CITY’S FA CUP FINALS
Leicester City 0 Tottenham Hotspur 2 Attendance: 100,000. Leicester City team: Banks, Chalmers, Norman, McLintock, King, Appleton, Riley, Walsh (captain), McIlmoyle, Keyworth, Cheesebrough.
IN 1961, Leicester City reached their second FA Cup final, this time against league champions Tottenham Hotspur, writes Leicester City FC historian John Hutchinson.
Leicester played in nine matches on their way to Wembley. These included replays against Birmingham City and Barnsley and two replays against Sheffield United in an epic semi-final.
On the eve of the final, Wales international centre-forward Ken Leek, who had scored in every round leading to Wembley, was sensationally dropped by Leicester’s manager Matt Gillies.
A persisting urban myth is that the page in the directors’ minutes explaining Leek’s omission has been removed. This is totally untrue. There are no pages missing, but there is no mention of the reasons for dropping Leek, either.
Young reserve centre-forward Hughie McIlmoyle played instead of Leek.
Eighteen minutes into the final, Leicester City full-back Len Chalmers was seriously injured.
There were no substitutes in those days so City had to reorganise with a crippled Chalmers hobbling on the wing.
Leicester City held out until the 69th minute when England centre-forward Bobby Smith scored. Seven minutes later, Terry Dyson beat Gordon Banks to add a second.
As league champions, Spurs qualified for the European Cup.
Their place in the European Cup Winners’ Cup was therefore awarded to losing finalists Leicester City, who had finished sixth in the league.