Legends

Many footballers to wear the famous colours of Leicester City have written themselves into Foxes folklore as legends for what they achieved in the East Midlands.

Foxes fans relish the players who have helped the club add honours to Leicester City’s trophy cabinet and create many fantastic memories. While Graham Cross holds the record for the most appearances in Leicester City’s history as a club.

So, from the iconic defender to heroic forwards Gary Lineker and Jamie Vardy, here is a list of the top 10 legends to play for Leicester City...

Jamie Vardy

Jamie Vardy is no doubt a top Leicester City legend and his footballing story is one that is loved by all football fans. The Foxes even signed the striker from Fleetwood Town in 2012 for a fee of just £1m.

The Englishman joined from Fleetwood having just helped the Fishermen secure promotion to the Football League. He scored 34 goals in non-league that season and Vardy was still yet to play any professional football. The forward was already 25 when he made the move.

Yet the next decade would turn the forward into a Leicester City legend as Vardy has managed over 400 appearances and more than 170 goals. His tally also places the 26-cap England international among the Foxes’ top goalscorers of all time.

Vardy settled into his life at Leicester in his second season whilst they were in the Championship. In the 2013/14 season, his 16 second-tier goals and 10 assists were also key to helping the Foxes win the title and promotion to the Premier League.

The Foxes even managed the unthinkable in the 2015/16 season, just two years after promotion, as they won the Premier League title under Claudio Ranieri. Again, Vardy was key with 24 goals and eight assists over 36 top-flight games. Vardy also won the Premier League’s Player of the Season award that term.

Vardy, who also earned his England debut after joining Leicester City, has also played in the Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference League with the club.

The attacker has even won the FA Cup (2021) and Community Shield (2021) with the King Power Stadium side. Vardy also managed to win the Golden Boot in the 2019/20 Premier League season with 23 goals.

Kasper Schmeichel

Kasper Schmeichel, the son of iconic Premier League goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel, became a legend of his own right at Leicester City.

Sven-Goran Eriksson brought the goalkeeper to the East Midlands after moving around the English Football Leagues with spells at Bury, Cardiff City, Coventry City and Leeds United. So, no one expected him to become a player who stayed in the Leicester City first-team squad for a decade like he did.

The Denmark hero would even make 479 appearances for the Foxes and recorded 147 clean sheets. Schmeichel made the third-most appearances by any player in the Foxes’ history during his time at the club.

Schmeichel was often a crucial player for Leicester, too, and was key to them lifting the Premier League title in 2015/16, plus the FA Cup and the Community Shield in 2021. He was one of only four players who played every minute in all 38 games of their Premier League title-winning season. The goalkeeper also became the club’s permanent captain in 2021.

Gary Lineker

Gary Lineker became an instant hit following his arrival at Leicester City in the late 1970s and continues to love the club today. He was Leicester-born and bred and made his senior debut for the club in 1979.

The forward would spend seven years at the Foxes, scoring an impressive 103 goals in 216 appearances for the club. He would also go on to make waves in the England squad whilst still in the East Midlands and was once the Three Lions’ record goalscorer.

One of his most memorable seasons for the Foxes was the 1981/82 campaign when he scored 19 goals. Lineker also improved his tally to 26 in 1982/83 and still ranks as Leicester’s seventh-best goalscorer to date. He also won the second division with the club in 1980.

After becoming one of the finest forwards in England with Leicester, Lineker enjoyed spells at Everton, Tottenham Hotspur and FC Barcelona. He also returned to Leicester to open the King Power Stadium in July 2002.

Lineker even contributed a six-figure sum to help save the club from administration before backing a consortium which rescued Leicester City.

Graham Cross

Defender Graham Cross is a Leicester City legend for many reasons, the main one being the fact that his 599 appearances for the Foxes are a club record. He played for the club from 1960 to 1976 and featured in two FA Cup finals plus two League Cup finals.

Whilst playing at Filbert Street, he even won the League Cup in 1964 and the Second Division title in 1971. Cross also played in the European Cup Winners’ Cup with Leicester yet the centre-back was also playing cricket in England at the time.

Other honours Cross won with the Foxes include the Charity Shield in 1971. He also broke Leicester City’s record for appearances in multiple competitions, including the FA Cup.

Wes Morgan

Wes Morgan is no doubt a Leicester City legend after making 323 appearances for the club over nine years. His time at the club also saw the defender captain the Foxes to the Premier League title in 2015/16 and win the FA Cup. The centre-back was a true leader up until he retired in July 2021.

