2016-05-04

Had you been told that Chelsea vs Tottenham with two games left to play at the start of the 2015/16 Premier League campaign would decide the title, chances are you would have assumed that it was The Blues that were on the verge of clinching the trophy for a second consecutive year.

Instead, the 2-2 draw confirmed one of the biggest shocks in footballing history, as Leicester City were crowned champions of England – a team that were tipped for relegation by the vast majority of football fans and pundits alike at the start of the campaign.

The 5000/1 odds that were offered on The Foxes winning the league before the season kicked off says it all – according to the bookies, there was more chance of Piers Morgan taking over as Arsenal boss (2500/1), Elvis Presley coming back from the dead (2000/1), or the Loch Ness monster being discovered alive and well (500/1).

Leicester’s unbelievable victory is set to cost bookmakers millions of pounds in payouts, with Sky Bet taking the biggest hit in history by paying out £4.6 million to their customers, while William Hill have announced that they will never again offer odds higher than 1000/1 on title winners. While the chances of another shock this big occurring again any time soon is unlikely, Leicester City’s title win will offer hope to the smaller teams who hope to achieve big too.

“A lot of people stop me in the street and say ‘I am a fan of another team but if Leicester win the title I am very happy,” stated Foxes manager Claudio Ranieri as the title race began to heat up.

Unless you own a bookmakers or support Tottenham, May 2nd 2016 will be a day that every English football fan will remember for a long while. Not only is it brilliant to see an underdog topple the heavyweights, but it once again marks the Premier League out as the most entertaining, surprising and, ultimately, the best football league competition in world football.

With more than 130 years of history behind them, Leicester have had some special moments in their past, but the 2015/16 Premier League campaign tops it all. Unless Ranieri’s men can navigate past the likes of Juventus, Bayern Munich and Barcelona to clinch the Champions League next season, the odds on them ever topping their title win are much higher than 5000/1.

Pre-2015/16

Originally founded by a group of former students of Wyggeston School in 1884, ‘Leicester Fosse Football Club’ spent their early years playing in the Midlands League, before joining the second tier of the Football League system in 1894. Their first spell in the top flight came in 1907, before the club was disbanded and reformed as Leicester City Football Club a decade later.

The 1920s would prove to be one of the club’s brightest decades, as they finished runners-up in the top flight by a single point in the 1928/29 campaign – the closest that they would come to winning a top level trophy until 2015/16. However, by the 1930s, the club could be found yo-yoing between Division One and Division Two. Aside from a sprinkle of success here and there, such as the club’s 1964 League Cup final victory over Stoke City, things would continue in much the same way deep into the 20th century.

The League Cup would prove to be Leicester City’s favourite competition, as they clinched the trophy again in 1997 with a narrow victory over Middlesbrough, before topping it off with a third in 2000 after beating Tranmere Rovers 2-1 in the final. Throw in seven second tier titles and Gary Lineker, and that just about sums up the club’s high points.

However, there have also been a number of low points, such as their brush with administration in 2002, when the purchase of the King Power Stadium, coupled with the collapse of ITV Digital which saw clubs lose out on a big television rights payout, almost crippled the club. Likewise, their relegation to League One in 2008 is a memory that the club will want to forget.

However, the fact that these potentially catastrophic events happened so recently only highlights just how extraordinary the 2015/16 season was. After a takeover from current owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha and a spell under former-England national team manager Sven-Goran Eriksson, Nigel Pearson would eventually lead the club out of the Championship and into the Premier League ahead of the 2014/15 season.

However, their spell in the top flight appeared to be a short one the longer that the campaign went on, after the club became marooned in 20th place after just 13 games. Leicester City would remain their until matchday 32. However, a miraculous turn of form, in which the club won seven of their last nine matches, would lift them out of the relegation zone just in time to confirm their survival in the Premier League.

Summer 2015: The arrival of Claudio Ranieri

June 2015 would see Pearson relieved of his managerial duties after he struggled to take the club’s side over a somewhat shocking incident involving his son, who was on the books at the club, and a number of his teammates.

Just two weeks later, the club had confirmed that former-Chelsea boss Claudio Ranieri would be taking the reigns at the King Power Stadium. The decision to sign the Italian boss was met with doubt by a large portion of the club’s fans, given that he had recently been dismissed by the Greek national team after a woeful showing in the Euro 2016 qualifying campaign, in which his side suffered an embarrassing defeat to European minnows the Faroe Islands.

“I wish to thank the owner, his son and all the executives of the club for the opportunity they are giving me,” Ranieri told the media following the announcement. “Now I’ve only one way for returning their trust: squeeze all my energies to getting the best results for the club.”

