Life in football can be difficult and strange. Yesterday a number of youngsters got their chance in a pre-season friendly vs. Peterborough. One player made a huge impact on the day, playing the second half. His name is Louis Page, still only 16 years of age.
He has not been one of the main youngsters talked up as a special one. Jake Evans and Jeremy Monga are the two together with Olebade Aluko who has been in and around the first team during last season. Jayden Joseph also showed his worth yesterday.
We have never seen such a huge group of players at this early age, knocking on the door for first team opportunities. Andy King himself was one special in his generation. Hamza Choudhury, Ben Chilwell and Harvey Barnes were three others who took the full step from their group.
The ideal way to build a foundation for these players is how they are nurtured in the environment. This also secures their development. They need to feel safe and integrated. They also need to know players inside the first team camp. They should trust them and have a chance to chat and speak with them.
Ben Nelson, Sam Braybrooke and Will Alves are players that are also very close to a full breakthrough. The big ask of the manager is to get winning results while having an eye on getting younger home grown players into the team.
Page, Evans and Monga were all in that Leicester U16 team defeating Man City in the Premier League Cup final last year. There are others also in that group to follow, as they get their future sorted.
Louis gives us the lead 🙌 pic.twitter.com/yaURQyWu76
— Leicester City (@LCFC) July 5, 2025
Leicester are known for bringing young talents up and through. Love to go as far back as the 60’s to make a solid benchmark. The chance to go down this path is possible. However, one hurdle is huge. It was not the problem so far back, to get promoted to the top tier, they were allready there.
The manager at that time, Matt Gillies, took a brief break from football after finishing his playing career at Leicester in the summer of 1955. He returned to the club less than a year later to become part of the club’s coaching staff under Dave Halliday. He was asked to become the club’s manager on 1 November 1958.
Matt Gillies appointed Bert Johnson as his assistant. He also became a legendary figure at this football club. Gillies and Johnson managed to find talent were no one else looked or from his own ranks. He also had the opportunity to make major money moves, selling and buying players. When signing Allan Clarke from Fulham, Leicester broke the British transfer record, paying £150.000 for his services back in July 1968.
Gillies and Johnson perfectly build their team around local talent, younger players brought in from the lower English league tiers or from Scotland. Mike Stringfellow joined from Mansfield, Gordon Banks brought in from Chesterfield. These were two fantastic moves. They helped set up Leicester to reach Wembley for two FA Cup finals. They also won The EFL Cup.
Richie Norman, Peter Shilton, David Nish, John Sjoberg, Graham Cross, Frank McLintock and Alan Woollett were just a handful of other young players nursed through. They established themselves and went on to play many games for this football club.
Frank McLintock, Peter Shilton, David Nish and Allan Clarke were examples of players given their chance to flourish at a very young age. They played in FA Cup finals and became full internationals at Leicester, or just after they had left the club. These four went on to win League titles with Arsenal, Forest, Derby and Leeds.
Leicester as a club should be in the top flight, they are among the top ten teams in English football. Leeds, Stoke, Derby, Southampton, Sheffield W and Forest are also in that category, but they have not been good enough to nurse forward their own talent.
With this new generation of young players nursed through. Leicester could, with the correct mindset and focus, again be the force they were back in those glory days. They can build a foundation on a certain generation of players. This group will then act as a core going forward.
We have seen this done at Man Utd, with the class of 92. Chelsea in some way are doing this right now. The short term thinking of building football teams are at the moment the focus in English football. Buying and selling looks to be the ultimate drive for fans and owners, trying to find a quick fix to their battles.
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