen in both camps, representing Leicester City and Nottingham Forest for most of his career and adding up more than 600 league appearances for both clubs, a sensational tally and still in action at Leicester City.
Yohan Benalouane was recently released from Nottingham Forest and has joined Aris in Greece, but was also a player at Leicester City and the Tunisia international was probably a bit unfairly rated as his presence often was seen when other players had an injury and were absent.
Trevor Christie joined Nottingham Forest from neighbour Notts County and started his career at Leicester City. Franz Carr is another players with a life in both camps, a player that had a number of great seasons at Forest and a short spell at Leicester City a bit later.
Kjetil Osvold, the only Norwegian ever to appear for Leicester City, joined on loan from Forest for a four match spell back in 1987. Alan Rogers had a number of good seasons in both camps, helping Leicester City back to the top flight in that 2002-03 season. Gary Charles was a great right back at Nottingham Forest and also appeared a number of years later for Leicester City.
Not to forget Stan Collymore. He made his name at Nottingham Forest, resulting in being sold to Liverpool for a fee of £8.5 million back in 1995, then an English record. He later joined Leicester City from Aston Villa, but had a short stay which also included a period out with a fractured leg.
Full Back John Curtis joined Leicester City from Blackburn Rovers back in 2003, but his stay was short and he later joined Nottingham Forest and played 79 league games, from 2004 to 2007. Scot Gemmill is another player with the life in both camps, The Scottish international midfielder might be more known for his time at Forest than at Leicester City.
Andy Impey joined Forest from Leicester City in 2004, after a long and quite successful time at our club, he had a brief and short spell at City Ground playing 37 league games, first on loan and then permanent until 2005. Midfielders Gereth Williams and Andy Johnson are also both foxes in forest. Paul Konchesky also had a spell at Forest while at Liverpool and later joined Leicester City and helped in the way back to the Premier League. Lee Peltier also had spells in both camps.
Central defender Ricardo Scimeca must also be mentioned, as he joined Leicester City from Nottingham Forest, starting out at Aston Villa and later joining West Bromwich Albion. Nicky Summerbee also had spells in both camps, so did Matt Upson, but just playing once for Forest and just a few appearances in the blue shirt for Leicester City.
A list of players in both camps,
- Goalkeepers
- Peter Shilton
- Alan Fettis
- Russell Hoult
- Defenders
- Alan Rogers
- Paul Konchesky
- Matt Upson
- Riccardo Scimeca
- Yohan Benalouane
- Wes Morgan
- John Curtis
- Gary Charles
- Lee Peltier
- Greg Cunningham
- Jack Hobbs
- Molla Wague
- Midfield
- Gary Mills
- Franz Carr
- Kjetil Osvold
- Gareth Williams
- Andy Johnson
- Andy Impey
- Nicky Summerbee
- Scot Gemmill
- Neil Lennon
- Jesse Lingard
- Anthony Knockaert
- Forwards
- Trevor Christie
- Stan Collymore
- Lee Glover
- Chris O’Grady
- Chris Wood
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