There are not many things that come from Portsmouth that are thought of with love and affection by Leicester fans.
If Milan Mandaric invests in Leicester then he might be, but he wasn’t really born and bred in Portsmouth. For 100% affection there is only one man from Portsmouth that all Leicester fans love?Steve Claridge.
Steve Claridge scored arguably the two most important goals in Leicester`s history. The first saw Leicester beat Crystal Palace in the 1996 Play Off final to reach the Premiership and the second one being the goal at Hillsborough which saw Leicester beat Middlesbrough to win the League Cup.
This alone would have given Claridge hero status amongst the legions of Leicester City fans, but it was also has appearance and commitment that made him a favourite with the fans
Claridge may not have looked like your typical centre forward, with his socks rolled down to his ankles and shin pad sticking out, but he always seemed to find space in the area and have the knack of being in the right place at the right time. In his time at Leicester he featured in 63 league games and managed to score 17 goals.
Although Leicester may not be Claridge’s favourite club he still holds an affection for the fans and this was shown when Claridge returned to the Walkers Stadium whilst playing for Milwall in the 2002/03 season.
The game was a lively encounter due to another old boy in the form of Dennis Wise returning to the club for the first time since he had been sacked. Claridge showed his respect for the Leicester fans in the very first minute.
Within 60 seconds of the game kicking off the Leicester defence had gone to sleep and Claridge was left a simple tap in from a couple of feet, but rather then wheel away celebrating the goal he simple stood in front of the Leicester fans and shrugged his shoulders, as if to say ‘What else could I do?`
Leicester went on to win the game 4-1 and the City fans showed their appreciation towards Claridge by singing his name throughout the game.
