It will be a celebratory atmosphere at Adams Park on Wednesday as FA Cup winners Leicester City come to town in Wycombe’s only first-team friendly in front of fans.
The game is the first chance for supporters to watch Wanderers’ star men in action in 2021, and with up to 5,000 permitted, it will be the largest attendance at Adams Park since the start of the pandemic.
So far, Wycombe’s pre-season schedule has been a relatively low-profile one, with in-house practice matches the order of the day in an attempt to reduce the risk of any Covid-19 complications.
However, that will change with the visit of the Foxes to Buckinghamshire as Wanderers fans come together to celebrate a special period in the club’s history and look ahead to an exciting League One campaign.
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They’ll be able to see the two big summer additions so far in the quarters: Josh Scowen, a former Chairboys favourite, and Sullay Kaikai, a promotion winner from the third-tier last time around.
Incredibly, it will also be Albanian starlet Anis Mehmeti’s first chance to impress the Adams Park faithful – he was an unused substitute in the two matches with fans present last season.
The atmosphere would perhaps reach fever pitch if Wycombe had signed a striker to replace Uche Ikpeazu by the time the friendly comes around.
Although Scott Kashket looks in fine fettle, Gareth Ainsworth will have his eyes on one or two reinforcements in that area of the pitch to complement the abilities of Alex Samuel and Adebayo Akinfenwa.
Of course, it’s only a pre-season friendly, but the game will still be a stern test for Wanderers and takes place just ten days before the first league fixture against Accrington.
Leicester have been one of the success stories of English football in recent years, and even without that unbelievable Premier League title, they’ve been a club transformed into a top-six regular.
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It’s something of a coup for Wycombe to attract Brendan Rogers’ side for a friendly, as the Foxes build towards their Premier League opener at home to Wolves and a Europa League group stage campaign.
It may seem a daunting task for the Chairboys, but Ainsworth’s men won five of their last eight games in the Championship, and the club has some very fond memories of facing Leicester.
One of the most famous days in Wycombe’s history saw them knock the east Midlands side out of the FA Cup on the way to a magical semi-final appearance.
The pair’s most recent meeting came in the 2013-14 League Cup, when the Foxes got revenge with a late winner of their own.
Leicester have looked good in the transfer market with impressive deals for young duo Patson Daka and Boubakary Soumaré.
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They also have James Justin in their ranks, who caused the Chairboys all sorts of problems during Luton’s promotion campaign from League One.
The side that faces Wycombe is likely to be a mix of first-team players and youngsters, but with names like Wesley Fofana, James Maddison and Jamie Vardy in the squad, it will be an occasion to savour.
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