Well, this will be a brief one.
Apart from occasionally using the place to change trains, I have been to Leicester only once. A dismal League Cup match in September 1995 (we lost 2-0 and I shouted at Gary Parkinson) provided the opportunity for my single visit to Filbert Street. Of course, even that experience counts for nothing, as Leicester don't play there any more. They will be starting 2002/03 in the grand surroundings of the Walker's Bowl of Crisps. Shame they got relegated and are having to give their team away, really. Didn't we pioneer the 'nice ground, shame about the team' approach in the 70s?
Filbert Street was a funny ground, with one great big stand looking rather out of place amidst distinctly lower division surroundings, and a poor view from the away end. Now, we have a pure ground tick to look forward to. Wonder if it will be like all the other new grounds.
Even worse, from the point of view of this guide, than the fact that I've only been there once, is that when I went to Leicester, it being a night match, the journey was undertaken by car. Bizarrely, my driver was reluctant to spend all afternoon charging around between boozers, so I only got to two pubs. Oh well, for what it's worth, this is what they were.
I liked the Rainbow and Dove on Charles Street in the city centre. This was a one-roomed, plain but clean beer-drinkers' pub. Beers came from the Banks's / Cameron's range, amongst others. The landlord was ultra-friendly and chatty. But I confess that the real reason I liked this place was because I got a free pint. However friendly the chap behind the bar was, this wasn't deliberate. As I set about my pint of Cameron's Strongarm my driver requested a lager shandy. I know, but he did give me a lift. Yer man at the bar explained that he didn't stock any lager on tap (to keep the kids out, he explained, which also accounted for the lack of music and machines). He attempted to concoct something sacrilegious with bottled Czech pilsner, but the beer rightly resisted and frothed everywhere. After cleaning up the mess the landlord went to serve someone else, at which point it dawned on me that in his flap he'd forgotten to ask for payment for my pint. So naturally I drew it to his attention and did the decent thing? Err, no. I quickly moved away from the bar and savoured my free pint.
Sadly I tried this for four more pints but had to pay.
Oh well, I understand the pub is not what it was. Perhaps he went out of business having given away too many free pints.
Having taken advantage of the five pints for the price of four offer, we marched to the ground. With time to kill and the ground in sight, we dived into the Physio and Firkin on Aylestone Road, close to Leicester's penalty rugby ground. This was one of the better Firkin pubs, with decent beer and a good, unthreatening atmosphere, but that's seven years ago, so lord knows what it's like now. Most of these have now been 're-branded' as something else. Beer is not guaranteed.
And that's as far as my experience takes me. I'm reduced to padding out the guide by pointing you in the direction of the city's Wetherspoon's pubs. There are two in the centre - the High Cross on the High Street and the Last Plantagenet on Granby Street. There's doubtless a Hogshead in the centre too.
This guide is admittedly inadequate, but the Leicester branch of the Campaign for Real Ale has a pretty decent site - although where are the links? You can, however, send them a report on any pubs you visit. The main local brewer is Everard's. You should hope to get a pint of Tiger. Belvoir and Hoskins are also worth seeking out. Leicester pub crawl websites seem pretty few and far between, but this site, although not about real ale, is quite fun.
Leicester has a bit of a reputation for being dicey, and they certainly have their nutters - like we do. Someone threw a bottle at me as I walked towards the away end (it missed) and it was quite tense after the match. Someone also warned us against walking across Nelson Mandela Park near the ground.
The new ground is apparently close to Filbert Street. As it opens at the start of the 2002/03 season, there's little information about it on the various fans' guide / ground guide sites. You could walk to Filbert Street from the station, so presumably you should be able to do the same here. You can find out more about the new ground on the curiously familiar official Leicester City site.
The city of Leicester is well known for having an ethnically diverse community. So from a practical point of view, good food. The city's most famous son is probably Simon de Montfort, who forced Henry III to convene the first English Parliament in 1265. Cardinal Wolsey died here too. So now you know. For the culturally inclined, the Leicestershire Museum and Art Gallery on New Walk apparently boasts paintings by Walter Sickert and Stanley Spencer.
A much better guide will follow after our visit to the new ground, which is a lot of use to you now.
