10 years as City’s Number 1
Keeper looks back on decade at Foxes
LEICESTER City goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel has outlined the “appeal” the club now possesses after a decade of development, writes Amie Wilson.
The Danish international signed 10 years ago and has certainly been through a lot in that time.
Schmeichel joined in 2011, with former England manager SvenGoran Eriksson in charge. He has since gone on to win the Championship, Premier League and FA Cup, as well as playing in the Champions League and Europa League.
“I joined in the Championship and it was a side that had just been taken over and I think the world had seen so many takeovers by rich owners. They might not have known what we’d be getting here,” he told the club’s official website.
“Obviously, the chairman did everything for us and has brought us to this day where we sit here, 10 years later, and we’ve won the Premier League, won the FA Cup and we have great opportunities in every single competition we enter. We’re sitting in this amazing training ground which was built as well.
“The club just keeps progressing and that’s part of the appeal of Leicester City. Why I love being here is because we’re a club which is in constant evolution. We’re always trying to get better.
“The perception from the outside world, I think, is that we’re a club going in the right direction and one that has been for a long time. It’s important that it’s not just a rich owner coming in for a couple of years… it’s sustained. There’s been investment but money is being invested into the future of the club.”
In the past 10 years, City have developed from a Championship club to a club who have finished in fifth place in the Premier League for the past two seasons under Brendan Rodgers.
And Schmeichel says the arrival of the Northern Irishman two-and-ahalf years ago has taken City to the next level.
“If you’re on the outside looking in on Leicester, we have probably the best training ground in the country now,” he said.
“We have one of the best managers in the world. We have an exciting squad too. We have everything going for us to be successful. It’s a great place to be. It’s somewhere I really enjoy being.
“Brendan coming in, I think, has lifted it to a level it’d never been before.
“He brought a level of playing and professionalism which demands everything. It’s all brought us to a place where we can compete. I think that’s always going to be really, really difficult in this league, with the money and resources at the disposal of other teams, but for us to be consistently competing is really, really important.”
KEEPER LOOKS BACK ON DECADE AS CITY NUMBER 1