Dubai: Leicester City winning the Premier League would be a bigger achievement than Nottingham Forest’s 1978 First Division league title win, according to legendary goalkeeper of both clubs Peter Shilton.
Brian Clough’s Forest became one of only five clubs - and the most recent team to date - to conquer England’s top flight a year after winning promotion from the second tier almost 40 years ago.
Claudio Ranieri’s Leicester could do similar this season albeit a year after narrowly avoiding relegation. The Foxes are currently five points clear at the top of the table with four games remaining.
“It’s certainly on a par and maybe even slightly better [than Forest] only for the reason that football has changed now,” said Shilton 66, who remains England’s most capped player with 125 appearances.
“There are a lot of really big clubs like Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal and Manchester City, that can afford to spend so much more. For that reason it’s a lot harder for teams like Leicester to compete.”
Forest famously went on to win back-to-back European Cup titles in 1979 and 1980 however, and Shilton, who was in goal throughout that rise, said Leicester, where he started his career in 1966, would find it hard to replicate that feat in the modern equivalent Champions League, which has never been retained by a side.
“It’s a big ask as there are more teams now, but as long as Leicester hold onto their players and buy a couple more they will be competitive next season and anything is possible. I’m not saying they will [go on to win the Champions League], but nobody would have predicted Forest could do it either.
“Both sides have always been medium sized clubs not on the level of the big clubs because of the money those sides can generate,” added Shilton, who played in three World Cups, reaching the semi-finals in 1990, four years after conceding the infamous ‘Hand of God’ goal against Argentina’s Diego Maradona.
“I think this is what makes it such a fairytale. A lot of clubs can look at what Leicester has done – paying £5 million (Dh26.3 million) for N’Gole Kante, £500,000 for Riyad Mahrez, a million [each] for Jamie Vardy, Kasper Schmiechel, and Wes Morgan – and it shows, like what we did at Forest, that you don’t have to pay fortunes to get a successful team.
“That will give clubs a big lift knowing it can be done. A lot of people say it has been a monopoly and it has been for years at the top of the Premier League. But genuine football fans will want Leicester to win because it will show that it’s not just about money and the big clubs.”
Peter Shilton OBE is available for after dinner speaking through Champions or contacting Amelia Neate via email at aneate@championsukplc.com
