Supporting the Foxes

Len drove me to King Power Stadium in Leicester where I was to meet Alec and Alison, to catch one of the 50 coaches that had been ordered to transport Leicester City supporters to Wembley for the Community Shield meeting.

The Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is co-sponsored by the FA and MacDonalds. The winning team of the FA cup (Manchester United) meets the winners of the Premier League (Leicester City).

Jamie Vardy's blue Bentley was parked in the car park, as was one of the new BMWs handed out to players by the club owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha.

We arrived at Wembley about midday, which meant a four hour wait until kick-off.  Although pubs in the area are designated for supporters of opposing teams, there is a dearth of places to go and sit and take tea or coffee. So I spent the next 3 hours sitting on a concrete circle to eat my Scotch eggs etc. George, who we had met on arrival, didn't seem inclined to go searching for somewhere suitable. I was told, 'this is football,' with the intimation that I just had to put up with it. I think Alec treated his Mum a bit better, perhaps because she'd been to Wembley before and knew where to go.

LCFC supporters were placed at the eastern, sunny end of the stadium. I watched the shadow creep across the pitch during the match. Fortunately, Alison had brought factor 50 sun cream with her.

Each LCFC supporter received a plastic carrier, a cardboard clapper - which I found very useful, and a large commemorative t-shirt. We were asked to stand and display the coloured sides of our bags as the teams came on to the ground.

Two big ladies sat in front of me who I could not see through. I cannot, for the life of me, understand why spectators can't sit down from time to time at a football match. This meant that I was on my feet for the entire game. Glad I was wearing comfy shoes and loose clothes. I must remind myself to buy a baseball cap with a long peak.

Foxes supporters tried hard, with frequent chants of 'Championes,' and 'Ranieri,' but the atmosphere just wasn't the same as a home game. Neither could I follow the action that well. By some fluke, I think this photo shows Vardy heading the ball. That huge figure on the left is Ibrahamovitch, who scored the winning goal for Man U. I'll tell you why. He's big, so he can reach higher than Wes Morgan and he has no compunctions about charging through. He also seems to have a strategy of standing permanently offside waiting for a ball to come his way. He got caught offside a couple of times and as the reports say, he doesn't touch the ball much.

As for Jose Mourinho's remark that probably the groundsmen didn't water the pitch at half time, I can assure him that they did. I even have photos to prove it.

So disappointment for Leicester supporters as they made their way back to the coaches. It took almost two hours to leave the stadium area and a bit longer to get on to the M1.

Len picked George and me up from King Power Stadium but was too distressed by pain to drive any further. George drove to his house where I took over for the leg to Shepshed. Home after 11 pm