The Three Lions At King Power Stadium – England’s Previous Filbert Way Fixtures

England Under-21s will be in town on Saturday with King Power Stadium the venue for an international friendly against France (5pm GMT kick-off).

It’s not the first time that Filbert Way has hosted a Three Lions fixture, with a trio of previous matches to look back on over the course of the stadium’s 21-year history.

It boasts a 100 per cent record for England fixtures, with three wins out of three to date, and tickets for this weekend’s showdown remain available to purchase here.

The first-ever international to be held at King Power Stadium was an England Men’s senior fixture against Serbia and Montenegro in June 2003, a year after its opening.

With the new Wembley Stadium being constructed, England games were being played around the country, including in Leicester. Future Leicester City manager Sven-Göran Eriksson was in the home dugout and led an England side including former Foxes forward Emile Heskey to a 2-1 friendly victory.

Steven Gerrard opened the scoring in front of over 30,000 fans, before Nenad Jestrovic equalised on the stroke of half-time. Substitute Joe Cole was also on target, netting what proved to be the winner.

Four months later, on 12 October, Filbert Way hosted another star-studded international friendly – between Brazil and Jamaica – as Roberto Carlos scored the only goal of the game for Seleção.

England Under-21s’ previous visit to King Power Stadium came against Montenegro in October 2007, as part of the UEFA EURO U21 qualification campaign. The Young Lions edged the contest 1-0 courtesy of Blackburn Rovers striker Matt Derbyshire’s goal.

It came a year after Filbert Way played host to another Jamaica men’s senior international, against Ghana, on 29 May, 2006. The Black Stars triumphed 4-1 on that occasion.

England returned to Filbert Way in September 2018 for a meeting with Switzerland. The friendly encounter was settled thanks to Marcus Rashford’s 54st-minute goal, turning home Kyle Walker’s cross.

Harry Maguire, then at LCFC, started at centre-back while then Foxes full-back Ben Chilwell made his debut as a substitute 11 minutes from time.

Four-and-a-half-years later, England are back in Leicester and there’s the possibility of Foxes involvement with full-back Luke Thomas in Lee Carsley’s Under-21s squad for the clash with France.