Though having gained immense top-level experience at Highbury, and having shared in some of Arsenal's greatest glory days, Jon had also suffered a rare measure of disappointment before arriving at Leicester for £100,000 as Jimmy Bloomfield's first purchase. To set against his winning of one Football League honour and nine England Under-23 caps, his Wembley League Cup trips had both ended in defeat, while his winning goal in Arsenal's 1970 Fairs Cup Final triumph had seemed to herald a brighter future for Jon than the fate of being sidelined for much of the following Double season.

The elegant midfielder soon shrugged off any ill-effects on his morale though, as he set about helping re-establish City as a First Division force, and in fact, in his first senior game, prompting them to capture the FA Charity Shield.

Adept at slowing the pace of a game, Jon didn't always endear himself to an impatient crowd, but he was blessed with a sharp eye for a telling long pass and could also unleash a fair long-distance shot, as well as showing a willingness to play guinea-pig at the centre of some of Bloomfield's more extrovert tactical experiments. (Remember the short lived 'S Plan' with Jon cast in a Beckenbauer-like sweeper's role?)

His consistency over six and a half seasons in the top flight was admirable and it was notable that the team's precipitate decline in 1977/78 coincided with the warning influence of Jon on the City attack. After spells in the NASL and in senior non-league football, Jon returned to Leicestershire to open a driving school.

Jon Sammels was one of seven City players - but the only ex-Gunner - to have faced Arsenal no less than seven times during 1974/75. Two First Division encounters were supplemented by three FA Cup meetings and two League Cup ties - a club record for matches against one club in one season. The other City 'ever-presents' in this little series were Steve Whitworth, Keith Weller, Steve Earle, Frank Worthington, Alan Birchenall and Len Glover.

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