Adventures in Football #123: King Power Stadium (Leicester City) 

 

April 7, 2025 

 

LEICESTER CITY vs. NEWCASTLE UNITED (Premier League) 

 

An actual Premier League game (only my seventh, ever). Basically, my brother is over from Texas, and we keep talking about doing a game when he’s here. I’ve taken him to Wembley for England, but Premier League always seems out of reach. Either we leave it too late, or the club has ticket restrictions. Anyway, we both signed up for Leicester City and independently purchased tickets, side by side. Row PP. Back of the stand. Let’s see what the Prem is all about in 2025. This is also Monday Night Football, which marks the first time I’ve been to a live TV game in the Premier League. The rest have all been 3pm on a Saturday.  

 

 

Originally, I was supposed to go to work but a combination of a Sunday birthday party and the trains meant I had to take a day off for the football. I’m sure all the Newcastle fans did too. We would have been very rushed without taking the 3pm train into Birmingham. We swap onto the Leicester train in New Street and some goon sits opposite me. He leans all the way forwards onto the table, so he’s right in front of me, and starts doom scrolling, chewing gum and laughing. Personal space, bro. Why are people like this? The train before was cancelled so this one is packed.  

 

 

To add to the entertainment some absolute nutter gets on in Hinckley. I can hear him screaming at people before the doors even open. “Don’t follow me on the train” he yells at someone before walking off into the next carriage. I can still hear him. On arriving in Leicester, we escape the madhouse and take a stroll. I’ve pre-selected a boozer called the Old Horse. It’s near Victoria Park. Both the above pictures were taken there. Ceiling fox and beer garden Johnny Depp. The first pint I had was rotten and none of the bar staff seemed to know what beer is supposed to smell like. A genuine concern. Get CAMRA in there. 

 

After a few pints, and a nice little chili con carne, we stroll over to the Cradock Arms in Knighton. It’s a popular haunt and there are Newcastle fans there. A surefire sign we’re in the right place. It’s a nice pub with a strangely shaped bar. We have a few Black Forest stouts, from the local Everards brewery, before making our way to the ground.  

 

 

My brother, Andy, was thrilled with the beer quality. He is from Texas though.  

 

 

A takeaway from this trip is how passable Leicester was. It feels more like a nice suburb of London than a city in the Midlands. Compared to Derby, it’s pretty great. Especially with the quality and quantity of pubs and eateries. The diversity of the population gives a veritable smorgasbord of food options.  

 

 

After a healthy 30-minute walk, we find ourselves at the ground. The flow of people gave it away long in advance of seeing the ground. The King Power doesn’t cut an imposing figure in the city’s skyline unfortunately. Some grounds are more imposing than others.  

 

 

The fans were mingling freely pre-match and there seems to be no beef between the two clubs. It feels like Newcastle were crap when Leicester were good and now Leicester are crap, Newcastle are good. There’s never been direct competition there. It’s been a while since I was in a crowd this substantial. Probably Derby last March.  

 

 

They’ve smartly put up recently won trophies on the outside, as a reminder to visiting teams that Leicester have dreamed the impossible dream in the past 20 years. At times they’ve been rubbing shoulders with the powerhouses of European football. However, it does feel like that era has now ended. When Jamie Vardy departs the club at the end of the season, it marks the end of Leicester City as the underdog champions.  

 

 

The concourse is a very solid one. It’s spacious and the directions make sense. The painted wall opposite me recalls the club’s former ground; Filbert Street. Filbert Street was one of those grounds that had houses right next to the pitch. If a clearance cleared one of the lower stands, it was going into someone’s back garden. Leicester felt they’d developed the ground as much as they could so now we’re here.  

 

 

As you can see, the concourse is proper decent. I love the two level effect and how much space there is. As I enter, I’m handed a “clapper”. If you think I’m using that, lads, you’ve got another thing coming. I kept it as a memento but it was never used in anger. Having already eaten and drank, the only facilities I used here was the bogs. Considering it was built in 2002, they’re not great. All the early 2000s stadia feel like they’ve aged poorly and all look the same. The only bonus here, for Leicester, is they’ve been successful here and the murals and decorations reflect that.  

 

 

Like most stadiums from the past 25 years, it has this bowl look. When every part of the ground looks the same, is any part of it special? A question I’ve found myself asking at multiple new builds (Southampton in particular). The ground is perfectly fine but if you asked me to name my favourite grounds, the ones that look like this would not feature.  

 

 

Here’s a look in the other direction, where everything looks exactly the same. We’re up by the TV cameras, which is fun. We basically have the TV view…without the zoom. I spent a fair chunk of the warm up trying to figure out where the Monday Night Football gang were set up. Pretty sure is was in the left hand corner.  

 

 

At St Mary’s I was pretty critical of the seating. The seats were too narrow. It’s a brand new stadium, make the seats big enough. Here, we get double trouble with a lack of width and no leg room at all. My knees are over the seat in front and I’m touching both my neighbours. Sure, it’ll keep me nice and warm on a chilly April evening, but this is not good enough.  

 

 

Filbert Fox shows up. He just stands there like that. For ages. He’s lucky the sprinklers didn’t get him. We get some pre-match entertainment with fire and a hype video. The hype video is really good, because they’ve won some shit recently and the whole “foxes never quit” ethic sounds fantastic.  

 

 

The whole process gets me properly hyped up. I know Leicester have had a rough run of form, but the crowd are fired up and it feels like it can happen for them. Foxes never quit! The pyrotechnics and music. The TV cameras and bright lights. The world is watching. Newcastle have already had their big night out, at Wembley against Liverpool, and I overheard fans say they weren’t that bothered about tonight. They wouldn’t mind Leicester winning. Given that a win would put Newcastle in P5, level on points with Chelsea, I doubt that but appreciate the sentiment. 

