Last season became a great uphill ride in the FA Cup and we all remember how fantastic it was to see Leicester lift the trophy at Wembley in front of our own fans with that 1-0 win and a screamer of a goal from Youri Tielemans.
Leicester do have a long history of FA Cup games as it goes back to 1890 and that very first qualifier vs. Burton Wanderers. It all ended in disaster with a 4-0 defeat as we take that result with us down memory lane to look at previous years and remarkable games against different opposition.
Leicester did not have many good results from FA Cup games before they reached the semi-final of this tournament in 1933-34. After wins vs. Lincoln, Millwall, Birmingham and Preston in the rounds before the semi-final, it was not possibly to get through to Wembley for the first time with a 1-4 loss to Portsmouth.
The game was a neutral event at St. Andrews in Birmingham and the team had a number of good players from the runners-up team in 1928/29. They were close to Wembley with Arthur Lochhead to goalscorer on the day. The team did have a number of legendary names. Sep Smith, Adam Black, goalkeeper Sandy McLaren, Hugh Adcock and Arthur Chandler were all in the team.
Leicester did have a couple of 5th round experiences in the years to come before reaching the final in 1948/49 season for the first time in the clubs history and a bit of a sensation as the team were a 2nd tier outfit at the bottom half of their league.
They started that season with a 3rd round thriller vs. Birmingham playing three games before Leicester managed to settle it with a 2-1 win away at St. Andrews. Jimmy Harrison and Don Revie scored the goals for Leicester on the day. Then Leicester defeated Preston in the 4th round before they in the 5th played Luton and what a thriller it became. First a 5-5 draw at Kenilworth Road four goals scored by Jack Lee, in the 5-3 replay Lee netted another two with Mal Griffiths also scoring twice taken their tally to 6 and 3 goals over two games. Don Revie scored two of the goals in the semi final vs. Portsmouth, winning 3-1, sadly he lost the final and could not play seeing Wolves winning 3-1 on the day.
Leicester reached the quarter finals in 1953-54 taking Preston to a replay. They were also quarter finalists in 1959-60 losing to Wolves. Then in 1960-61 a new fantastic run made it to Wembley for the second time. A thrilling semi-final vs. Sheffield United did secure the final ticket with a win in the 3rd game of this difficult hurdle. Ken Leek and Jimmy Walsh scored in the 2-0 win, the first two games ended both 0-0.
The run towards Wembley in 1962-63 was secured after games in the earlier rounds vs. Grimsby, Ipswich, Leyton Orient, Norwich and Liverpool made it possible again to enter the field at Wembley. Leicester were the favorites to win, but we all know how it ended all becoming a grand day for Man Utd.
The 1969 final and the talk of life over fifty years ago were well documented as Leicester did everything correctly last season winning the FA Cup trophy for the first time, fantastic evening and great to watch .
We will play Watford for the first time in an FA Cup match since 1982. This was the 5th round game with John O’Neill scoring and another own goal settling a 2-0 win for Leicester, having six Scottish players in the line up, Tommy Williams, Ian Wilson, Eddie Kelly, Alan Young, Paul Friar and Jim Melrose all being involved.
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