As Eden Hazard’s brilliant equaliser put an end to Tottenham Hotspurs’ title hopes, the celebrations for perhaps the most remarkable sporting story of all time had just begun. Half a world away in the south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne, lifelong Leicester City supporter Chris Taylor could not contain himself watching on from the confines of his Peninsula home.
While the scenes were not quite as exuberant as those at Jamie Vardy’s house, the surprise success of the Foxes has meant more to the South Melbourne supremo than to most of those of us who have recently jumped on the bandwagon.
Taylor was born in the East Midlands city at the turn of the sixties and was immediately immersed in the football culture around him.
His dad was a footballer playing for the Chelsea Reserves when the West London club were crowned English Champions in 1955 (the Blues would have to wait another 50 years to achieve that feat again when claiming the title under a certain Jose Mourinho in 2005).
Taylor junior grew up in Leicester and says he “grew up to be part of the club” by living two streets away from its training base of Belvoir Drive, spending much of his time outside of school hours at the ground kicking the ball around.
Growing up not too far from Taylor was another talented youngster by the name of Gary Lineker, a future teammate of the multiple NPL Championship-winning manager.
“We played in a lot of age groups together even though he was a year younger than me, and played together at a club called Aylestone Park as well as the representative sides,” Taylor says.
“One year we won everything there was to win, with Gary scoring about 100 goals and no one could get near us. From there onwards we played for the Leicester City juniors and all up played three-four years with one another.”
Lineker later went on to represent the Foxes before embarking on a career which saw the striker play for Everton, Barcelona and Tottenham Hotspur, while winning the Golden Boot at the 1986 World Cup and becoming the Three Lions all-time top scorer (until recently being overtaken by Wayne Rooney).
Taylor, however, never represented his childhood club at a senior level, spending much of his football career in the lower leagues while admitting his primary sporting talents lay elsewhere.
“I played a lot of non-league football and was probably more of cricketer, having been involved with Leicestershire,” he says.
“I played at a high level of cricket back in the UK and that was my bigger passion at the time. The football was moreso a passport to go and see places and that’s what got me to Australia.”
He migrated to Australia in the 1980s at a time when Midlands cities like Leicester and their counterparts in the north struggled with the economic and political policies deployed by the conservative Thatcher Government.
For the Englishman, the passage to Australia was an adventure carrying certain preconceptions, which did not eventuate.
“It was an adventure for me because a guy who played at a higher level approached me and another boy to come down under and we chose Sunshine City, because we thought there would be palm trees down the roads and that it would be a beautiful place. But we ended up at bloody Chaplin Reserve,” the former George Cross and Green Gully manager laughs.
Keeping in touch with the trials and tribulations of his beloved Leicester initially proved to be difficult down under, but Taylor admits that the advancements in technology and greater coverage have made it much easier for him nowadays.
“With the internet and TV vision through Foxtel these days it’s more accessible, but when I first came out you had to look at the results a day or two later in the paper,” he says.
“In terms of keeping in touch with the city itself, my mum and dad and other family members still live there.”
As Taylor has continued on his rise up the state coaching ranks, so too did Leicester in the 1990s under the leadership of current Republic of Ireland manager Martin O’Neill. With the likes of Emile Heskey, Robbie Savage and Neil Lennon in their side, the Foxes won two league cups towards the turn of the millennium, establishing themselves as a permanent fixture in the increasingly popular Premier League.
However, relegation from the top flight in 2004 saw the club spend four seasons in the Championship, before being relegated to League One in 2008 at a time when the recently-retired Patrick Kisnorbo was a fan favourite of the Walker Stadium faithful.
Taylor lived through all those highs and lows and speaks about what the Foxes success of today means to him.
“I can sympathise with every other supporter of the lower league clubs because I’ve been a passionate Leicester fan as I grew up there and that was my team,” he says.
“I didn’t inherit a team like many people do with the top clubs, and the real football followers are those that grow up with the team and stick with them through thick and thin.
“It’s such a remarkable achievement what they have done given the tough times where they dropped down two levels in some instances.”
