Michael Appleton (LCFC Assistant Manager)

Michael Appleton, 41, joined Leicester City as Assistant Manager on a three-year contract in the summer of 2017.

It was 23 years previously when Appleton broke onto the scene as a youth graduate at Manchester United. He didn’t make a senior appearance at Old Trafford but enjoyed a succession of positive loan spells with Wimbledon, Lincoln City and Grimsby Town.

In 1997, a permanent switch to Preston North End presented itself and he would go on to make 121 appearances in the North West, scoring 12 goals from midfield, as the Lilywhites booked promotion to the First Division in May 2000.

But it was at West Brom, first as a player and then a coach, that Appleton’s made his greatest impact. He only made 33 appearances at The Hawthorns before an injury cut his career short ahead of the 2003/2004 campaign. He swiftly moved into the backroom team, working for the youth side for over five years. 

Two years later, following a promotion to the position of first team coach under Roberto di Matteo and a one-game stint as caretaker manager, Appleton left The Hawthorns to take charge of Portsmouth in the Sky Bet Championship.

Spells with Blackpool and Blackburn Rovers shortly in the second tier. His brief spell at Rovers will be remembered for a Fifth Round victory over Arsenal in the FA Cup at the Emirates Stadium but it wouldn’t be long before he joined Oxford United. They gained promotion from Sky Bet League 2 as runners-up in 2016.

His side registered 24 victories, 14 draws and just eight defeats across the 2015/16 campaign. During his three-year tenure at the Kassam Stadium, Appleton’s Oxford also became known as a side capable of defeating teams from higher divisions in both domestic cup competitions.

In January, 2017, they overcame eventual Championship champions Newcastle United 3-0 at home in the Emirates FA Cup Fourth Round. Twelve months earlier, whilst still in League 2, the Oxfordshire outfit also enjoyed a memorable 3-2 Third Round triumph over Premier League side Swansea City following an earlier 4-0 success away at second tier Brentford in the First Round of the EFL Cup in August 2015.

Appleton joined the Foxes with a reputation as one of the country’s most dynamic young coaches having also taken Oxford to consecutive Football League Trophy Finals over the past two seasons.

During 2016/17, the U’s finished in eighth place on their maiden campaign back in League 1, just four points off the play-off positions.