The role and importance of a captain in modern-day football is something that is often a matter of debate. Some argue it is a very important role and who to name as captain is something managers need to think very carefully about. Others do not tend to downplay the importance of having natural leaders in a squad but argue such players will have an influence, whether they are formally named captain or not.
No matter where you stand on the issue though, it is very customary in football to officially name a captain and often a vice-captain too. Recent times though have seen some deviation from the norm, for example, in the case of Sunderland. Back in 2021, they named the traditional captain and vice-captain but then followed it up with two ‘club captains’ who combined with two other players to form a ‘leadership group’.
So rather than sticking the role-model responsibilities onto one or two players, the Black Cats opted for a six-man leadership group, as they called it. This is a system other clubs, including Leeds United, have opted for and is not too dissimilar to the system Enzo Maresca has adopted at Leicester City.
The Foxes’ approach is slightly different though as there is no single, official captain at the top of any leadership group. Rather than formally announcing a captain, or ‘capitan’ as the Italian calls it, Maresca basically said at the start of the 2023-24 season that there were several players capable of taking up the responsibilities. It is an approach that seems to have done the Foxes little harm either, given that promotion seems all but a certainty for them this season.
Which Leicester Players Form the ‘Captain Group’?

At the beginning of the season, Maresco was very open when discussing the leaders at the club and who the possible candidates were to replace the departed Jonny Evans as captain. The four players he publicly named were Jamie Vardy, Marc Albrighton, Ricardo Pereira, and Conor Coady. He said in August, “All of these sorts of players can be captain”. He did add at the time, however, that had Coady been injury-free and a clear starter, he may well have found himself officially named captain. As it was though, Maresca did not want to name someone who was more or less guaranteed to be part of the starting XI.
Three long-serving players, including two men who were part of the Premier League title-winning squad, plus a former Wolves captain make for a strong captain-quartet. The only slightly surprising omission from this list was Wilfred Ndidi, who was part of the five-man leadership committee when Dean Smith was briefly in charge at the King Power. The other four players who formed that committee no longer play for the club, so Ndidi is the only one to have suffered something of a demotion.
Okay, But Who Actually Captains Leicester?

Having a leadership group or multiple captains is one thing, but a side must name an official captain who, for example, takes part in the pre-match coin toss, among other necessary duties. For all Maresca’s early talk about having a fairly fluid system that can have different captains on an individual match basis, he has largely followed a predictable routine. There was a little more changing at the start of the season as for Leicester’s first three matches they had three different captains in Vardy, Albrighton (League Cup) and Pereira. Since then, however, a clear hierarchy has emerged after the initial brief uncertainty.
The system that has been in place for months is that Vardy is named captain when he is in the starting lineup. If he is not named in the starting XI, Ricardo Pereira is given the armband instead. If Vardy comes on as a substitute, which is often the case, he takes the armband from Pereira. Albrighton does not, however, take the armband from Pereira when coming on his odd cameo appearance (and Vardy isn’t on the pitch) as seen during the 4-1 win over Huddersfield.
Although it may not be official, effectively the Foxes have Jamie Vardy as their captain and Ricardo Pereira as vice-captain. It is worth mentioning here though that Pereira is usually the man walking the team out for Leicester matches. The Portuguese defender is a regular in the starting team, whereas Vardy has more often come off the bench for his minutes.
Trophy Winning Leicester Captains
Over their very lengthy history, Leicester have naturally had a long list of players given the captain’s armband. Rather than name them all, we thought it would be better to look at those to have lifted a trophy while leading the Foxes on the pitch.
Captain | Trophy Won | Year Trophy Won |
---|---|---|
Johnny Duncan | Second Division | 1925 |
Sepp Smith | Second Division | 1937 |
Matt Gillies | Second Division | 1954 |
Colin Appleton | League Cup | 1964 |
Jack Froggatt | Second Division | 1957 |
David Nish | Second Division | 1971 |
David Nish | FA Community Shield | 1971 |
Mark Wallington | Second Division | 1980 |
Steve Walsh | League Cup | 1997 |
Matt Elliott | League Cup | 2000 |
Matt Oakley | League One | 2009 |
Wes Morgan | Championship | 2014 |
Wes Morgan | Premier League | 2016 |
Wes Morgan | FA Cup | 2021 |
Kasper Schmeichel | Community Shield | 2021 |
You may be wondering how David Nish managed to lead Leicester to glory in the 1971 Community Shield, a competition contested between the First Division (now Premier League) champions and the FA Cup winners. Arsenal had won both that season but could not take part due to a pre-season tour commitment. So, to keep as close to the original format as possible, FA Cup runners-up Liverpool were invited along with Second Division winners, Leicester.
The absence of a formally named captain for the 2023/24 season perhaps means that Jamie Vardy and/or Ricardo Pereira do not warrant a place on this list should Leicester claim the Championship title in 2024. This would be a little harsh though given the influence the pair have had in turning the Foxes round following their relegation from the Premier League.
Interestingly, Vardy was not seen by Leicester fans as captain material at the beginning of the season, with most preferring Harry Souttar, Conor Coady or Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. The veteran striker has proven an excellent unofficial captain though, further cementing his legendary status at the club.