Dubai: Overcoming a 5000/1 odds is no mean task and the extraordinary journey undertaken by the fearless ‘Foxes’ will continue to be the ultimate underdog story in sport for years to come.
Leicester’s journey from League One to Premier League champions in seven years is an invaluable lesson that sport is not merely about money and more to do with team spirit, unity and self-belief.
As of April 2015, Nigel Pearson’s Leicester City were staring down the barrel, rooted to the bottom of the Premier League table and almost certain to go back down to the Championship at the first time asking. Seven wins from their final nine games saw the Foxes beat the drop and finish 14th. Albeit, nobody could have quite dreamt of the sequence of events that followed.
Former Chelsea manager Claudio Ranieri replaced Pearson at the King Power Stadium, with many doubting the Italian’s methods and expected him to be out of the door by Christmas.
A dominant 4-2 win against Sunderland kick-started their season and they remained unbeaten in six matches before a 5-2 loss against Arsenal in September. Refusing to give up, the Foxes displayed great character, with Jamie Vardy becoming the first player to score in 11 consecutive Premier League games, setting a new Guinness World record after his strike against Manchester United.
Their unbelievable journey continued after a 3-2 win against Everton — leaving them at the summit on Christmas Day. An unbeaten run of 10 games came to an end after a Boxing Day defeat to Liverpool and successive draws put their dream on hold, with thousands claiming the bubble had burst.
Ranieri’s men responded with a 1-0 win over title-rivals Tottenham and a 1-1 draw against Aston Villa to reclaim top spot.
Four days after beating Liverpool 2-0, they shocked Manchester City 3-1 at the Etihad as their odds were slashed to 7/4, quite extraordinary as the Foxes finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel.
A stoppage time winner from Danny Welbeck gave Arsenal a 2-1 win at the Emirates to derail the title-aspirants briefly. This would be their final loss of the season as they responded with five straight wins — a 2-0 triumph over Sunderland left them seven points clear with five games to play.
A 1-1 against Manchester United put them on the brink as Tottenham conceded a 2-0 lead against Chelsea to hand Leicester the title.
— The writer is an intern with Gulf News