While known across the United Kingdom as being home of the famous chips (crisps) manufacturer Walkers, Taylor speaks fondly of the city’s great sporting tradition that doesn’t end with the football team, believing it shares certain similarities to his adopted city.
“It’s a big town and is a city with a lot of passionate people,” he says.
“There are some similarities with Melbourne given its sporting nature, as it is also home to a strong rugby team as well as the World Snooker Champion Mark Selby, in addition to its football and cricket traditions.”
Despite being the 16th biggest city in the country with a population of just under 400,000, Leicester City is the city’s only major football club – a factor the Foxes thrive on according to the 56-year-old, with the incredible unison support on show playing a big part in their success this season.
“The fact that City are the only major club in town means that Leicester is a well-supported team,” Taylor says.
“I’ve still got mates from there which I’m still in touch with, and apparently the party has gone on all night and will go on for two or three weeks I’d say.
“The supporters are unbelievable over there and you’ve got to be in that environment to see it and I know guys from this part of the world who have been to the King Power Stadium recently and they tell me the atmosphere is second to none in comparison to the rest of the UK.
“It’s noisy, vibrant, and the supporters have probably been their 12th man this campaign – a lot of credit should go to them.”
While Taylor was patrolling the touchline at Somers Street in 2008 as manager of the Melbourne Knights, Leicester appointed Nigel Pearson to lead the club as they looked to bounce back into the Premier League.
The former Middlesbrough defender oversaw that achievement, and despite leaving for a brief spell at Hull City, led the club back to the Premier League in 2014.
Despite looking like relegation certainties for much of the 2014/15 season, a total of seven wins in their last nine games saw the Foxes avoid relegation, although the uncompromising Pearson had his services terminated at season’s end.
Taylor gives credit to the former manager for the club’s rise back to the top flight, and believes he played an integral part in this season’s success story – while admitting he had plenty of initial scepticism following the appointment of Claudio Ranieri in the last European summer.
“A lot of credit should go to Nigel Pearson, the former manager, as he got them promoted from League One and into the Premier League through the Championship and brought over a lot of the players that have done well for the club this season,” he says.
“I must admit that I initially thought Ranieri was a poor signing when there was plenty of young up-and-coming managers going around.
“But as I say to many people, I’m only a fan when it comes to that level of football and what would I know when it’s easy to be wise afterwards?
“He has proved a lot of people wrong and the way he has gone on about it has been a breath of fresh air given his dignity and the way that he conducts himself with everyone in Leicester taking him to heart, and now he’s a hero for life over there.”
The newly crowned English Champions’ achievements have left many involved in the round ball game looking to their achievement for inspiration.
When pressed on whether Leicester City’s league title triumph is an example South Melbourne may look to replicate in the FFA Cup, Taylor stops short of comparing the two.
“I don’t know whether we can compare the two given that we’re probably one of the more affluent clubs outside the A-League,” Taylor says.
“We know we can attract people and that we have good facilities and the same can’t be said of Leicester when comparing them with some of the glamour clubs of English football.”
However, he did note one certain aspect of their season, which leaves many in the game questioning the importance of possession-based and creative-minded football.
“The only thing I take a little foresight from is that if you had a league table on possession, Leicester would be 18th and would be last with regards to their passing ratio,” he says.
“They are very efficient and that’s what the game is all about; and me being a supporter, all I care about is success and it doesn’t matter how you get over the line, as long as you do.
“I look at phenomenal figures like Wes Morgan and Robert Huth who aren’t the most creative, ball-playing type players, but give me 11 players with that sort of passion in my team over those creative players who only turn up every four or five weeks.”
Not surprising coming from a manager, whose often pragmatic approach has seen success become the cornerstone of his coaching career in Australia.
While the celebratory scenes at the Vardy household gained immediate viral popularity, one can only imagine the sheer joy and disbelief experienced by Taylor during that period.
The Englishman celebrated the day with champagne amongst family, and will be hoping the good mood in the household continues through the weekend as his South Melbourne side travel to North Sunshine to take on his former employers and fierce rivals Melbourne Knights tonight.