GARY WAS OUR SHINING LIGHT!

ENGLAND great Gary Lineker played in the first ever Aylestone Park game under floodlights back in 1974.

- Matt Badcock

The Leicestershire outfit were the first in the local area to boast lights – even if the stanchions had previously been used on a dual carriageway!

Lineker too was the talk of the town for his goalscoring exploits that alerted Leicester City where a career that saw him go onto play for his boyhood Foxes, Everton, Barcelona, Tottenham and, of course, become one of England’s greatest ever goalscorers.

“I’ve been back a few times over the over the years,” Lineker said this week as he returned to the club where it all began.

“I remember the opening of the floodlights when they first had them put in and now I’m here to see what Premier League investment has done and the difference it has made. It’s quite significant and I think it’s transformed youth teams and children’s football in this country.”

Chairman John Greaves was a founding player of the club back in 1968 and remembers the occasion well.

“We were the first local club to have floodlights,” Greaves said.