Snibston’s Reminiscing About 125 Years Of Leicester City Football Club

As Leicester City Football Club launched its 125 year celebrations, Foxes’ fans were invited to Snibston to share fond football memories to mark their club’s 125th anniversary. A Reminiscence Workshop was held on Tuesday 15th December.
Leicestershire County Council’s Snibston worked in partnership with Leicester City Football Club (LCFC) to celebrate this milestone event, and the Reminiscence Workshop is was second session designed to involve fans and the community in the birthday celebrations.
In October, fans were asked to come forward with their LCFC ‘treasure’ and to meet club historian, John Hutchinson, who has worked with Leicestershire County Council’s curatorial team to develop ‘From Shed to Stadium 125 years of Leicester City’ exhibition, due to launch on 16^th January. Fans brought along their memorabilia and chatted with John about why it’s precious to them, and indeed the club’s history. Two items were selected to actually form part of the planned exhibition.
The Reminiscence Workshop was another opportunity to meet John and to share fond memories. There was also an opportunity, should fans wish, to make recordings of their tales for the clubs archives. The idea being that the fans of today could leave a legacy for the fans of tomorrow.
John Hutchinson, LCFC archivist and history expert, said “I was thrilled about the exciting objects I came across in the Memorabilia Workshop and looked forward to seeing them again as part of the exhibition. I know there are lots of fans out there with exciting stories to tell. It would be great if people could contribute interviews towards the club’s archives, although there is no obligation for people to do this.”
The two sessions took place at 10.00am and 2.00pm, and paid entry into the museum was not required.
Ernie White, Leicestershire County Council Cabinet Member for Museums, said:  “It was great to see fans get involved in the anniversary celebrations. Football is about people and communities and there have been many of those involved during the last 125 years. The council and Snibston were delighted to be part of the celebrations and we hoped that fans would come along and meet John on 15th December.”
The two-month exhibition, From Shed to Stadium – 125 years of Leicester City Football Club, will run from 16th January until 21st March 2010. To be held in the free-to-view Community Gallery, it will showcase football strips, iconic objects and photographs reflecting the history of the club which was founded in 1884.
Snibston is appealing for knowledgeable fans to help with the exhibition through a monitoring role – to be on hand to assist with visitor queries and to keep vigilant over the more valuable items on display. It is an opportunity for life-long followers of the club to gain a sense of ownership over the exhibition and anniversary celebrations. People wishing to volunteer should contact Amanda Hanton, at Snibston, on 01530 278 444.
For those unable to attend the reminiscence workshops, John will be holding talks at Snibston throughout the duration of the exhibition itself. These are free to all and John will be available for questions afterwards. The planned dates are:
Promotion Seasons – 6th February
Cup Finals – 20th February
Memorabilia – 6th March
All begin at 1.00pm.
Fans who wish to get involved and have memorabilia to share, or stories to tell, can e-mail football@leics.gov.uk