Out they ran to a deafening chorus .. of boos & whistles

THEY ran out in a devilish all-black strip to a chorus of boos and whistles. "Ladies and gentleman," yelled the stadium announcer. "The time has arrived."

Yesterday was the moment of truth for the footballers of Leicester City when they came out of exile and put themselves in the public eye - their first appearance since the scandal in Spain.

It wasn't exactly a low-profile event. They were face to face with Birmingham City in a Midlands derby which would have been red- blooded at the best of times.

Events in Spain gave it an extra edge. A heavy police presence was evident three hours before kick off. A helicopter circled around St Andrew's and visiting fans' coaches were escorted by police vans.

Earlier there had been a clash between rival fans in a city centre bar and the Birmingham City fanzine had shown pictures of the three accused, Dickov, Sinclair and Gillespie under the headline "W*****s...Stupid footballers leave a nasty taste".

Leicester fans were out in force to support their club in one of its darkest hours. Bev Groom, proudly wearing a shirt emblazoned with Dickov's name, said it had been the most stressful week in our her life. "These last seven days have aged me 10 years," she said. "But after all's said and done, they are innocent until proved guilty."

Birmingham fans were frisked for home-made banners and slogans that might have inflamed the crowd. But they couldn't inspect voices and the first Leicester move of any note was met with a chorus of "Innocent? You're having a laugh".

It was a day when trepidation and relief went hand in hand as they put themselves through the routine of their pre-match warm up, you could sense that the Leicester players were happy to be in action at last, away from the siege mentality of the training ground. There were even smiles as they did their stretching exercises - perhaps not unconnected with the fact that the stadium DJ chose to put on Robert Palmer's rock standard Addicted to Love.

Before the kick off the crowd observed an immaculate minute's silence for those who died in Madrid - putting those other events in Spain into sharp perspective.

The three players at the centre of the allegations - Frank Sinclair, Keith Gillespie and Paul Dickov - weren't playing. In the words of manager Micky Adams: "What is best for them now is that they have a quiet weekend with their families." Well, there are quiet weekends and quiet weekends I suppose.

Dickov, although he probably had other things on his mind - was cheered to the echo in his absence.

"Dickov's come home," the Leicester supporters chanted.

To which the Birmingham fans replied at ear-splitting volume "Dickov's going down". Steffan Freund, who was cleared of all charges, was singled out for repeated booing whenever he touched the ball. Nikus Dabizas was also on from the start while Matt Elliott and Danny Coyne - also quizzed over the alleged incident - were on the substitutes bench.

For manager Adams the game was a personal ordeal. He could have watched it from the anonymity of the stand but chose to sit on the side of the pitch in the dug-out right in the firing line. As he said: "There is no hiding place for me, I will be facing up to this."

Over the past week he has been opening his own mail - and some of it has not made pleasant reading. Many of the letters have castigated his players - who, it should be said, continue to maintain their innocence - and have poured abuse on him for letting it happen. Adams has not tried to shift the blame. "This is Leicester City's problem", he said, "and we are doing our best to deal with it."

For Leicester fans it has been a dreadful week, but ended on a high with a one-nil win. Les Ferdinand scored the only goal in the second half. Afterwards players hugged each other and applauded their travelling fans.

Even Birmingham manager Steve Bruce paid tribute to his team's opponents. "They showed a terrific amount of spirit," he said. "Typical of the British mentality."

The Leicester boss was singled out for particular praise. "One Micky Adams...one Micky Adams," came the chant from the crowd.

But Adams was not convinced he had their full support. "I'm sure some fickle fans had wanted us to lose," he said after the match.

"I talked to the three players briefly today and I told them, 'I'll see you 10.30am Monday for training'."

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