What a memory
It is a decade since the Foxes overcame gigantic odds to sensationally win the Premier League title for the first and only time in the club’s long history. At the start of the 2015-16 season, the 5,000-1 odds - representing a 0.02 per cent probability – revealed how unlikely, indeed near on impossible, such an eventuality had been regarded.
Elvis being found alive and Barack Obama playing cricket for England were offered at the same odds and better ones could have been got on Alex Ferguson winning Strictly Come Dancing and Kim Kardashian becoming US President.
All true Leicester fans can remember where they were when the title was won. My experience was sitting in my living room with my 16-year-old son watching on Sky Sports a football match being played a hundred miles away. Anything but a Tottenham win against Chelsea would clinch the title for the Foxes.
By half-time Tottenham had raced into a two-goal lead. But wait. Ten minutes into the second half Chelsea pulled a goal back. Chelsea fans held up banners with the words ‘do it for Ranieri’ written on them, a reference to the regard the Italian was still held in as a former manager at Stamford Bridge. With less than ten minutes left, a one-two between Diego Costa and Eden Hazard put the latter through on goal. We held our breath. Hazard swivelled and calmly hit the ball past the despairing dive of the Tottenham goalkeeper into the top corner of the net. Pandemonium.
Only around fifteen minutes were left including injury time. A crestfallen Spurs team start to lose their heads committing rash fouls and receiving countless yellow cards as they see their title hopes evaporate. The final whistle blew – at 9.56pm - after six agonising minutes of injury time.
We stared at the screen as the league table was flashed up with Leicester’s name in gold as champions and as the players, congregating in the house of Jamie Vardy, are shown jumping up and down manically breaking their television screen in the process. ‘The greatest story in the history of sport’ the commentator opined in typically hyperbolic fashion. According to the journalist Harry Harris, almost half a million tweets were sent using the word Leicester within five minutes of the end of the game.
How did it happen?
In retrospect, it is possible to explain what had seemed at the time a miracle. As I point out in my book on the club’s history, the underperformance of the traditional big Premier League clubs was one factor. Also important was keeping the Foxes’ first eleven fit for much of the 2015-16 season, which attests to the quality of the work done by the sports science department led by Dave Rennie.
Perhaps most important were the strategic assets possessed by the Foxes. The inspired choice of Claudio Ranieri as manager was one as was the first-rate group of backroom staff including most notably the excellent recruitment department headed by Steve Walsh. The capture of three players who turned out to be world class – Jamie Vardy, Riyad Mahrez and N’Golo Kante – was an essential part of Leicester’s success and is unlikely to be repeated again.
It now seems a long time ago
A decade on and Leicester now languish in League One. The title triumph seems to belong to a different age. The club’s hierarchy are reviled by the fans for the mistakes they have undoubtedly made (although, as I have previously written, the club’s demise is not entirely their fault) and for their utter failure to communicate their plans or apologise for what has gone wrong.
In this context, the chances of the title celebration event being a success seemed unlikely. The portents were ominous. The deluge of digital advertising for the event by the club suggested that tickets were not selling well. The names contained in the opposition team led by Tony Pulis didn’t help to inspire and neither did the failure to attract Mahrez, Kante and Shinji Okazaki to the event. The, seemingly desperate, announcement that Kasper Schmeichel and Jamie Vardy would be in the stands was met with widespread mirth on social media.
In the event, though, the day was enjoyable for those who were there. The main West Stand was almost full and the other two sides opened on the day were probably about a third full meaning an attendance of something in the region of 13,000. Given the circumstances, this was a decent turnout.
As for the game itself, both sides took it seriously. For a charity/exhibition match it was reasonably competitive. Those present were reminded of the quality of the players wearing the blue shirt a decade ago, with the performances of Christian Fuchs, Danny Drinkwater, Leonardo Ulloa and Mark Albrighton catching the eye. Plenty of chances were created but no goals were scored in normal time. The game went to penalties with the Foxes triumphing 4-2 with two good saves by Conrad Logan.
All in all, the event could have been worse. It’s now time for the club to move on and start to arrest the decline that has taken place in recent years. Watch this space.
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