In Big Nige We Trust

Leicester City: Liked? 

I was walking through the Kiev Fans Zone in my Leicester shirt. I was pretty hanging, I was tired and the prospect of watching the Greece - Russia game on a big screen was about as appealing as being stuck in a lift with Sam Allardyce. We'd only come to the Fans Zone out of habit and I was looking forward to giving my liver a well-deserved rest.

A Swedish accent shouted: "Pontus Kåmark!" I must have misheard, so I carried on walking. Then, the Swede grabbed me and pointed to the City crest. "Hey, Leester City. We love Pontus Kåmark."  The guy told me that Pontus was now carving out a career as TV pundit in Sweden and, as he had been a successful export to the Premier League (more successful than that famous pie-eater, Thomas Brolin, anyway), he was well-liked. By extension, Leicester City were also moderately popular in that part of Scandinavia.

One of his mates chipped in that he was fans of Karlstadt and then waited for a reaction. "Oh, okay." I tried, not having a f*cking clue what he wanted me to say. "George Taft. George Taft. We've been drinking in Karlstad with Taft." Then I remembered vaguely that Taft had been loaned to a Swedish club. It was interesting that none of them mentioned the Beckham-adoring lothario, Sven Goran-Erikkson, arguably the most famous link between Leicester and Sweden. Instead, it was an Academy prospect and one of MON's most reliable acquisitions that had forged links across the North Sea (and ended up with me causing my long-suffering liver yet more harm).

It was nice, and pretty unexpected, that my Leicester shirt was met with something other than complete indifference in Ukraine, but what about fans of English clubs? I've always assumed Leicester were not well-liked by fellow Brits. Even under the glory years of MON, we were seen as offering substance over style. Few fans or pundits gave a toss when we were relegated under Dave Bassett, seeing the Championship (or lower) as our rightful place in the World. Opposition managers begrudged our victories over their teams. Most memorably, when we defended like Trojans to knock Arsenal out of the FA Cup in January, 2000 (see below) Wenger said: "They didn't really try to come out, they just tried to defend. They are very confident to take penalties, maybe, but it was a strange game. It was not a good game at all. I'm happy that you do not see this kind of game,ever, in England."

It was a pleasant surprise, then, that my Leicester shirt met with such comments as: 

"I've always thought Leicester are one of the clubs who are gonna come back up to the Prem, sooner or later." (from a Bradford City fan).  

"Filbert Street was such a classic old school ground, we always loved going there. Why the f*ck did you move to that flat-pack arena?" (from a Chelsea fan). 

"Oh, I love that shirt. Whenever I think of the  classic years of the Premier League, I always see Leicester in that shirt." (from a Torquay fan, when I was in this classic: ) 

I met a guy in the Donbass in Donetsk, who was trying to offload a few tickets for the Ukraine match, and he was telling me that he'd come out to Ukraine on his own, as his mates had let him down. He'd been a bit nervous about doing this, but (before I told him I was a City fan) he said he'd met up with a group of Leicester fans (about 50 of them) who'd kind of taken him under their wing and seen him right. "Great lads, they are, great lads. They always bring a big contingent when England go away." He was a Southampton fan. " Oh, you'll do it." He said, when I told him who I supported. "I was at the Walkers' last year for that 3-2. And the game at Saint Mary's. Pissed me off! But, you probably just about deserved those wins."

The same day (before a solid 1-1 opener against the French) we'd been to the Golden Lion "England Fans' Pub" in the heart of Donetsk. A see of red roses, drunken English fans in beer-soaked knights' costumes and row upon row of the cross of Saint George greeted my arrival. One flag caught my eye, reminding me of many a cold night at the Walkers and proudly outshining the C**entry City flag next to it: