2009–10 Leicester City F.C. season

Leicester City F.C.

2009–10 season
Chairman	Milan Mandarić
Manager	Nigel Pearson
Football League Championship	5th
FA Cup	Fourth round
League Cup	Second round
Top goalscorer	League: Martyn Waghorn (12) All: Matty Fryatt (13)
Highest home attendance	31,759 (vs. Nottingham Forest, Championship, 27 February 2010)
Lowest home attendance	12,307 (vs. Swansea City, FA Cup, 2 January 2010)
Average home league attendance	24,542
Home colours Away colours
← 2008–09 2010–11 →

The 2009–10 season was Leicester City F.C.'s 105th season in the English football league system and their 58th in the second tier of English football. It was their first season back in the Championship after promotion from League One as champions in 2008–09. It was also the club's 125th anniversary season.

Having just been promoted, Nigel Pearson's side surprised many by spending most of the season in the play-offs. They eventually finished fifth, reaching the play-offs. This was considered an impressive finish and a stride forward by many, considering Leicester were relegated from the same division two seasons previously. They eventually lost out in the play-off semi-finals to Cardiff City on a penalty shoot-out.

After winning League One by seven points, manager Nigel Pearson sought to strengthen the squad ahead of the Championship campaign. 2008–09 loanees Jack Hobbs and Wayne Brown were quickly signed on permanent deals from Liverpool and Hull City respectively. Veterans Barry Hayles, Bruno Ngotty, Paul Henderson, Patrick Kisnorbo and Marc Edworthy were released at the end of their contracts. The Foxes further added to their squad with the captures of goalkeeper Chris Weale, defender Robbie Neilson and midfielders Richie Wellens and Dany N'Guessan. However, the forward line remained unreinforced until 19-year-old Martyn Waghorn arrived on loan from Sunderland just before the opening game against Swansea City.

Joe Mattock, part of the England squad for the European U-19 Championships, handed in a transfer request just 48 hours before the first match of the season. He eventually moved to fellow Championship club West Bromwich Albion for an undisclosed fee.

Leicester City's home kit for the 2009–10 season was unveiled before the final home game of 2008–09 against Scunthorpe United. To mark the 125th anniversary of the club's founding in 1884, the design of the front of the shirt had earlier been put to an online vote, with the fans deciding to keep the home shirt blank and sponsorless. A special badge was created for this kit, to be used for one season only.

The blue and black design of the away kit mirrors the shirts worn in the club's first game in 1884. It is branded with the logo of LOROS, a charity providing hospice care in Leicestershire. The charity will receive a percentage of the sale price of each shirt sold from their shops.

Both strips are manufactured by Joma, following the expiration of the club's previous deal with Jako.

After reporting back for pre-season training on 1 July, the club remained unbeaten through six pre-season games:

Loughborough Dynamo v Leicester City

11 July 2009 1	Loughborough Dynamo	1–3	Leicester City	Loughborough
	Johnson	(Report)	Kee Dickov Adams	Stadium: Nanpantan Sports Ground Attendance: 1,000+

Tamworth v Leicester City

13 July 2009 2	Tamworth	1–1	Leicester City	Tamworth
	Wright	(Report)	Berner	Stadium: The Lamb Ground Attendance: 1,035

Shrewsbury Town v Leicester City

25 July 2009 4	Shrewsbury Town	0–4	Leicester City	Shrewsbury
		(Report)	Hobbs Dyer 2 N'Guessan	Stadium: Prostar Stadium Attendance: 2,030 Referee: S Rushton

Chesterfield v Leicester City

28 July 2009 5	Chesterfield	0–1	Leicester City	Chesterfield
		(Report)	N'Guessan	Stadium: Saltergate Attendance: 1,973 Referee: J Waugh

Leicester City v Real Valladolid

2 August 2009 6	Leicester City	1–0	Real Valladolid	Leicester
	Fryatt	(Report)		Stadium: Walkers Stadium Attendance: 6,141 Referee: L Mason, Bolton

2009–10 was Leicester City's 58th season at the second tier of English football. Their record of winning the division on six occasions (although not since 1980) is second only to Manchester City. Prior to the 2009–10 season, their record at this level was:

Only includes players given a squad number. The squad listed is the squad which Leicester finished the season with.^[1]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  ENG Chris Weale 2 DF  SCO Robbie Neilson 3 DF  NIR Ryan McGivern (on loan from Manchester City) 4 DF  ENG Michael Morrison 5 DF  BUL Aleksandar Tunchev 6 DF  ENG Wayne Brown (vice-captain) 7 MF  PER Nolberto Solano 8 MF  ENG Matt Oakley (captain) 9 FW  SCO Steve Howard 10 MF  WAL Andy King 11 MF  ENG Lloyd Dyer 12 FW  ENG Matty Fryatt 13 GK  IRL Conrad Logan 15 DF  SUI Bruno Berner 16 MF  WAL Nicky Adams 17 MF  FRA Dany N'Guessan

No. Pos. Nation Player 18 FW  ENG Martyn Waghorn (on loan from Sunderland) 19 MF  ENG Richie Wellens 20 DF  ENG Luke O'Neill 21 FW  ENG Ashley Chambers 22 FW  FRA Yann Kermorgant 23 FW  ENG DJ Campbell 24 FW  SCO Paul Gallagher 25 DF  ENG Jack Hobbs 26 MF  SWE Astrit Ajdarević 27 FW  ENG James Vaughan (on loan from Everton) 29 DF  ENG Chris Powell 30 DF  ENG Tom Parkes 31 GK  ENG Carl Pentney 32 MF  ENG Aman Verma 33 DF  IRL Alex Bruce (on loan from Ipswich Town) 34 DF  ENG Jay Spearing (on loan from Liverpool)

Date	Pos.	Nat.	Name	From	Fee
29 June 2009	MF		Dany N'Guessan	Lincoln City	Undisclosed
1 July 2009	DF		Jack Hobbs	Liverpool	Undisclosed[2]
1 July 2009	DF		Wayne Brown	Hull City	Free[3]
1 July 2009	GK		Chris Weale	Bristol City	Free
1 July 2009	MF		Astrit Ajdarevic	Liverpool	Free
1 July 2009	DF		Robbie Neilson	Heart of Midlothian	Free[4]
7 July 2009	MF		Richie Wellens	Doncaster Rovers	£1,200,000
21 August 2009	FW		Paul Gallagher	Blackburn Rovers	£900,000[5]
24 August 2009	FW		Yann Kermorgant	Stade de Reims	Free[6]

Date	Pos.	Nat.	Name	To	Fee
1 July 2009	MF		Joe Cobb	Wycombe Wanderers	Free
1 July 2009	DF		Marc Edworthy	Burton Albion	Free
1 July 2009	MF		Lee Cox	Inverness Caledonian Thistle	Free
1 July 2009	MF		Jonny Hayes	Inverness Caledonian Thistle	Free
1 July 2009	MF		Ryan Beswick	Kettering Town	Free
13 July 2009	FW		Barry Hayles	Cheltenham Town	Free
22 July 2009	FW		Billy McKay	Northampton Town	Free
10 August 2009	DF		Joe Mattock	West Bromwich Albion	£1.2 million
25 January 2010	MF		Max Gradel	Leeds United	Undisclosed[7]
29 January 2010	FW		Ricky Sappleton	Macclesfield Town	Free
1 February 2010	FW		Paul Dickov	Released	Free[8]

Date from	Date to	Pos.	Nat.	Name	From
7 August 2009	End of season	FW		Martyn Waghorn	Sunderland F.C.
30 August 2009	End of season	DF		Ryan McGivern	Manchester City
1 February 2010	End of season	DF		Alex Bruce	Ipswich Town
10 March 2010[9]	End of season	FW		James Vaughan	Everton
23 March 2010	End of season	MF		Jay Spearing	Liverpool

Date from	Date to	Pos.	Nat.	Name	From
1 August 2009	31 December 2009	MF		Aman Verma	Crewe Alexandra
4 August 2009	End of Season	MF		James Wesolowski	Hamilton Academical
14 August 2009	End of Season	MF		Harry Worley	Crewe Alexandra
21 August 2009		FW		Ashley Chambers	Wycombe Wanderers
28 August 2009	1 January 2010	FW		Paul Dickov	Derby County
11 September 2009		MF		Levi Porter	Mansfield Town
17 September 2009		FW		Craig King	Hereford United
11 September 2009[10]	2 January 2010	MF		Max Gradel	Leeds United
26 November 2009[11]	31 January 2010	FW		DJ Campbell	Derby County
15 January 2010	14 February 2010	MF		Nicky Adams	Leyton Orient
19 January 2010	18 February 2010	DF		Luke O'Neill	Tranmere Rovers
21 January 2010	End of season	FW		Ashley Chambers	Wycombe Wanderers
1 February 2010	End of season	DF		Lathaniel Rowe-Turner	Torquay United
1 February 2010	End of season	FW		DJ Campbell	Blackpool
1 February 2010	End of season	MF		Aman Verma	Histon
25 March 2010	End of season	MF		Astrit Ajdarevic	Hereford United

• Leicester City scores given first

• Leicester City scores given first
• Away goals do not count.

