In Both Camps; Chesterfield

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Leicester will play one of their 2024-25 pre-season games at the Chesterfield arena, SMH Group Stadium. They will face Italian side Palermo in a friendly on the 26th of July. Chesterfield FC has a proud history nursing forward some fantastic players, one of them, Gordon Banks.

Among those former players in both camps, you have names such as Rod Fern, Carl Muggleton and Stan Milburn. Simon Grayson and Martin Henderson are others, both played an important part in Leicester promotion campaigns in the past.

Gordon Banks started his league career at Chesterfield, and was early spotted as a special player, being picked up by Matt Gillies for a minor fee of £7.000. He never looked back and to date the most famous English goalkeeper ever, still the only one to win a World Cup final for England. Banks joined Leicester in 1959, staying until 1967, moving to Stoke.

Carl Muggleton is another former Leicester goalkeeper with a special past at Chesterfield, spending three different periods at the club. First he joined The Spireites on loan in 1987. When joining for the second time he had left Leicester and represented Stoke, going there on a second loan spell in 1999. Muggleton moved permantaly to Chesterfeild in 2002, staying until 2006.

Rod Fern had his first years in football with Leicester, playing for the club in the late 60’s and early 70’s, before moving to Luton. He moved to Chesterfield in 1975, playing 152 league games and scoring 54 goals, before moving to Rotherham in 1979.

Tony Brien became a long term favourite at Chesterfield. The Irish defender joined from Leicester in 1988, spending the next six years at the club, adding up 204 league games, scoring 8 goals. He later had spells at Hull, West Brom and Rotherham as well as playing at a few other locations on loan.

Stan Milburn joined Leicester from Chesterfield. He had a good football career, playing professional from 1947 to 1965, playing 179 league games for The Spireites before moving to Leicester in 1952, spending seven years at Leicester before moving to Rochdale. He was part of a footballing family, being the cousin of famous Newcastle forward Jackie Milburn, and the uncle of Bobby and Jackie Charlton.

Martin Henderson helped Leicester to promotion from the second tier in 1979/80 season, building a top partnership with Alan Young, as Jock Wallace build a solid foundation at Filbert Street. Henderson joined Chesterfield in 1981, and later had a short spell at Port Vale.

Players in both camps,

Goalkeepers
- Gordon Banks
- Carl Muggleton
Defenders
- Stan Milburn
- Tony Brien
- Simon Grayson
- Lawrie Madden
- Steve Yates
- Wontae Daley-Campbell
Midfield
- Geoff Salmons
- Trevor Hebberd
- Mick Kennedy
- Franck Moussa
- Michael Trotter
- Darren Williams
- Sammy Braybrooke
Forwards
- Martin Henderson
- Robert Alleyne
- Rodney Fern
- Frank Large
- Ian Wilson