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To replace a special goalscorer and pivotal striker is not easy. The job to find the successor for Jamie Vardy will be very difficult. He has been the primary attacking option for so long. This will also be a very difficult job for anyone who comes in. Looking back and in the past, Leicester have struggled to find that man straight after such a departure.
We have taken a trip far back down memory lane. We start by remembering those special men up front. Looking at how Leicester made their next move to find what they had either sold, released, or let go in some other way.
Leicester established a team to bring home a runners-up position in the first division back in 1928-29. This team had three fantastic goalscorers. Johnny Duncan and Arthur Chandler were two to knew how to score goals. Chandler scored 259 goals in 393 league games. Chandler had reached the age of 39 before moving on. Duncan scored 88 goals in 279 league games. Duncan joined at the age of 27 and when he left he was 34. Leicester decided to sack him. They did not let him run a pub business on the side. He later returned to the club and became their manager. He took them all the way to the FA Cup final in 1949. He also signed a very special player for Leicester, Don Revie.
Leicester had a third major goalscorer in that 1928-29 team, Ernie Hine. Hine scored 149 goals in his 247 league games for Leicester. So they were a force as they hammered in goals for Leicester. Hine left the club at the age of 31. These three players scored a total of 496 league goals. Their time became a great period. Being such great heroes, they slided with the team. History repeats itself as Leicester are relegated in 1934-35, having been in the top flight since 1925-26.
Johnny Duncan departed in 1930. Ernie Hine left the club in 1932. Arthur Chandler becomes the one to count on for the remaining top flight seasons. However, he is also gone when Leicester finally find themselves relegated.
The struggle to find their successors becomes difficult. Leicester then struggles to establish themselves in the top flight for almost 25 years. They are promoted at one point, but then fall out one or two seasons after. In this era, Leicester manages to bring in a tremendous goalscorer, Arthur Rowley. He breaks goalscoring records every season. However, his massive goalscoring run is most seen outside the top flight.
Matt Gilles is the manager of the next great era at Leicester. This spends from 1957 to 1969, when again different sircumstances leads to a fall. He calls on a number of different players to lead his forward line. When reaching the 1961 FA Cup final Jimmy Walsh is the man up front. He is in his 30’s. He leads the line in those first years. In 1964, he leaves the professional game and moves on.
Matt Gilles had a good eye to spot players. He was able to close gaps after his top forwards left. He kept his teams floating without falling down in relegations. Ken Keyworth became the next player to call on. Keyworth joined Leicester from Rotherham in 1958. He played at the club until 1964. During the 1962-63 season, he scored 27 goals. That season ended in a defeated FA Cup final and finishing 4th in the league. Keyworth completed the next season with 16 goals, helping Leicester to that special League Cup win. He was 30 years of age when moving on.
Matt Gillies had a special eye on finding talent. The had ability to be slotted in. He replaced Ken Keyworth with Jimmy Goodfellow. Jimmy came down from Scotland playing for demolished Third Lanark. Goodfellow finished the 1964-65 season with 17 league goals. He also helped Leicester to a new League Cup final. Sadly, his goals in the two games, were not enough to defeat Chelsea.
Derek Dougan came in from Peterborough to be play his part for a season. He scored 20 goals in his first season, then sold to Wolves a few months later. Leicester called on Frank Large as they finished 13th in the 1967-68 season. Large was shortly after replaced by Allan Clarke, joining from Fulham for a new English record transfer fee. Leicester paid Fulham £150.000 for Clarke’s services. Manager Matt Gillies left the club during that 1968-69 season. Frank O’Farrell replaced him. The Irishman had no luck and a relegation happened, despite having reached the FA Cup final in the same season.
Allan Clarke was a gifted player. He scored 16 goals in his single season at Leicester. In 1969, he was sold for a new record fee of £165,000. He joined Leeds as their manager. Don Revie, the former Leicester great, had set his eyes on this young special forward. There were some highly talented players in that Leicester team. They later became solid in the top flight with Leicester. They also played together for England. David Nish, Allan Clarke and Peter Shilton took that step up to become full internationals.
Frank O’Farrell used a couple of season to get Leicester back up in the top flight. He did not have a special striker, but reiled on Alistair Brown as his top man. Having long servant Mike Stringfellow and robust alternative Rodney Fern to call on. They scored enough goals to get Leicester up. However, they did not have enough power and flair. They also lacked the quality needed to ensure Leicester was a steady performer at the highest level.
Jimmy Bloomfield, who had taken over from Frank O’Farrell, left to take the vacant manager position at Man Utd. He had his priorities and thoughts about changing Leicester to a more entertaining side. He was able to convince Frank Worthington to join. This was a masterstroke from Bloomfield, paying £90.000 to Huddersfield, after Worthington had failed a medical at Liverpool. He became the top forward in England and two years later being the target man for England.
When Jimmy Bloomfield left the club in 1977 and Frank McLintock became the new manager. We all thought it would be a progress involving all the best players that were at the club. Some had come to a certain age. Frank Worthington was still not more than 28 years old. We could see in his future that he had a great number of years left in the game. McLintock made a decision to let Frank Worthington leave, joing Bolton on a tier below. Then it all went into a meltdown. Weller, Birchenall, Sammels and Alderson were all first team players, who had set their minds on leaving. They all had allready agreed deals to join clubs in NASL.
