WES MORGAN LIVE AT THE KING POWER STADIUM 2021
TICKETS AVAILABLE HERE
Every football fan in the country remembers the fearless foxes of 2016. The incredible story of Leicester City defying the odds and winning the Premier League.
It was a moment like no other as the Foxes brought exciting football back to the top division of English football and dominated the entire year picking up win after win and not letting the momentum fade.
It was a modern day football success story that many believed was impossible in the modern era – Leicester had only just been promoted into the top flight after winning the championship in 2014, for a team to not only survive, but to go on and win the league was thought to be a thing of the past – but Leicester proved themselves and gave the world the greatest sporting story of the 21st century.
The season before was Leicester's first back in the Premier league after promotion and
Leicester City struggled at first in the Premier League, the team was built on Championship experience and they found themselves in a relegation battle during the year. This was where the ‘Fearless Foxes’ began. The boys dug deep – the Championship is a hard league and the teams there are used to high competition, the pressure of play-offs and how a loss of a couple of points means a slide down the league. The team spirit started and Leicester battled their way out of trouble.
At the start of the 2015/16 season the team were tipped for relegation once again, no one believed that they would continue the energy and the fight in the new year – and the odds of 5000 -1 to win the league were deemed ridiculous for all but the most die-hard Leicester fans
Their incredible team spirit, respect within the club from top to bottom and never say die attitude – Leicester City won the league, the nations hearts and the nickname ‘The Fearless Foxes’
Throughout this legendary season, one man helped steady the ship and guide Leicester to Premier League glory. Whilst a lot of the headlines went to Jamie Vardy’s record breaking goal tally, the guidance and experience of Claudio Ranieri and the emergence of Kasper Schmeichel as one of the finest goalkeepers in the country, a lot of the plaudits and respect has to go to the man who captained the team throughout the campaign, a man who became only the third outfield player to play every minute of a title winning season. The Major Oak himself Wes Morgan
The Captain of a football team is the representation of the ethos and spirit of the club. A man who represents the team, motivates them, congratulates them and drives them towards glory.
Wes Morgan was a stalwart throughout the 2016 Season – leading his team to glory from the heart of the defence, continuing to push Leicester City forward to the dazzling heights of the Premier League, coming up against the world class ‘big teams’ of England and the greatest players in the world. Which is all the more impressive when up until 2 years before he had been solely playing the championship.
Wes Morgan as Captain never let the belief die, always took care of the team, respected the club and the fans and never took the limelight from the rest of the squad.
Claudio Ranieri said about him ”He is a big gentle bear who looks after all the lads. He does not speak so much but when he does speak, everybody listens. He is the perfect captain. I never knew anything about him before I came here. But I watched all the matches, I watched how solid, strong and intelligent he was”
It was this season that lead Wes Morgan to one of the nations favourite athlete sponsorship deals. The Captain Morgan rum deal. In which 11 thousand bottles of Captain Morgan’s rum were designed with Wes Morgan in the Leicester blue coloured pirate suit. The terms and conditions of this deal required Wes to be able to buy everyone in a bar a rum and coke, hold his arms into the shape of a Y and shout ‘there’s only one Captain Morgan’ and he was legally obliged to dress as pirate captain Wes at any fancy dress party he attended or when the opportunity arose
Wes Tweeted "I'm delighted to be a brand ambassador for Captain Morgan. I think this just might be the best contract ever.”
Nottingham Forest
Wes was born and bred in Nottingham Wes Morgan started his senior career with his home town club Nottingham Forest in 2002 where he stayed until signing for East Midlands rivals Leicester City in 2012
Morgan worked his way to becoming a first team regular and in 2007-2008 at the age of 23, he helped Forest finish second in the league and gain promotion into the championship. Wes only missed 4 games that season and helped Forest keep 24 clean sheets.
Morgan continued to graft for Nottingham and in 2011 on his 400th appearance he was rewarded with the club captaincy
It was in Nottingham that he eared the nickname ‘the Major Oak’ – one of Nottingham's iconic monuments, that has stood firm and weathered the test of time. Having Wes in defence was the same as having the tree (said to be Robin Hood's hideout) blocking the path of oncoming strikers
Leicester City
On 30th January 2012 Wes Morgan signed for Leicester City for a rumoured fee of £1 million. Which stands as one of the greatest bargains in football history
Wes said about joining Leicester
“What was happening at Leicester, with the new owners and what they wanted to achieve, as soon as I heard they were interested, it was something I wanted to make happen, so that’s where it all began. It’s never easy settling into a new club, but I felt right at home.
“The boys were very welcoming and I hit the ground running. It didn’t take me long to get into the team and I thought I performed well. I imposed myself on the team and the changing room. Nigel, who was the manager at the time, he saw something in me and, come the new season, he made me the captain.”
Captaincy came naturally to Wes Morgan
The FA Cup
After the glory of winning the Premier League Leicester City continued to grow as a competitive club in England and regularly finished in the top half of the table, including back to back 5th place finishes in 2020 and 2021.
It was the 2021 FA Cup final that the old Leicester magic reappeared. The foxes had never won the FA Cup having reached the final 4 times previously, and this time they faced a revitalised Chelsea who would go on to become the Champions League winners.
Wes Morgan had hardly featured for Leicester throughout the season – but with the team 1-0 up he was brought on with just 8 minutes to go, a mark of respect for the former captain, who would go on to claim a winners medal and was allowed to lift the trophy with current captain Kasper Schmiechel.
Morgan announced his retirement after the game – making the FA Cup win a fitting end to a glorious career
The Premier League has had its share of iconic Captain’s who have carved their name into history. Bryan Robson and Roy Keane at Manchester United, John Terry at Chelsea, Alan Shearer at Newcastle, Steven Gerrard at Liverpool – Wes Morgan at Leicester deserves his place on the list of great Premier League Captains for what will echo in history as one of the greatest sporting stories of all time
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