2008–09 Leicester City F.C. season


The 2008–09 season was Leicester City F.C.'s 104th season in the English football league system and their first and, to date, only season in the third tier of English football, after being relegated to League One the previous season.
Under the stewardship of new manager Nigel Pearson, Leicester comfortably took the League One title to earn instant promotion back to the Championship, which included a club record run of 23 games league unbeaten between 1 November and 7 March. Leicester also broke club records for the most points ever gained in a season, the most league wins ever gained in a season and the fewest league defeats in a season, the latter record especially impressive considering the amount of league seasons Leicester have had to play fewer than 46 games.
Matty Fryatt also became the first Leicester player to score over 30 goals in one season since legendary striker Arthur Rowley, 52 years previously.

Players

2008-09 squad

Kit and sponsorship

Leicester City retained the previous season's home kit. A yellow away kit and a black third kit were also used.
The kits were produced by German company Jako and sponsored by British company Topps Tiles.

Pre-Season Friendlies

The Leicester City players reported back for Pre-Season on 1 July 2008. They played the following Friendlies:

Transfers

In

Out

Loans in

Loans out

Results

[2008–09 [Football League One|Football League One]]

GameDateVenueOpponentsScoreScorersAttendancePointsPositionReport
19 August 2008HomeMilton Keynes Dons2–0Fryatt 24, 8323,35134th
216 August 2008AwayStockport County0–07,15143rd
323 August 2008HomeTranmere Rovers3–1Howard 33, Fryatt 52, 90+417,79872nd
430 August 2008AwayCheltenham Town4–0Dyer 3, 80, Oakley 54, Fryatt 775,344101st
513 September 2008HomeMillwall0–119,591106th
620 September 2008HomeLeyton Orient3–1Dyer 11, Fryatt 87, King 906,448135th
727 September 2008HomeHartlepool United1–0Oakley 318,578164th
830 September 2008AwayColchester United1–0Dyer 495,133191st
94 October 2008AwayHuddersfield Town3–2Fryatt 50, 65, Dyer 90+116,212221st
–11 October 2008HomeYeovil TownP–P1––––
1018 October 2008AwayOldham Athletic1–1Howard 548,901232nd
1121 October 2008HomeWalsall2–2King 34, Tunchev 7317,178243rd
1225 October 2008HomeNorthampton Town0–022,795254th
1328 October 2008AwayBrighton & Hove Albion2–3Fryatt 35, 426,282256th
141 November 2008HomeBristol Rovers2–1Fryatt 87, 90+418,941285th
1511 November 2008HomeYeovil Town1–0Dyer 2516,528311st
1615 November 2008AwaySwindon Town2–2Oakley 57, Fryatt 749,499322nd
1722 November 2008AwayScunthorpe United2–1Dyer 22, King 817,967351st
1825 November 2008HomeCrewe Alexandra2–1Fryatt 15, King 7216,961381st
196 December 2008HomeSouthend United3–0Fryatt 6, 76, 8016,836411st
2013 December 2008AwayCarlisle United2–1King 60, Berner 6927,058441st
2120 December 2008HomePeterborough United4–0O.G. 6, Fryatt 38, King 70, Howard 9023,390471st
2226 December 2008AwayLeeds United1–1Oakley 2433,580481st
2328 December 2008HomeHereford United2–1Howard 9, King 7122,920511st
2410 January 2009HomeLeyton Orient3–0Oakley 9, Davies 37, Dickov 8718,240541st
2519 January 2009AwayYeovil Town2–0Howard 57, Mattock 884,569571st
2624 January 2009HomeHuddersfield Town4–2Morrison 11, Berner 59, Fryatt 63, Hobbs 7321,311601st
2727 January 2009HomeBrighton & Hove Albion0–017,410611st
2831 January 2009AwayNorthampton Town2–1Howard 21, Dyer 737,028641st
293 February 2009AwayWalsall4–1Fryatt 12, King 34, Cleverley 47, Howard 525,634671st
307 February 2009HomeOldham Athletic0–022,328681st
3114 February 2009HomeSwindon Town1–1King 8619,926691st
3217 February 2009AwayHartlepool United2–2Howard 28, 804,068701st
3321 February 2009AwayBristol Rovers1–0Fryatt 209,138731st
3428 February 2009Milton Keynes Dons2–2Fryatt 5, Gradel 90+717,717741st
353 March 2009HomeStockport County1–1Gilbert 216,378751st
367 March 2009HomeCheltenham Town4–0Howard 15, Fryatt 22, Cleverley 67, Oakley 7018,939781st
3711 March 2009AwayTranmere Rovers0–26,032781st
3814 March 2009AwayMillwall1–0Howard 2213,261811st
3921 March 2009HomeColchester United1–1Dickov 6720,218821st
4028 March 2009AwayPeterborough United0–214,110821st
414 April 2009HomeCarlisle United2–2Oakley 52, Fryatt 8820,159831st
4211 April 2009AwayHereford United3–1Oakley 35, Dyer 74, Howard 864,389861st
4313 April 2009HomeLeeds United1–0Howard 90+225,507891st
4418 April 2009AwaySouthend United2–0Fryatt 60, 7010,089921st
4524 April 2009HomeScunthorpe United2–2Morrison 16, 7730,542931st
462 May 2009AwayCrewe Alexandra3–0Berner 56, Dyer 66, Fryatt 686,982961st