McLintock lost control. The money available was spent on players not aligned with the type of play established under Bloomfield. Despite spending heavy on Roger Davies, joining from Brugge, he had difficulties in adapting. Then Leicester’s next big man up front with a bit of sting was Alan Young. Young joined from Oldham. He helped Leicester return to the top flight, scoring 15 goals in that 1979-80 season. This achievement won promotion back to the old 1st division. Young and Leicester struggled to gain momentum the season after. When Jock Wallace left the club, Gordon Milne had a young Gary Lineker to field. As a result, Alan Young was sold on and joined Sheffield United.
Gary Lineker became a phenomenon. He scored goals to get Leicester back up to the top flight. He also helped Leicester survive seasons after. He had made his England debut before leaving Leicester in 1985, joining Everton for a record sales fee of £1million. Lineker wanted a move. Then a young talented forward from Port Vale was signed. Mark Bright was later to become a Crystal Palace and Sheffield Wednesday top flight player. Leicester had Alan Smith at the time. Yet, in some way, the partnership never really clicked. Leicester struggled. They sold both their two top forwards. The club had to again feel the life of second tier football for a long period of time.
A GOAT-like half 😎#LEIIPS pic.twitter.com/CCgNOV1YGR
— Leicester City (@LCFC) May 18, 2025
Leicester managed to get back up again in 1993-94, having a young player up front taking steps. Julian Joachim was not the tallest. However, his goalscoring and fantastic pace made him the one to trust for Brian Little. This trust brought Leicester to the Premier League for the first time.
Leicester did not have a team to sustain their position at the top. Additionally, they had to watch Brian Little leave as he was approached by Aston Villa. They also agreed to sell Julian Joachim to Villa. A very young Emile Heskey made his debut for Leicester in that first Premier League season. He was still a raw diamond and had not yet fully blossomed. He got one first team call.
Emile Heskey became a very special player. Martin O’Neill gave him an important role from the first day of his arrival. He established himself as one of the finest young forwards in English football at the time. He was sold to Liverpool just days after winning the EFL Cup final, and being partnered with Stan Collymore. A very strange happening at the club, not building on that brilliant attacking force being established.
Emile Heskey moved and a few weeks later Stan Collymore broke his leg. The dream team up front suddenly broke down. Martin O’Neill saw this and had ideas of leaving the club. He wanted to get new challenges elsewhere. Peter Taylor arrived with no top flight experience. He brought in players from lower tiers to try to fill the gap. He made major flop signings in Ade Akinbiyi, Trevor Benjamin, and James Scowcroft. None of them were capable of filling the gaps after Stan Collymore and Emile Heskey. Leicester still had Tony Cottee available, who also had a great eye for goalscoring. Despite this, Peter Taylor decided to let the experienced forward leave on a free. He had no idea how to find a solid established forward line to score enough goals. Italian top forward Roberto Mancini became an emergency loan signing from Lazio. He moved on after just 4 league games. Becoming a manager of Fiorentina.
Leicester had since the days of Peter Taylor drifted into a heavy decline. Administration and financial difficulties became the next fase. There was no real striking force. Matty Fryatt and Paul Dickov were pivotal players at lower levels with Leicester. However, they never experienced any long period of time in the top flight with the club.
The striker partnership of David Nugent and Jamie Vardy was established by Nigel Pearson. It became something that built momentum at the highest level 13 years ago. Jamie Vardy took on the role. He pushed the buttons and also built a great relationship with his next partner, Shinji Okazaki. Claudio Ranieri must be blamed for his strange unbelief in continuing this. The duo took Leicester to a remarkable Premier League title. Instead he brought in Islam Slimani for a record fee of £28million to challenge Jamie Vardy. They were never a duo and Slimani became a sub, and later loaned out to other clubs. This was in no way worthy of a player seeing himself as the top striker when joining from Sporting Lisbon.
Leicester had also earlier signed Leo Ulloa from Brighton. He was meant to compete with Vardy or partner with him. They sometimes fielded JV9 on the flank. George Hirst, who played up front for Ipswich today, was at a time also valued highly by Leicester. During that first season back in the top flight under Nigel Pearson, Andrej Kramaric joined the team. He later became a World Cup finalist with Croatia. He left Leicester and has since had a good and solid career up front at Hoffenheim in the German Bundesliga.
Leicester managers has during JV9’s years at Leicester, signed up other forwards. Kelechi Iheanacho, Patson Daka and Tom Cannon are three players. They have arrived for major transfer fees. They aim to either challenge Jamie Vardy or serve as covers if he becomes unavailable.
Leicester are relegated this season. We all know that a new top forward is needed. Looking back what do we learn from this. To find a new top striker at this club, it normally does not involve a heavy transfer fee. Allan Clarke is the only forward sigend for a record major transfer fee, to actually take himself to a higher level.
Emile Heskey, Gary Lineker and Julian Joachim came from own ranks. Jamie Vardy came from non-league. Stan Collymore arrived on a free, the same did David Nugent. Matty Fryatt was not signed for much, coming in from lower tiers, being with Walsall.
Leicester at this point only have Patson Daka to call on. They might have Jordan Ayew. However, neither of them seems likely to score the number of goals needed to be seen as that top forward alternative. Patson Daka has been given opportunities but seldom set his chances in the way we would see a top striker do. Jordan Ayew has a good touch, but lack that pace to be fast enough in certain situations.
We have made suggestions about certain players, but would it be likely that the answer is a massive surprise. Could it be, Josh King, Nathan Opuku or Riley Carr. These three are all special wild cards currently on the books at the club. Leicester could also decide to play Kasey McAteer in this role. He has an eye for a goal. He also has loads of pace.
Spending heavily or signing many players to fill this role after Jamie Vardy seems unwise. This is especially true if you consider historical outcomes.
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