Leicester fans must rally to turn King Power Stadium into a fortress
By Nathan Wong
After four games, Leicester City sit 9th having won and lost two games apiece. Whilst not on par with the past couple of seasons, this is much better than performances would suggest Leicester deserve.
One thing that has become apparent is the poor King Power atmosphere. If you compare how loud the KPS can be (e.g. Sevilla in 2017) to the games this season, you would be forgiven for thinking you were living in an alternate universe. Truth be told, it’s unrealistic to expect the same vociferous ambience every game- such big occasions do raise performance levels of both player and fan.
Nevertheless, one would think that after 18 months at home LCFC fans would be much more vocal. On the contrary, during general passages of play, the most common noises are groans and away chants, contributing to a rather insipid atmosphere. This shouldn’t be the case! Leicester City fans have enjoyed more footballing success than suffering of late!
There will always be certain sections of the KPS that will be making more of the noise (Blocks L1 and SK1), yet even these areas have been rather underwhelming. Furthermore, other areas of the stadium must also try and contribute more- the fans are called the 12th man for a reason!
It’s telling that in both of the home games so far the 29,000 Foxes have been comprehensively outsung by 3,000 away fans. If someone was listening on the radio without prior knowledge of the venue, they would be forgiven for thinking LCFC were playing away not at home!
Next. Foxes also wanted to sign these two players. dark
What’s also concerning is the general air of negativity, which is evident on social media but also in the matchday atmosphere. One example of this was the substitution of James Maddison last weekend which was met with audible boos. It’s fine to criticise poor performers (Maddison has been extremely poor for half a season) but booing them is counterproductive and unnecessary.
Just look at Kelechi Iheanacho who used to enter the pitch to boos and groans- and in an interview, Seniorman expressed the difficulty of dealing with such a reception. These are Leicester City players, and the fans must always support them through thick and thin! After all, these players represent the club you support through thick and thin too!
At the end of the day, the players/manager are responsible for what happens on the pitch but fans provide the spark. In the words of Alan Birchenall, “You can, and you do make a difference”. As LCFC fans, let’s ensure the words of ‘Birchy’ don’t fall on deaf ears.
One thing you might have missed from Leicester City’s defeat to Manchester City
Despite the defeat, legendary mascot Filbert Fox managed to bring cheer to football fans with his comical Jack Grealish impression. When the £100m man was going over the away end, Filbert decided to take a ‘tumble’ onto the floor in imitation of the England winger.
Read. 3 Talking points from Leicester’s loss to Man City. light
Jack Grealish is a quality player and gets quite a lot of rough treatment, nevertheless, his reputation for going down too easily helped create a moment of Twitter comedy for football fans across the country!