Wide men have played a significant role for Leicester City over the years. Here we list the best of them, starting with numbers 10 & 9.
10. Steve Lynex was a pacey winger with an excellent ability to beat players with his dribbling skills. He was signed from Birmingham City by Jock Wallace in 1981 and made 240 appearances in seven seasons with the club, five of which were in the old First Division. Steve’s goal ratio was very good during his time at Filbert Street. He scored 60 times, many it should be said from penalties, and in three seasons he reached double figures. He was part of an extremely effective front three along with Gary Lineker and Alan Smith that kept the Foxes in the top-flight under manager Gordon Milne. In the 1983/84 season, the three scored 49 league goals between them, about three-quarters of Leicester’s total, one goal fewer in 1984/5 and 33 in 1985/6. Lynex didn’t see eye to eye with Bryan Hamilton, who had replaced Milne as manager, and he left the club in March 1987. In an interview with Leicester City historian John Hutchinson in 2023, Steve told him that ‘I was totally gutted to leave Leicester. I loved Leicester to bits: the fans, all the people inside the Club and the players. It really was, and still is, a great club to be at.’
9. In ninth place is Steve Guppy who played 189 games for City between 1997 and 2004 scoring 10 goals. All of his Leicester career was played in the top-flight. Martin O’Neill, who had managed the winger whilst at Wycombe, brought him to Filbert Street from Port Vale for £850,000. Steve was a vital cog in Leicester’s successful team of that era, more often than not playing as a wing back where his trickery and crossing ability made countless goals for Leicester strikers - such as Heskey, Claridge and Cottee – as well as defenders. It was from two of Guppy’s corners that Matt Elliott scored brace in the 2000 League Cup Final. His inspirational performances in a blue shirt earned Steve a solitary England cap in 1999. Guppy, out of favour with new manager Peter Taylor at Filbert Street, joined O’Neill at Celtic in 2001 where he won a league winner’s medal. In his second brief spell with the Foxes, Guppy returned to play in Micky Adam’s team in 2004 but couldn’t prevent City from dropping out of the Premier League. After spells as a coach with Martin O’Neill’s Sunderland and Republic of Ireland sides, Steve is now a well-respected coach in the United States.
More on Tuesday.