King keen to take part in another blue title fairytale
ANDY KING was one of the main protagonists in the fairytale of Leicester City’s title triumph. Now he wants to be central to another remarkable story and help Rangers clinch their own historic top-flight success this term.
The 30-year-old has his place in Foxes folklore after Claudio Ranieri’s side upset the odds and became legends three seasons ago.
Since then, his fortunes have been rather different at the King Power Stadium and he has had fewer chances to add to his tally as Leicester’s all-time top midfield scorer.
The memor ies of that extraordinary campaign are still fresh in the mind and the experience will stand King in good stead as Rangers bid for Premiership success.
“There’s so much you could take from it,” King said. “You’ve heard of all the stuff; it was 5,000-1, anything is achievable if you work hard, stuff like that.
“It’s more that, if the team stick together and everyone is pulling in the right direction, and you get on a good run, anything can happen. We showed that more than anything.
“One of the major pulls in coming here was that you have a chance to win trophies. We will hopefully be competing in four different competitions come the end of the month. It would be brilliant to try and come here and win something. That’s definitely the aim.
“We know the history of the last few years when Celtic have had a strong hold of it. But I feel like, with the size of the club and the manager and the players we have in that changing room, there is no reason why that can’t change this season.
“It would be massive. It’s been going Celtic’s way the last few years and they have had a really strong team so I don’t want to think too far ahead. I just want to get fit, get in the team and try to help them as much as possible and see where it takes us. I believe that, with the squad we have got here, we can have a really good season.”
King arrives at Ibrox with his Leicester legacy already secured and now he has the chance to become a hero to the Light Blue legions.
Rangers have their sights set on a 55th league flag and the newest member of Gerrard’s squad is fully aware of the significance of the aim as the club emerges from the most turbulent period in their illustrious history.
King said: “It’s hard to live in Glasgow and not be made aware of it. I have only been here 24 hours and I have been told about it quite a few times. So I’m fully aware of that. It’s down to us as players to try to change that. We’ll have to take it one game at a time and see what happens.
“The news of Rangers having to drop right the way down sent waves through the whole footballing world. It wasn’t just up here.
“It’s such a big club. We have watched them come back slowly and gradually and I really believe that we are getting to a level now where we can compete at the top again.
“It’s not a dissimilar story [to Leicester]. We had to drop down to League One and then came all the way back up and eventually won the league.
“They are looking to try and break into the European places again this season. So it’s not dissimilar but I’m just focused on playing here now and kick-starting my career.”
King is the only player to have won the top three divisions in England with the same club and a fourth title win this term would be another significant honour to add to his record.
He achieved the ultimate goal and completed his own incredible journey, but he is as determined and as motivated as he was during his League One days.
King said: “I was only young. And when you’re young, you don’t really see it like that. I knew what a good club Leicester were so I was just happy to be playing. It doesn’t matter if you are playing Hereford away... Stockport away...I think both of those are not even full-time teams anymore. But you don’t think of that. You just think of the team you are playing for and the league you are in. You are just happy to be a professional footballer. [I] have great memories from that season.
“It’s a nice feeling to have but I’m fully aware that, in football, you can’t dwell on things too much. As good as those moments are when you are winning stuff, it’s always about the future in football. What can you do next? How can you improve? What’s going to happen next season? How can I make myself better?
“So you don’t really have the time to look back and think about stuff like that. That’s for when you are finished.
“At the moment, I still have a lot to give so I am more worried about looking forward than back.”
As good as those moments are when you are winning stuff, it’s always about the future in football. So you don’t have time to look back