Filbert Street

Lore & Background

Leicester City was formed in 1884 as Leicester Fosse. The stadium was initially known as Walnut Street, being the closest road to the ground at the time. The first game played there was against Nottingham Forest's reserve team on 7 November 1891. Local legend suggests the site was identified by a Miss Westland, niece of club founder Joseph Johnson. The record attendance of 47,298 was set on 18 February 1928 for an FA Cup tie against Tottenham Hotspur. The stadium hosted FA Cup semi-finals in 1928 and 1962, and a full international between India and Bangladesh on 29 July 2000. The last game played at Filbert Street was a 2–1 victory against Tottenham Hotspur on the final day of the 2001–02 season.

In Their Own Story

Saturday, November. The kind of grey Leicester sky that never quite commits to rain but makes everything feel damp anyway. You turn off the main road and the street narrows. The terraces are there, low and long, the concrete worn smooth by decades of boots and elbows. A few hundred are already in, leaning on the railings, hands in the pockets of waxed jackets, arguing about the half-time team. The floodlights hum to life with a sound like a distant generator, and the pitch goes from flat grey to a sharp, almost violent green. A ball is kicked out. The first touch, the first pass, and the terrace behind the goal starts a low, rolling murmur that builds, builds, builds until it is a wall of sound you feel in your chest before you hear it. A cross comes in. The striker rises. The net ripples. And the whole street — the whole damn street — lets out a sound that is not quite a cheer, not quite a scream, but something older than either. Something that belongs to the place itself. You are not watching a match. You are inside it. You are on Filbert Street, and the street is singing.

Reader's Guide

Filbert Street was located in Leicester, England. The stadium had a main stand on the west side, a south stand known as the Spion Kop or Double Decker, a north end (Filbert Street end), and an east or Popular side. The Carling Stand was completed in December 1993, holding 9,500 seated spectators. The all-seated capacity was 21,500 after the Kop was converted to seating in 1994. The stadium was sold to a development company for £3.75 million in March 2002 and was demolished after the club moved to a new stadium at Freeman's Wharf in July 2002.

Did You Know?

• Filbert Street hosted a Football League test match on 27 April 1895 between Derby County and Notts County.
• The stadium held the finals of the FA Amateur Cup in 1896 and 1900.
• England under-23s beat West Germany's under-23s 3–1 at Filbert Street on 14 October 1970.
• The last goal scored at Filbert Street was by Matt Piper in a 2–1 win over Tottenham Hotspur.