Sports History academic enjoying Premier League success with Leicester City


Just as Leicester City Football Club’s (LCFC) Premier League campaign got off to a flying start at the weekend, the game also marked the start of the new season for the De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) academic working on their award-winning programme.

LCFC-programme

Dr. Neil Carter, senior research fellow of the International Centre for Sports History and Culture (ICSHC), is now into his third season contributing to LCFC’s match day magazine. For each home league game, Neil writes a historically themed article within the magazine’s heritage section.

Neil began his work with the magazine during LCFC’s Championship campaign in 2013/14 and he is now a key component of the Premier League Programme of the Year, as voted by the Soccer Club Swap Shop Awards.

The heritage section of the LCFC programme is coordinated by the club Historian and Archivist John Hutchinson. He said: “Neil has been working with me at the club over the last few years on a number of different projects and this is his third year writing in the heritage section.

“It was the Premier League Programme of the year last year so he’s contributing to an award-winning programme.

“I don’t think any other programme carries articles quite like these. We run a 12-page heritage section in every match day programme and Neil’s page is an important part of that, and long may it continue.”

Further to this latest award, the LCFC match day programme has also picked up an additional four other commendations for the consistent quality it provides to fans.

Neil said: “The idea is to complement John’s heritage section; my articles have been more about the general history of football and I try to situate a particular subject in its wider historical context.

“In my first season I looked at some general themes from 1850 to 1914, last year, focussing on the club’s opponents that week, I looked at the inter-war period, and this season examines the years 1945-1980.”

When Leicester City were promoted to the top tier of English football in 2014, Neil was celebrating just like any Foxes fan, but for a very different reason.

He added: “I wrote 27 articles in the first year when they were in the Championship with more teams, so I was relieved when they got promoted!

“But the programme column is also part of DMU’s very fruitful relationship with one of the city’s major sporting institutions. The series helps to illuminate the university’s long-running partnership with Leicester City Football Club.

“It also highlights the expertise within the ICSHC and provides an opportunity to disseminate our research to a wider community.”

Prior to the kick-off of Saturday’s resounding 4-2 win over Sunderland, DMU and LCFC proudly announced a renewal to our long-standing partnership.

This will see internship opportunities for students made available, expert coaching for DMU’s football teams, and free tickets for staff and students throughout the season to see LCFC in action at the King Power Stadium.

Posted on Wednesday 12 August 2015

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