Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
WEMBLEY FATE FOR CLARIDGE
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Leicester City Parker 76 pen, Claridge 120 Roberts 14 BY MATT BOZEAT STEVE CLARIDGE played 1,000-plus games – and reckons that he had one supremely perfect moment.
“It was fate,” he said of the strike that sent Leicester into the Premier League in May 1996 – and broke Crystal Palace hearts in the First Division Play-off Final.
“It all came together at that split second – and it changed my life.“
Eight weeks earlier, Leicester had not looked to even have a sniff of promotion. They were struggling for form and boasted a striker who could not hit a barn door.
Claridge said: “I hadn’t scored for 15 games. I had no energy. I remember running down the tunnel and by the time I reached the centre circle I was ready to keel over. I had pins and needles so bad I couldn’t feel the ball.
“I went to see the doctor and it turned out my thyroid gland had packed in. I was running on empty.”
With eight regular-season games left, Foxes boss Martin O’Neill wanted to leave Claridge out of the side heading to Charlton.
“I said, ‘Let me play’,” he recalled. “I had been taking tablets and felt better than I’d felt for the last four months. I had energy. I bent one in the corner from 15 yards in a 1-0 win and that was the catalyst.”
Leicester went on to reach the play-off final where they fell behind early to Andy Roberts’s daisy cutter. Garry Parker levelled in normal time and, with a penalty shoot-out seconds away in extra-time it was Parker’s decision to ignore Claridge that led to the winner.
“I got fouled and I told Parks to let me get in the box before he took the free-kick,” said Claridge.
“Parks being Parks, he didn’t listen and took it as I was making my way into the box. As the ball popped out I was like a midfielder waiting on the edge of the box.“
Claridge swung his right leg at the ball – and Wembley froze. Where was it going?
Into the top corner – and Leicester were up. Eleven months later, Claridge scored the winner in the League Cup final against Middlesbrough, securing Leicester’s first silverware for 33 years.
“Nothing compares to the play-off final,” he said. “The repercussions of that game were life-changing.”
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