• Leicester City scores given first

• Leicester City scores given first

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	Jack Hobbs
Young Player of the Season	Martyn Waghorn
Player' Player of the Season	Jack Hobbs and Andy King (joint winners)
Supporters' Club Player of the Season	Jack Hobbs
Academy Player of the Season	Elliott Chamberlain
Goal of the Season	Paul Gallagher (vs. Nottingham Forest, 27 February 2010)

Date	Award	Winner
February 2010	Championship Manager of the Month	Nigel Pearson
February 2010	Championship Player of the Month	Paul Gallagher

No.	Nat.	Name	FLC	PO	FAC	LC	Total
1		Chris Weale	45	2	2	2	51
2		Robbie Neilson	19	0	2	0	21
3		Ryan McGivern	9 (3)	0	0	2	11 (3)
4		Michael Morrison	30 (1)	0	2	2	34 (1)
5		Aleksander Tunchev	1 (1)	0	1	0	2 (1)
6		Wayne Brown	38 (1)	0	0	1	39 (1)
7		Max Gradel*	0	0	0 (1)	0	0 (1)
7		Nolberto Solano	6 (5)	2	0	0	8 (5)
8		Matt Oakley	37 (1)	0	2	2	41 (1)
9		Steve Howard	17 (18)	1	1	1	20 (18)
10		Andy King	37 (6)	2	1	1	41 (6)
11		Lloyd Dyer	25 (8)	2	0 (1)	1	28 (9)
12		Matty Fryatt	26 (3)	1 (1)	2	1 (1)	30 (5)
13		Conrad Logan	1 (1)	0	0	0	1 (1)
15		Bruno Berner	34 (1)	2	0	0	36 (1)
16		Nicky Adams	1 (17)	0	2	0	3 (17)
17		Dany N'Guessan	16 (11)	0 (1)	2	1 (1)	19 (13)
18		Martyn Waghorn	27 (15)	1 (1)	1	0 (1)	29 (17)
19		Richie Wellens	41	2	2	1	46
20		Luke O'Neill	0 (1)	0	1	0	1 (1)
22		Yann Kermorgant	9 (11)	0 (2)	1 (1)	0 (1)	10 (15)
23		DJ Campbell	0 (3)	0	0	0	0 (3)
24		Paul Gallagher	31 (10)	2	0 (1)	2	35 (11)
25		Jack Hobbs	44	2	1	2	49
27		Paul Dickov*	0 (1)	0	0 (1)	0	0 (2)
27		James Vaughan	2 (6)	0	0	0	2 (6)
29		Chris Powell	2	0	0	0	2
33		Alex Bruce	2 (1)	2	0	0	4 (1)
34		Jay Spearing	6 (1)	1 (1)	0	0	7 (2)

Note:

• Substitute appearances given in brackets.
• Asterisk indicates player left the club mid-season.

Pos.	Nat.	Player	FLC	PO	FAC	LC	Total
1		Matty Fryatt	11	1	0	1	13
2		Martyn Waghorn	12	0	0	0	12
3		Andy King	9	1	1	0	11
4		Paul Gallagher	7	0	0	0	7
5		Dany N'Guessan	3	0	2	1	6
6		Steve Howard	5	0	0	0	5
7		Bruno Berner	4	0	0	0	4
8		Michael Morrison	2	0	1	0	3
=		Lloyd Dyer	3	0	0	0	3
10		Nicky Adams	0	0	0	1	1
=		Jay Spearing	1	0	0	0	1
=		James Vaughan	1	0	0	0	1
=		Richie Wellens	1	0	0	0	1
=		Yann Kermorgant	1	0	0	0	1

Nat.	Player
	Richie Wellens	8	1
	Martyn Waghorn	6	1
	Steve Howard	6	1
	Matt Oakley	7	0
	Bruno Berner	7	0
	Matt Oakley	7	0
	Wayne Brown	5	0
	Ryan McGivern	4	0
	Paul Gallagher	4	0
	Michael Morrison	3	0
	Robbie Neilson	3	0
	Lloyd Dyer	3	0
	Dany N'Guessan	2	0
	Jack Hobbs	2	0
	Andy King	2	0
	Nolberto Solano	2	0
	Matty Fryatt	1	0
	James Vaughan	1	0
	Alex Bruce	1	0

All Stats obtained from LCFC.com