Much of the club’s work in the transfer market had been done prior to Ranieri’s arrival, with Pearson having already convinced talented left-back Christian Fuchs to join the club on a free transfer after letting his contract with Schalke 04 run down. Likewise, Robert Huth, who had spent the second half of the 2014/15 campaign on loan at Leicester, agreed to a permanent deal, which added some much needed experience to the side. Likewise, Mainz 05 goalscorer Shinji Okazaki, who was largely overshadowed by Jamie Vardy throughout his first season in England, also signed on the dotted line.

Although, Ranieri would set about putting his own touches on the squad, making headlined with the signing of Napoli midfielder Gokhan Inler (who was surprisingly unable to cement a place in the starting 11), as well as the capture of French midfielder N’Golo Kanté, who would go on to play a massive role in their title win.

Despite the quality that the club had added to their squad, the vast majority of Premier League fans believed that The Foxes had a struggle on their hands before a ball had even been kicked.

August 2015

Despite the feeling of nervousness around the club, Ranieri’s Leicester side got off to a fantastic start, as the club netted three times within the opening 30 minutes of play to secure an eventual 4-2 victory over Sunderland. The win foreshadowed what was to come, as it saw the club jump to the top of the table.

Another win and two draws would round-up August, leaving the club in third place. Although, Vardy’s late equaliser in a 1-1 draw with Bournemouth at the end of the month would be the start of a magical run that would throw the former non-league footballer into the spotlight. Leicester City’s early form caused many people to rethink their relegation tips, as the side appeared to be adopting Ranieri’s philosophies perfectly, but nobody expected what was to come.

September – November 2015

Vardy’s goal at Bournemouth would prove to be the first of many throughout the 2015/16 Premier League campaign. However, the England striker’s best form would come between September and November, which would eventually culminate in a Guinness Book of Records award.

Despite scoring just five goals throughout the entirety of the 2014/15 season, Leicester’s new main man, who had been playing non-league football up until four years prior, had already equaled his previous tally by late September, when he scored a brace in a 4-2 defeat to Arsenal. Those goals meant that he had scored five times in just four appearances, finding the net at least once in each match.

That run would continue throughout the months to come, which eventually prompted talk of Vardy potentially breaking the record for goals scored in consecutive Premier League games, set at 10 by Dutch icon Ruud van Nistelrooy in 2003.

Goals against Aston Villa, Stoke City, Arsenal, Norwich, Southampton, Crystal Palace, West Brom, Watford and Newcastle would see him match Van Nistelrooy’s record going into the final game of November, which was to be played against none other than the Dutchman’s former club, Manchester United.

It took Vardy just 24 minutes to break the deadlock and earn himself a place in the history books. The eventual 1-1 draw also saw Leicester City enter December in second place, having lost just one game, prompting whispers of the club potentially snatching a top four finish and a place in the Champions League.

December – January 2016

Vardy’s form began to slow down entering December, with his goalscoring record ending after 11 consecutive games. Thankfully, £300,000 winger, and soon to be PFA Player of the Year, Riyad Mahrez was on hand to keep the club’s title charge on track. Six goals in three games from the Algerian was enough to see The Foxes celebrate Christmas at the top of the table.

With the winter transfer window quickly approaching, it is unsurprising that both Vardy and Mahrez began to be linked with the likes of Manchester United, Arsenal and, in Mahrez’s case, Barcelona. Despite the constant tabloid reports, Ranieri insisted that his players would commit themselves to the club’s Premier League assault or face a spell on the sidelines for the remainder of the season. Unsurprisingly, both remained fixed on the idea of securing Champions League football with Leicester City.

As the club entered January, the prospect of a club tipped for relegation snatching European football was becoming increasingly likely, yet Ranieri continued to play it cool over the club’s chances, insisting Leicester had already achieved above and beyond what anybody had expected.

“What we did is a miracle,” the Italian boss stated. “If we arrive in the top four it is not a miracle, it is something bigger – it is out of this galaxy.”

Regardless of their phenomenal performances during the first half of the season, few people believed that they could keep it up when the title race really got going. Yet, despite a slight blip, in which they failed to register a win in three games, things picked up again throughout January, which saw the club reclaim the top spot that they would hold onto for the remainder of the season.

February – May 2016

The final few months of the season would be far from the constant counter-attacking brilliance that the club had displayed early on in the season, with lots of scrappy 1-0 victories eventually leading Leicester City to the title. However, this allowed those towards the backend of the pitch to grab some of the attention that they equally deserved, with the likes of N’Golo Kante, Danny Drinkwater, Robert Huth and Wes Morgan all receiving plenty of praise as they helped the club to hold out until the very end.

Despite the club having already proved that they could withstand pressure from the so-called ‘big teams’ throughout the season, it seemed nobody could actually picture Leicester City lifting the trophy, as lucky betters clambered to cash-out before the club could slip up and cost them thousands of pounds.

With Tottenham still in the reckoning, it wasn’t until the final whistle blew at Stamford Bridge on May 2nd 2016 that football fans accepted that they would actually witness one of the biggest shocks that the beautiful game has ever seen.

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