If you are not currently watching the Premier League (the chances of which are very slim), you are missing out on the greatest underdog fairy tale story in the history of football, if not the history of any professional sport.
Leicester City, or the Foxes as they are typically called, has been a relatively insignificant side for the past decade. Having finished 18th in the Premier League in the 2003-04 season, they were relegated to the Championship where they battled it out for a couple of years, eventually falling down even further to League One after the 2007-08 season. They would, however, climb their way back to the Championship next season and after hard work and persistence they guaranteed themselves a position in the Championship playoffs, the following season.
What followed was probably the most cruelest and traumatizing event that a Leicester City player and fan had to endure since the founding of the club. Having won the first leg of the play-off 1-0, Leicester traveled to Watford to see out the tie. As the clock ticked down, Watford were in the lead with a score of 2-1, and as it currently stood, the match would go into extra time as the aggregate score was 2-2. What followed was a nightmare for every Leicester fan. With only seconds left on the clock, Leicester City were awarded a penalty to secure the tie and guarantee promotion. Anthony Knockaert stepped up and missed, leading to a swift counter-attack from the Watford side resulting in a goal at the other end and misery and humiliation for the Foxes.
However, the Foxes were not to be deterred and after this heartbreak they fought back and finished in top spot the next season to secure automatic promotion to the Premier League, after 10 years out of the top flight.
Leicester City were now the only team in the history of the Premier League who went from bottom of the table one Christmas to the top of the table the next Christmas. But no one yet still believed that the Foxes were for real and they were expected to fall off their magical ride very soon. However the Foxes once again showed the entire world that they weren't a fluke with a 3-1 thrashing of reigning champions Manchester City away from home. And now, after 24 matches played and 14 more to go, the Foxes are well and truly the outright favorites to win the title. They face Arsenal on Sunday which will be a true test of their character but one thing that we have learnt over the course of this season is that the Foxes won't be intimated heading into Sunday's blockbuster.
Leicester City, or the Foxes as they are typically called, has been a relatively insignificant side for the past decade. Having finished 18th in the Premier League in the 2003-04 season, they were relegated to the Championship where they battled it out for a couple of years, eventually falling down even further to League One after the 2007-08 season. They would, however, climb their way back to the Championship next season and after hard work and persistence they guaranteed themselves a position in the Championship playoffs, the following season.
What followed was probably the most cruelest and traumatizing event that a Leicester City player and fan had to endure since the founding of the club. Having won the first leg of the play-off 1-0, Leicester traveled to Watford to see out the tie. As the clock ticked down, Watford were in the lead with a score of 2-1, and as it currently stood, the match would go into extra time as the aggregate score was 2-2. What followed was a nightmare for every Leicester fan. With only seconds left on the clock, Leicester City were awarded a penalty to secure the tie and guarantee promotion. Anthony Knockaert stepped up and missed, leading to a swift counter-attack from the Watford side resulting in a goal at the other end and misery and humiliation for the Foxes.
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| Troy Deeney scored in extra time for Watford to down the Foxes. |
Their first season back started promisingly, and some outstanding results such as the 5-3 thrashing of Manchester United led hope for a strong campaign. Soon, however, misery followed and the Foxes sat bottom of the table with only 9 games to go. Remarkably, they managed to turn things around and won 7 out of the 9 remaining games, mostly thanks to their manager Nigel Pearson and finished 14th in the table.
But again, things started taking a turn for the worse. In the preseason tour of the 2105-16 campaign, 3 Leicester City players were involved in a sex-tape scandal and one of the players was the son of manager Nigel Pearson. Pearson and the 3 players were subsequently let go. No one was also particularly impressed with Pearson's replacement, Claudio Ranieri, who hadn't managed a Premier League side since 2004. Leicester City were favorites for relegation, heading into the 2015-16 season with a squad made up of mostly unknown players such as Robert Huth, Riyad Mahrez and Danny Drinkwater etc.
Against all the odds, however, Leicester came out flying and won their first match 4-2 and were the only Premier League team to remain unbeaten in the first 6 games. But after a 5-2 humbling at the hands of Arsenal, their hot streak appeared to have been over. They were, however, not deterred and kept on flying. Their extremely high-paced, counter-attacking style of football with a strong and organised defense was a handful for most of their opponents. On 14 December, Leicester took the 1st position. 2 players especially who seemed to put in outstanding performances week in and week out were Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez. Both seemed to relish the opportunity to play in this energetic Leicester team and were easily the top 2 players in the entire League for the first half of the campaign. The Foxes's show-stopping run was summed up in one record : Jamie Vardy scoring 13 goals in 11 consecutive league games, beating Ruud Van Nistelroy's record of 10 consecutive games.
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| Jamie Vardy scores against Man Utd to break Ruud Van Nistelroy's record. |
Leicester City were now the only team in the history of the Premier League who went from bottom of the table one Christmas to the top of the table the next Christmas. But no one yet still believed that the Foxes were for real and they were expected to fall off their magical ride very soon. However the Foxes once again showed the entire world that they weren't a fluke with a 3-1 thrashing of reigning champions Manchester City away from home. And now, after 24 matches played and 14 more to go, the Foxes are well and truly the outright favorites to win the title. They face Arsenal on Sunday which will be a true test of their character but one thing that we have learnt over the course of this season is that the Foxes won't be intimated heading into Sunday's blockbuster.
Whether or not Leicester City do go on to win the title remains to be seen but the Foxes's journey up till now has been nothing short of a fairy tale. From League One to top of the Premier League table in under a decade is the stuff of dreams. And every football fan, deep down in their heart, wants Leicester City to go on and win the title!
