Wes Morgan reaches 250 matches played for Leicester City

Tuesday evening, Leicester City captain Wes Morgan played his 250th match for the Foxes. Fittingly, he captained the side to a 2-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur to mark the occasion.

In November of 2011, City were struggling in the Championship. Manager Sven-Göran Eriksson had just been replaced by Nigel Pearson. He and Head of Recruitment Steve Walsh set out to shore up an unconvincing defense by convincing Nottingham Forest to sell 28 year-old centre-half Wes Morgan to their rivals. Forest were loathe to sell Morgan, but City kept upping their offer and eventually, Morgan joined for a transfer fee of £1,000,000.

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As a side note here, £1,000,000 was a large sum for a late-twenties defender in England’s second tier. I remember thinking it was a lot to pay for a player who would help us win promotion but probably wouldn’t be able to adapt to the top flight in his thirties. I’ve seldom been more wrong, or been happier to have been wrong.

The Jamaica international’s leadership skills were apparent from day one, and he was handed the captain’s armband to start the 2012-13 season. Since joining City, Morgan has played under Pearson, Claudio Ranieri, Craig Shakespeare, and now Claude Puel, and he has retained not just his place in the side but also the captaincy as well.

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Captain Morgan didn’t make his Premier League debut until he was in this thirties, but that hasn’t prevented him from making his mark on the league. If you’re completely new to football, you might not be aware that he not only captained Leicester City to a Premier League title in 2015-16, he also played every minute of every match. If you’re a long-time fan, I trust you won’t mind me mentioning it again.

The icing on the cake for City’s captain was the Champions League campaign last year. The Foxes were the last English team in the competition, and it was Morgan’s goal against Sevilla that put Leicester through to the quarter-finals against Real Madrid.

Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images

When I think of Wes Morgan, the first image I have is of him throwing himself in front of a shot, sacrificing himself for the team. What are your impressions of City’s captain? What are your favorite memories of his time with the Foxes?