 

 

This scarf seemed to sum the feelings up; “making the impossible possible”. That’s the Leicester City way. There are drums in the Leicester end, and both sets of supporters are in good voice. Leicester start in dramatic fashion and Vardy is kept out at the near post. Leicester getting a shot on target after 15 seconds. This is clearly a rarity as the fans sarcastically chant “we’ve had a shot”.  

 

 

Less than two minutes later they’re losing. Jacob Murphy netting. The crowd immediately turn on what they’re witnessing and start chanting “fuck off Van Nistelrooy”. He’s clearly not won them over this season. 0-1. 2’. It’s all so easy. Tino Livramento going on the overlap is enough to fox the Foxes and his cross is turned in at the back stick.  

 

If that wasn’t bad enough it’s soon 0-2. Vardy loses the ball, but Fabian Schaar should not be able to take on the keeper from inside his own half. The keeper is miles off his line. The shot hits the bar, but no one reacts, and Murphy follows in for his brace. Really sad defending all around. 10’ gone and effectively game over. The crowd turn on the players now with a chant of “you’re not fit to wear the shirt”.  

The initial murmurs of dissent have become full blown rage at the situation they’re facing. The club was so well run for so long. How has this happened? A loud section of the fans clearly blame Leicester’s director of football; Jonathan Rudkin. Rudkin was promoted internally and has been in the job since 2014. Rudkin’s relaxed attitude has cost Leicester a few transfer targets. Including famously fumbling a replacement for Danny Drinkwater.  

 

The relaxed attitude has seeped onto the pitch. Leicester are too passive out of possession and have no energy with the ball. There is no one making runs, no one sprinting to help out with pressing or giving the man on the ball an option. Lots of passes are going astray too. The concentration just isn’t there. It’s a startlingly bad performance. Leicester don’t look like they’re in the same league as Newcastle and, at this rate, they won’t be for much longer. 

 

Joelinton fires a shot at goal on 33’ and it rebounds to Harvey Barnes, who tucks it away. It receives the biggest cheer of the night from the home fans who are happy to see the local lad doing well. Barnes refuses to celebrate, and the crowd don’t just applaud him. They start to chant “Barnes will tear you apart, again”. Harvey, reciprocal of the support, even applauds the Leicester fans. It’s nice to see a former player so loved and respected at his former club. It shows you that, even in the modern age of transfer greed, you can do it the right way. Take heed rats like Anthony Gordon.  

 

 

There’s a huge exodus after the third goal goes in. I assume they’re going for a half time beer but some of them don’t come back. The attendance, already somewhat poor for the league, starts to look very patchy. At half time, Newcastle lead 3-0 and the game is basically over. The Toon barely come out for the second half and merely contain Leicester. Newcastle have the luxury of resting their star players. Many of whom don’t last an hour.  

 

The second half contains little joy for Leicester either. Apart from barracking time-wasting, injury feigning performances from Bruno Guimaraes (“get up, you tosser”) and Sandro Tonali. The crowd starts to properly empty out around 70’ with the Newcastle fans gleefully pointing out the sheepish home support’s reluctance to stay until the final whistle. One lad, who walked past us, said “enjoy the rest of night lads, if you can”.  

All that’s left is a final 10’ performance from Leicester that arguably deserved a goal as they went more on the front foot. 15-year-old right wing substitute Jeremy Monga was the catalyst for much of this and he’s a name to watch out for.  Based on this debut performance, he’ll be a bright spark in Leicester’s campaign next season.  

 

FULL TIME: LEICESTER 0 NEWCASTLE 3 

 

 

We leave as the Newcastle supporters, enjoying their evening over in the far corner, are told one of the supporter coaches has caught fire. The travelling supporters promised alternative transportation. Surprisingly, thanks to the M1, the journey only takes 3h24m. Making this one of Newcastle’s easier away games. Our journey home is made easier by Maria picking us up in Leicester. It’s then an hour back to the house. I’m asleep by midnight.  

 

ATMOSPHERE: 

It was certainly good and only somewhat tainted by Leicester’s horrible form. That’s eight straight home defeats, a new Premier League record. Newcastle were also in good voice. Nothing blow away by the standards of the league here but good stuff all round. ***½ 

 

COST: 

£57 is the most I’ve ever paid to watch a league game. I don’t think you get good value for money in the Premier League at the best of times, but chances are you’ll get a better game at the King Power next season for about half that price. ** 

 

QUALITY: 

The game was dead after the first 30:00 where Newcastle killed it off. The late appearance of Jeremy Monga threatened to make for an exciting finale, but it didn’t happen. **½ 

 

EASE OF ACCESS: 

It’s about 30 minutes walk from Leicester’s train station to the ground. Just over a mile. It’s a pleasant city too with plenty of potential boozers to grab a pre-match pint in. ***½ 

 

MISC: 

It’s a good concourse and I appreciate the efforts to make the ground look less boring. There’s no escaping the ground being a dull new build though. Cookie cutter, bowl. ** 

 

OVERALL: 13.5 

Up there with Southampton for blandest new ground in the top flight. Both coincidentally getting relegated this season. The much better Brammall Lane, Turf Moor and Elland Road on the line up to replace them. St Mary’s is definitely worse than this and I prefer the King Power to West Ham, because you’re closer to the pitch, and Tottenham. So, at least it’s not a total disaster. An underwhelming ground though for an underwhelming 2024-25 Leicester team.  

 

On going to this ground, I am now on 56/92. 60% complete. I’ve also seen football in 33/48 counties.