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Often at the end of a career some still see you as a good player and they might think it’s still some juice left to help out in a difficult situation. Frank McLintock arrived at Leicester City in the summer of 1977, taking over from Jimmy Bloomfield, who had an aging squad with a few key players coming to a certain age.

Frank McLintock had just left QPR as a player and went back to some of his old team mates to get them to move and play for him, and leave their current clubs for minor fees. George Armstrong, a legend at Arsenal was one of those players following in the foot steps of David Webb and Eddie Kelly who had also joined their former team mate and trying to give Leicester City a lift and helping to avoid relegation.

George completed a total of 500 league games for Arsenal and of course playing in a number of European, FA Cup and League Cup games as well, being part of that special Double act team of 1970/71.  He was also part of the team that won the 1969/70 European Fairs Cup and also representing Arsenal in the 1968 and 1969 League Cup finals, ending runners-up, the same was his contribution in the 1972 FA Cup final, being defeated 1-0 by Leeds.

George Armstrong made his debut for Leicester on the 24th of September 1977, it all ended in a terrible 3-0 defeat at home to high flying Nottingham Forest, who later won the league all together. Armstrong stayed on for the rest of the season and beyond, but only included in 12 games by his “old pal” McLintock.

Armstrong was 33 at the time, and few or no one could figure out why a player at that age, signing for free would be a valuable asset for Leicester at the time, trying to replace older players with even an older one.

Armstrong stayed with Leicester also after the relegation and played 3 league games for Jock Wallace before making a switch to Stockport early on, and we never really did see the best years of a great footballer who had taken a strange path towards retirement.

George Armstrong went in to coaching and had spells in Norway and Kuwait, before returning home and becoming a key man again at Highbury working for the club in different coaching capacities until his early death at the age 56. Sadly his time at Leicester City was in a period of decline and his move was never seen as a success for one of the best wingers in the country during his 20’s. Sir Alf Ramsey never took him upstairs, and his tally of five England U.23 caps was his international bow, as it was not a priority to play with wingers under Sir Alf.

FACTFILE:

• Full Name: George Armstrong
• Position: Winger
• Date of Birth: 09.08.1944
• Birthplace: Hemel Hempstead
• Nation: England
• Caps / Goals: 0/0
• Major Career:
  • 1961-77, Arsenal (500/53)
  • 1977-78, Leicester City (15/0)
  • 1978-79, Stockport County (34/0)
• Links: Wikipedia

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Cedric Kipre might not be much known for his time at Leicester City, never crossing the line of first team action, and moving on to other adventures. Kipre (24) joined Leicester City in  2014 and left three years after and his only chance of first team action was during a loan spell at non-league Corby Town, playing two games.

Watching Cedric Kipre developing at Leicester City was a plus as the player looked as one that could make it and get a chance to evolve, but instead he moved north to Scotland and Motherwell, settling in well and establishing himself in the first team at Fir Park. His progress alerted clubs in England and Wigan Athletic signed him in 2018.

He settled in well and progression was made and he was a force in the Wigan team with good and clever displays in Championship action. Kipre added up 70 league appearances in two years with The Latics and attracted clubs in the Premier League.

West Bromwich Albion became the next step for the Ivory Coast U.21 international, but has not yet made any impact at The Hawthorns and recently joined Belgian club Charleroi on loan this February and hopefully he will get a chance to show his skills.

Kipre is a fine example of several other recruits that has made a move to other clubs and been able to progress from their time at LCFC, being released or shown the door at Leicester City.

FACTFILE

• Full Name: Cedric Kipre
• Position: Defender
• Date of Birth: 09.12.1996
• Birthplace: Paris, France
• Nation: Ivory Coast
• Caps / Goals: 0/0
• Major Career:
  • 2017-18, Motherwell (36/1)
  • 2018-20, Wigan Athletic (74/2)
  • 2020 ->, West Bromwich Albion (0/0)
• Links: 
  • Wikipedia

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Jonny Hayes didn’t set the World on fire at Leicester City, playing a modest 7 league games while with the club from 2007 and 2009. He was a player picked up on a free from Reading and seen as an exciting prospect.

He never appeared in the Reading first team and had a couple of loan spells at Forest Green and MK Dons that was seen as success but not enough so he was released and joined Leicester City on a free.

During his days as a fox he was also loaned out to Northampton Town and Cheltenham Town adding a bit of experience to take his next step in football. A move north of the border became a salvation for the Irishman as he got the chance to flourish at the highest level.

The club he joined Inverness Caledonian Thistle were at the 2nd level in the Scottish league pyramid and with Heyes in the team they got a straight promotion to the SPL and the breakthrough was completed for Jonny, who also scored some stunning goals in the first year in the top flight, one of them against Rangers.

A move to Aberdeen in 2012 was a new step up for Heyes and he became a key player at Pittodrie for five years playing 165 league games and scoring 23 goals. He also experienced the thrill of playing in Europe and winning the Scottish League Cup in 2014.

He had really made his steps up in football and in the summer of 2017 Celtic payed a fee of £1million to sign Hayes. He had at this time already made his full international debut for Ireland and to date been involved in four games.

Hayes is set to leave Celtic in the summer after three years with the club playing 41 league games and scoring 2 goals, winning the leauge in all his seasons, the FA Cup twice and the League Cup once. Hayes is now 32 years of age and might decide to play on in Scotland, but it’s said that a number of Championship clubs in England also could be interested.

Lovely to see players who had great potential, but didn’t fulfill their talent at Leicester City, getting a chance elsewhere and really flying on as they made a life in top flight football.

FACTFILE

• Full Name: Jonathan Hayes
• Position: Midfield
• Date of Birth: 09.07.1987
• Birthplace: Dublin
• Nation: Ireland
• Caps / Goals: 7/0
• Major Career:
  • 2007-09, Leicester City (7/0)
  • 2009-12, Inverness Caledonian Thistle (85/23)
  • 2012-17, Aberdeen (165/23)
  • 2017-20, Celtic (45/2)
  • 2020->, Aberdeen (108/6)
• Links: Wikipedia