Leicester City’s Impossible Premier League Win Ten Years On

There’s a hypothetical question that’s been flying around football-oriented social media recently. The premise of the question is simple: Would you trade your own club’s history over the last decade to mirror the journey of Leicester City? Or, more specifically, would you want a Premier League title, FA Cup, and European adventures if it meant that you would face the consequence of a double relegation years later?

For most Leicester fans, they wouldn’t change it all. The timing of the question is not a coincidence. It’s the ten-year anniversary of Leicester’s title triumph, and, unfortunately, the club has just been relegated to League One, so that obviously adds to the sense of reflection by the fans. It’s a painful time for the club right now, but goodness, what a ride it has been.

When looking back at the 2015/16 season, it is sometimes suggested that Leicester’s title charge was a bit of a fluke, but that’s not really the case. Surprising, yes, but a fluke suggests unmerited, and this wasn’t. The Foxes won the league by ten points – with room to spare. The suggestion, too, that other teams were in transition doesn’t really hold water. If you take Manchester City, who came 4^th, they had Aguero, De Bruyne, Sterling, Kompany, and so on, basically all the pieces that would dominate in the years to come. Liverpool, who were in the early days of the Klopp era, may have been in a state of change, but the point stands: this was not a weak Premier League campaign.

Leicester’s Strong Start

Leicester started the season with wins over Sunderland and West Ham, and then followed it up with decent draws with Tottenham and Bournemouth. None of this suggested title challenge right away, especially as City came storming out of the blocks with a 100% win record over the first five games. But it was Leicester’s fifth game of the season, against Villa, when we started to think that something was special about this team. Leicester were two goals in the 70^th minute, before Jamie Vardy, Richard De Laet and Nathan Dyer (remember him?) turned the game on its head.

A loss against Arsenal and a draw against Stoke brought Leicester down to earth again, but there was an incredible run from early October right through to Boxing Day that saw Leicester reel off eight wins and two draws. It was at this point that people began to talk of a title charge, yet the consensus remained that Leicester would run out of steam.

Winter Wonders

Boxing Day would see defeat at Anfield – just the second of the three that Leicester would have all season – but the Foxes went on a lovely run through January and February, which included a 2-0 win against Liverpool in the reverse fixture. But the key game was arguably the 3-1 victory at the Etihad. Beating Liverpool and City, the latter on their own patch, in a matter of days, was the point where Leicester fans and players began to truly believe.

On Valentine’s Day 2016, Arsenal beat Leicester for the second time in the season, cutting the gap at the top to two points. At the time, Leicester had become the neutrals’ favourite, and everyone was on board with the idea of the impossible dream. Some felt that Arsenal’s win felt ominous, yet others pointed to Leicester’s gentler fixture list over the final dozen games of the season. They were correct.

The Triumph

Leicester went unbeaten to finish the season, ending up with a ten-point gap over Arsenal, and a 15-point gap over title favourites City. It felt inevitable from around mid-April, though it was confirmed after Spurs (who were alongside Arsenal as the closest challengers) and Chelsea drew 2-2 on the 2^nd of May. Nobody really wants to celebrate a title win when not on the pitch, but the Leicester fans, nor the players, cared. It was done.

The Context

It has now gone down in betting folklore that Leicester’s odds of 5,000/1 were backed by a few lucky punters. The scope of that was insane, and you can be sure those bettors gave the same kind of credence as you would when buying lottery tickets online, that is to say, it was more a dream than expectation. But the odds really underline just how remote a possibility this was viewed as. It is almost certain to never happen again. Not just in the Premier League, but in football globally.

The Aftermath

We won’t dwell too much on Leicester’s eventual demise, but it is enough to say that the Foxes had a few ups and downs in the years after. As expected, the title-winning squad, with a few exceptions, like Vardy, was broken up and sold for parts. Yet, it’s probably forgotten that Leicester had some good seasons in the league in the years after, finishing 5^th twice in 2020 and 2021. The FA Cup win in 2021 was almost as sweet as the title win five years beforehand. Relegation, then promotion, then relegation again saw things take a downturn.

And now, well, things must change. Leicester, regardless of financial difficulties, is too big a club to stay down for long. Moreover, the team has won a lot of fans over the last decade. As we said, they won the hearts of the neutrals during that magical season. Everyone who was charmed by this deserved title triumph will be hoping that the Foxes will be on the hunt for glory again soon.