Morgan started life very well at Leicester after joining from his boyhood club Nottingham Forest for just £1m. The defender signed halfway through the 2011/12 campaign and performed brilliantly in his first six months at the club. This even saw Morgan earn their captaincy in his first full season.

He would prove key to helping the Foxes win the Championship title in the 2013/14 season, as well, and then staying in the Premier League until he retired. Morgan was integral to winning the Premier League title in 2016, too. He was one of four players to play every minute of all 38 top-flight games that season.

Morgan also scored 14 goals and captained the Foxes during their 2016/17 Champions League campaign. His other notable moments at the King Power Stadium include scoring for Leicester City in the Champions League, which helped them progress to the quarter-finals.

Muzzy Izzet

Muzzy Izzet is a Leicester City legend who made 319 appearances over eight years at the Foxes. The Turkey international initially joined on loan from Chelsea but impressed massively to merit a permanent move in the summer of 1996.

Known for being a hard hitter and a strong midfielder, Izzet helped the Foxes be quite successful during his time at the club. In 1996, he helped the team earn promotion to the Premier League and he was part of the team which won the League Cup final in 1997.

He was also a key player in the East Midlands, verified by winning the Premier League’s Player of the Month award in September 1999. Izzet also made the team which won the League Cup final in 2000 and represented Leicester in the UEFA Cup twice.

Izzet also enjoyed personal success whilst playing for Leicester, having made the 2002/03 PFA First Division Team of the Year. He also penned the most assists in the 2003/04 Premier League season.

Not all of his time with the club was in the top-flight but after they were relegated, Izzet helped Leicester return to the Premier League in 2003. Promotion that season proved to be an incredible feat as the club was still going through administration.

Gordon Banks

Gordon Banks is the only player to win the World Cup whilst playing for Leicester City after his triumph with England in 1966. He also created many memories at Leicester City from 1959 to 1967.

The goalkeeper ended up making 356 appearances over the years after joining from Chesterfield for only £7,000. Banke even emerged as a key player from the moment that he joined the Foxes.

In just his second season, Banks helped Leicester finish sixth and reach the FA Cup final. He then earned plenty of plaudits the following term as the Foxes finished fourth in the top-flight. But one of Banks’ most memorable performances for Leicester came in their 1962/63 FA Cup semi-final against Liverpool.

It was then Banks’ time to win a trophy with Leicester in 1964 in the League Cup. This was no doubt his biggest triumph at the Foez before leaving Leicester in 1967. The goalkeeper would go down as a legend at the club after winning the 1964 League Cup and also reaching two FA Cup finals.

Steve Walsh

Steve Walsh is no doubt a legend who created many memories over the 14 years he spent with Leicester City from 1986 to 2000. The defender also made many appearances playing as a striker through his 449 games with the Foxes. He even managed to score an impressive 62 goals.

Walsh, who joined the Foxes for £100,000, also played in six finals and even captained the club over his lengthy stay in the East Midlands. Spectacularly, Walsh moved up front in 1992/93 and managed to score 15 goals. One of his most memorable days was a brace in their Play-Off final win against Derby County.

Walsh was a key player in the Leicester City first-team squad who also became the most successful in their history. With the iconic player at the club, the Foxes managed four consecutive top-ten finishes and won the League Cup in 1997 and 2000.

Frank Worthington

Frank Worthington played for over 20 clubs during a nomadic career but spent five years at Leicester City from 1972 to 1977. Many fans also believe that his Foxes days were the high point of the forward’s career. He scored 78 goals in 239 appearances whilst in the East Midlands.

Leicester signed Worthington for only £80,000 and he made many amazing memories, including on his debut. The striker burst out of the gates by scoring in a 1-1 draw with Manchester United at Old Trafford.

In the 1973/74 campaign, Worthington also scored 24 goals across all competitions, which made him their top goalscorer that season. He further made eight appearances for England, scoring two goals.

Worthington was very skilful on the ball, while his entertaining attacking style and quality further saw him become a Leicester City legend.

Marc Albrighton

Marc Albrighton joined Leicester City upon leaving Aston Villa as a free agent in 2014. But his Bosman arrival marked the start of an iconic time together which returned more than 300 appearances. He also helped the Foxes win the Premier League, FA Cup and Community Shield.

During the Foxes’ first-ever season in the Champions League, Albrighton also made history as the first Leicester player to score in the UEFA competition. The right-sided midfielder opened the scoring to help claim a 3-0 victory over Club Brugge.

Albrighton also offered the third-most assists by a top-flight player during the 2017/18 Premier League season with seven. He was often influential after joining the Foxes and was key to keeping the club in the top-flight in 2014/15. Albrighton also featured in all 38 games as Leicester won the Premier League title.