John Holmes has seen and done it all at Leicester

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: ‘I encouraged my son to get the fans to shout ‘Get your money out’ so I would have to resign!’ John Holmes – aka ‘Mr Leicester City’ – has seen and done it all at the Foxes and says Brendan Rodgers foretold pending doom

• Pioneering football agent Jon Holmes is known to friends as Mr Leicester City
• Holmes has had different jobs at Leicester, including being the club’s chairman 
• He says former manager Brendan Rodgers saw the danger coming at the side 

Pioneering football agent Jon Holmes watched Don Revie’s Leeds as a student, while his best-known client Gary Lineker played for Everton when his goals at the 1986 World Cup changed their lives.

But there will be no split loyalties in Sunday’s relegation battle finale. Holmes is known to friends as Mr Leicester City for good reason.

‘I went to my first game aged seven and have done everything at the club since,’ he says. ‘Fan, stadium announcer, programme editor, chairman.

‘A football club is nothing without its heritage. I get offended if I walk round town and see kids in Man United or Chelsea shirts.

‘There is a plaque of my dad in the present ground’s memorial garden. He followed Leicester for 75 years and never saw them win the league or FA Cup. I’ve been lucky to do both but also been through eight relegations. And here we are again – win or bust on the last day.’

Known as ‘Mr Leicester City’, Jon Holmes has had different jobs at the club including chairman

Holmes is eager for his beloved Leicester to stay up on a dramatic final day of the season

Holmes turns 73 next month and his sense of history makes him a natural co-presenter with author Colin Shindler for a nostalgic podcast called Football Ruined my Life.

But he knows how the modern world works. He represented other top footballers like Emile Heskey, Gary McAllister and Peter Shilton and now concentrates on broadcasting with Mike Atherton, Ruby Walsh, David Gower and Lineker in his stable.

With a background as a financial adviser, his life changed after reading a book by American super-agent Mark McCormack who had turned Arnold Palmer into a star. Holmes tried to emulate McCormack while concentrating on what he knew best – football and Leicester.

‘I’d always been close to the club. In my 20s, I filled in for the stadium announcer. My first message over the tannoy was to tell people a vehicle had been left in the car park with the engine still running!

‘Shilts was my first client, but it was another Leicester goalkeeper, Mark Wallington, who led me to Gary Lineker. I was chairman of Mark’s testimonial committee and Gary was the helpful one who turned up for every event, cricket, snooker, you name it. I got to know him well.

‘At the time I didn’t think he was a very good player – he missed chances and fell over a lot – but he was a quick learner!’

Initially, Holmes didn’t think Gary Lineker was a good player – he missed chances and fell over

Holmes says this season has been frustrating but nothing can take away Leicester’s 2016 glory

Holmes guided Lineker’s career through Everton, Barcelona, Spurs and Nagoya Grampus Eight in Japan. And then on to a successful TV career after retirement. When Leicester went into administration in 2002 both men put in money to save them and Holmes became a stop-gap chairman the following year.

‘Being a chairman ruins it as a fan. Managers always want more players, supporters want you to put more money in, box holders complain the sausage rolls are crap! We got promoted but then I stepped down. I wanted to be a normal supporter again. I encouraged my son to get the fans to shout: “Get your chequebook out” so I’d have to resign!

‘As chairman, you live it 24/7. As a fan, you can be unreasonable. As chairman, you’ve got to congratulate the opposition in the boardroom and be nice to Ken Bates. Why would anyone want to do that?!’

At one stage, Holmes was interested in appointing David Moyes as manager. By a strange quirk of fate, the Scot will be in the opposition dug-out on Sunday with Holmes hoping he picks a weakened West Ham team so Leicester can get the win they need to stay up – and even then only if Everton fail to beat Bournemouth.

‘There has been a lot of frustration this season,’ says Holmes, a home regular. ‘For fans, football is a good way of letting off steam. I’ll be worrying about the game from Saturday night onwards and there will be a lot of hand-wringing from me, but I’m trying to keep things in perspective. I’ve seen Leicester win the league in 2016 which I never ever thought would happen. Even going down won’t take that feeling away.’

When he was Leicester chairman, at one point Holmes wanted to appoint David Moyes (above)

Brendan Rodgers saw the danger coming at Leicester and warned they needed a refresh

It is unusual for a club to plummet as quickly at the Foxes.

They reached the Europa Conference League semi-final last season when Holmes and Lineker took their sons to Italy to watch them play Jose Mourinho’s Roma.

‘The one person who saw the danger coming was Brendan Rodgers,’ says Holmes. ‘He told the powers that be 18 months ago they needed a refresh but for whatever reason they didn’t buy anyone in the summer. Brendan foresaw it was going to be difficult after losing at Forest in the FA Cup, who were Championship at the time. Kasper Schmeichel and Jamie Vardy have been brilliant for the club but their time was fading.

‘We played well in the first game this season against Brentford and led 2-0. Then we let in two and you had the feeling something was wrong. Only Brendan will know the answer but perhaps he should have said to the owners when they hadn’t spent any money in the summer: “Look, you brought me in to challenge the top six, without a refresh we won’t be able to, perhaps it’s right you give someone else the chance to go on”.

Holmes says that being the chairman of a football club ruins the experience of being a fan

‘I know you can find exceptions like Unai Emery at Aston Villa but in general the best time to change a manager is in the close season. It’s harder during the campaign. But Brendan will get another job because he is a very good coach.’

Holmes doesn’t try to hide his colours. The Audi in his driveway is Leicester City blue. His son Jack’s dog is called Wilf, after Ndidi. However, his wife and two daughters haven’t caught the bug. ‘They came to a game and thought the crowd were singing “Biryani”. I had to tell them it was “Blue army”.

Holmes’s regular match-going partner is Showaddywaddy singer Dave Bartram, another Leicester lad. TV mogul Jimmy Mulville, who runs Hat Trick productions, sent the text that told Holmes Leicester were going to be champions because Chelsea had equalised against Spurs. ‘I’d been too nervous to watch it,’ he says.

By good fortune, Holmes had put his name down at the start of the season to sponsor the final home game against Everton. It turned out to be a title party, with Holmes taking club legends Gordon Banks and Frank McLintock pitchside to hear Claudio Ranieri’s friend, tenor Andrea Bocelli, give a spectacular rendition of Nessun Dorma.

Sunday’s occasion is going to more tense and potentially sombre but regardless of the outcome, Holmes will remain devoted to his team.

‘I think the story of 5,000-1 Leicester City made the Premier League take off in America,’ he says. ‘I know because it stopped people in the States saying “Lie-sess-tur!”‘

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