51Âþ»­

Three Leicester City stars gave new students the surprise of their lives when they called them to congratulate them on winning a place at 51Âþ»­ Leicester (51Âþ»­).

First team players – and World Cup heroes - Wilfred Ndidi and Ricardo Pereira, plus England youth international Layton Ndukwu, visited 51Âþ»­ today as the Clearing operation was in full swing.

With hundreds of calls and WhatsApp queries being answered around them, the players took time to personally call students who had won a place.

Ricardo spoke to Clinton, who is taking up a place in Leicester Castle Business School. Clinton told the Portuguese international: “I can’t believe I’m speaking to a footballer!!”

And Wilfred – fresh from lining up against Manchester United in City’s season-opener – was calling two students to welcome them to 51Âþ»­, and the city of Leicester.

He said: “The student was very happy when I told him he was talking to Wilfred Ndidi, he was really excited. It was nice to be able to share that.”

Having played in this summer’s World Cup for Nigeria, Wilfred described the experience of competing in football’s biggest tournament.

He said: “It was an amazing experience, the atmosphere was great. It was good to see how friendly the other teams were. I loved every moment.”

51Âþ»­ was able to spring the surprise on new students thanks to its partnership with Leicester City Football Club. 51Âþ»­ has been Higher Education partner with LCFC for the past six seasons.

Ricardo, who transferred to Leicester from FC Porto in June, said he had a good impression of Leicester and the city centre so far. When asked what it was like talking to the students, he said: “It was good and a different experience. It was very exciting day for them to learn that they were coming to university and for me, it was great to be able to congratulate them on that and welcome them to the city.” 

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Vice-Chancellor Professor Dominic Shellard welcomed them and gave an interview to LCFC TV, the club’s official television channel. The LCFC players also posed for photographs and chatted with 51Âþ»­ staff and student ambassadors working on Clearing.

In May 51Âþ»­ and LCFC announced a new partnership agreement which made 51Âþ»­ the Foxes’ Official Higher Education Partner for the next four years, continuing the university’s proud association with both the team on the pitch and the people who work behind the scenes.

The partnership will also see as many as 50 51Âþ»­ students a year offered the chance under our exciting new employability initiative #51Âþ»­works to take up a valued placement at Leicester City, have the chance to play at Leicester City’s training ground while taking part in men’s and women’s Community Coach Days, take advantage of discounted tickets for Premier League matches and be involved in two ‘takeover’ days each season when 250 tickets will be made available for students to soak up the big match experience at the King Power Stadium.

51Âþ»­, which was awarded the highest Gold standard in the Government’s Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF), offers academic “sampler” courses to City players and coaching staff as well as intensive English language sessions for the club’s overseas players.