1 - Match postponed due to International call-ups.
2 - In some match reports, this goal is mistakenly awarded to Mark Davies

FA Cup">2008–09 FA Cup">FA Cup

RoundDateVenueOpponentsScoreScorersAttendanceReport
R18 November 2008HomeStevenage Borough3–0Dyer 37, Fryatt 52, King 697,586
R229 November 2008HomeDagenham & Redbridge3–2Fryatt 11, 30, 557,791
R33 January 2009HomeCrystal Palace0–015,976
R3 Replay3 January 2009AwayCrystal Palace1–2Gradel 90+46,023

Football League Cup">2008–09 Football League Cup">Football League Cup

RoundDateVenueOpponentsScoreScorersAttendanceReport
R112 August 2008HomeStockport County1–0Howard 367,386
R227 August 2008AwayFulham2–3Dickov 46, King 487,386

Football League Trophy">2008–09 Football League Trophy">Football League Trophy

RoundDateVenueOpponentsScoreScorersAttendanceReport
R1 N2 September 2008AwayHartlepool United3–0Howard 52, Adams 66, Fryatt 872,807
R2 N23 September 2008HomeLincoln City0–018,046
QF N4 November 2008AwayRotherham United0–24,255

1 Leicester won 3-1 on penalties.

Awards

Club awards

At the end of the season, Leicester's annual award ceremony including categories voted for by the players and backroom staff, the supporters and the supporters club, saw the following players recognised for their achievements for the club throughout the 2009–10 season.
Player of the Season Award Steve Howard
Young Player of the Season Award Andy King
Players' Player of the Season Award Matty Fryatt
Supporters' Club Player of the Season Award Matty Fryatt
Academy Player of the Season Award Cian Bolger
Goal of the Season Award Matt Oakley vs Cheltenham Town

Divisional awards

League One statistics

League One table

Club standings

Club statistics

Appearances

Note: Subs in brackets.

Starting XI

The following players have been named in the most starting line-ups. This line-up may differ from the list of players with most appearances.
No.Nat.PositionNameStarts
26GKDavid Martin30
4DFKerrea Gilbert37
15DFMichael Morrison38
25DFJack Hobbs44
23DFJoe Mattock30
8MFMatt Oakley48
31MFBruno Berner26
24MFAndy King53
11MFLloyd Dyer50
12FWMatty Fryatt50
9FWSteve Howard49

Top scorers

Pos.Nat.PlayerFL1CupsTotal
1Matty Fryatt27532
2Steve Howard13215
3Andy King9211
4Lloyd Dyer10111
5Matt Oakley808
6Paul Dickov213
=Michael Morrison303
=Bruno Berner303
9Tom Cleverley202
=Max Gradel112
11Joe Mattock101
=Mark Davies101
=Jack Hobbs101
=Nicky Adams011
=Aleksandar Tunchev101
=Kerrea Gilbert101

Most assists

Disciplinary record

All Stats obtained from