The likes of Bruges, Copenhagen, Porto, Prague and Athens have all been destinations for Leicester City on their European adventures in recent years and a few more will be added in the 2021-22 season when they compete in the Europa League for the second year running. Sure, it’s not the competition the foxes really wanted to be in but it is a sign of how things have progressed in recent years.

It’s been a successful time with Premier League (2016) and FA Cup (2021) triumphs but it hasn’t always been that way and for fans in the 70s and 80s things were very different. That was a time when, believe it or not, playing Scottish clubs seemed glamorous. As I got into football in the 1983-84 season, the Panini sticker albums and Grandstand always included the Scottish Leagues and so I never even questioned the geographical distance or standard of football. Dundee United were the current champions and Aberdeen went on to win the next two with both doing well in European competition at that time. It took me a few years to even realise that the big two in Scotland were actually Rangers and Celtic!

Earlier this year highlights of Leicester vs WBA in a mid-70s competition called the Anglo-Scottish Cup appeared in my YouTube feed. Even though neither of those teams are Scottish it led to me discovering the Texaco Cup and before I knew it I was compiling this (almost!) complete list of the times when Leicester City have played Scottish clubs since 1940.

• Please let me know in the comments of any errors, missing information or any memories you have of these games as match details are very scarce!

1. St Mirren vs Leicester City (3-0), 30th April 1948

2. St Mirren vs Leicester City (1-3), 12th May 1956

3. Inverness Select XI vs Leicester City (0-2), 14th May 1956

4. Hibernian vs Leicester City (2-3), 16th February 1957

5. Leicester City vs Hibernian (1-4), 29th April 1957

6. Aberdeen vs Leicester City (1-1), 23rd September 1957

7. Leicester City vs Raith Rovers (3-3), 26th November 1958

8. Leicester City vs Hibernian (0-1), 28th March 1960

9. Dunfermline Athletic vs Leicester City (3-2), 26th September 1960

10. Leicester City vs Partick Thistle (2-1), 31st March 1962

11. Leicester City vs Scotland XI (1-1), 2nd May 1966

12. Leicester City vs Rangers (1-0), 18th February 1967

13. Leicester City vs Dundee United (1-1), 13th September 1972 – Back in the early 70s there was something called the Texaco Cup which basically involved the top teams from England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland who were not already participating in European competitions.

14. Dundee United vs Leicester City (2-2), 27th September 1972 – These two-legged matches were played during the same weeks as the proper European competitions with penalty shootouts used to settle drawn ties. Sure enough this one went the full distance and the Foxes triumphed 3-0 on penalties! The likes of Peter Shilton, Alan Birchenall, Keith Weller, Frank Worthington and Len Glover all featured in the Foxes line-up.

15. Ayr vs Leicester City (1-1), 19th September 1973 – The Texaco Cup ran for five seasons but this was the final year that Leicester took part.

16. Leicester City vs Ayr (2-0), 3rd October 1973

17. Leicester City vs Dundee United (1-1), 24th October 1973

18. Dundee United vs Leicester City (1-0), 7th November 1973 – Quarter final heartbreak for the Foxes as they bowed out of the tournament.

19. Aberdeen vs Leicester City (1-1), 5th September 1979

20. Elgin City vs Leicester City (1-1), 17th September 1979

21. Hibernian vs Leicester City (3-2), 10th December 1979 – Notable for the appearance of George Best, these two matches with Hibs were arranged as part of the deal which took Bobby Smith from the Edinburgh club to Leicester.

22. Leicester City vs Hibernian (0-2), 15th January 1980

23. Kilmarnock vs Leicester City (1-1), 16th February 1980

24. Berwick Rangers vs Leicester City (1-0), 12th October 1981 – This friendly took place to commemorate the centenary year of the English club who play in the Scottish leagues.

25. Caledonian Thistle vs Leicester City (0-4), 28th March 1983 – The fixture was arranged after Kevin MacDonald moved south of the border.

26. Hearts vs Leicester City (2-3), 13th August 1983 – Robert Jones opened the scoring early doors for the visitors but a brace from John Robertson turned things around and the Jam Tarts led at the break. Two late goals from a certain Gary Lineker though turned the match on its head.

27. St Johnstone vs Leicester City (1-2), 15th August 1983

28. Rangers vs Leicester City (2-2), 8th August 1984 – It’s quite rare to see red cards in friendlies but that happened in this fiercely contested friendly where Ian Wilson was sent off.

29. Leicester City vs Aberdeen (1-1), 13th August 1984 – At this time Alex Ferguson’s Dons had well and truly broken the Glasgow giants stranglehold in Scotland and were invited down to the East Midlands to play in a special centenary year match. It finished 1-1 with Steve Lynex scoring from the spot for the Foxes.

30. Dundee United vs Leicester City (0-1), 2nd March 1986

31. Ayr United vs Leicester City (2-4), 4th August 1988

32. St Johnstone vs Leicester City (1-2), 7th August 1988

33. Morton vs Leicester City (1-1), 13th August 1990

34. St Mirren vs Leicester City (0-0), 15th August 1990

35. Motherwell vs Leicester City (2-2), 17th August 1990

36. Dundee United vs Leicester City (1-2), 2nd August 1996 – An 80th minute goal by Muzzy Izzet proved to just be a consolation on this Friday night friendly at Tannadice Park in front of a crowd of 4,508.

37. Leicester City vs Celtic (0-1), 8th April 2002 – Martin O’Neill returned to Leicester for the first time since leaving for the Glasgow giants in the summer of 2000. An incredible 10,000 travelling Celtic supporters descended on Leicester to see them edge a closely fought game.

38. St Johnstone vs Leicester City (0-2), 24th July 2004

39. Partick Thistle vs Leicester City (0-1), 26th July 2004

40. Kilmarnock vs Leicester City (2-3), 28th July 2004 – Two friendly matches for the East Ayrshire team as they entertained Derby County a few days later.

41. Leicester City vs Celtic (0-0), 19th July 2005 – Gordon Strachan had just taken the Parkhead hot-seat following the exit of former Foxes boss Martin O’Neill who had had a successful five year spell in charge of the Bhoys. Dion Dublin had a first half penalty saved by Polish international Artur Boruc, who then denied Gareth Williams late on meaning it finished goalless.

42. Partick Thistle vs Leicester City (0-2), 24th July 2007 – Second half goals from Eric Odhiambo (53 mins) and James Wesolowski (66 mins) earned victory for Championship side Leicester at Firhill during Martin Allen’s short reign in charge.

43. Kilmarnock vs Leicester City (1-0), 28th July 2007 – Another East Midlands double header for Killie with Nottingham Forest being the first team they played against.

44. Celtic vs Leicester City (1-1), 24th July 2016 – A fantastic Riyad Mahrez curler opened the scoring before O’Connell equalised to take it to penalties. Claudio Ranieri’s Premier League winners proceeded to beat Brendan Rodgers’ Scottish champions 6-5 on penalties in this International Champions Cup pre-season tournament.

45. Rangers vs Leicester City (3-0), 19th November 2019 – Played behind closed doors about six months before such a thing became common thanks to Covid_19! Clearly the idea was to get minutes into the legs of those on the fringes of the first team and for the handful of regulars not on international duty in that week. Gers managed to emerge victorious, courtesy of goals from James Tavernier, Greg Stewart and Greg Docherty.

Click here to read ‘Contributing To Leicester City Fanzine “The Fox”

Click here to read ‘Hong Kong 2017 Pt I: Watching Leicester In The Premier League Asia Trophy’

Click here to read ‘Meeting A Leicester City Legend’

Click here to read ‘My Leicester City Memorabilia’