The answer, of course, is no this hasn’t been Leicester’s worst season ever. Older fans will remember the years of mediocrity in football’s second tier, the season (1990-1) when a goal from defender Tony James saved City from relegation to the third tier, and 2007-8 when the trapdoor did open.
Has this season, though, been the Foxes’ worst season in the top-flight? The tone of much of the media coverage suggests that it might well be. It has even been suggested that the game against Southampton at the King Power Stadium in early May was the worst ever Premier League match.
Actually, though, there’s a lot of seasons to choose from here as Leicester hold the record for the most (13) relegations from English football’s elite league. Five of these have been in the Premier League era. The answer is that it’s a close-run thing but the Foxes have had poorer seasons, except, that is, for the percentage of defeats.
In terms of points per game, 2024/5 is the second worst top-flight season although it is the most calamitous in the Premier League era. For an even more abject campaign, we have to go back to 1977/8 when Frank McLintock, the former City centre back, took over from Jimmy Bloomfield as manager. His Leicester side won only five matches and drew 12 out of 42 finishing well adrift at the bottom of the table (22nd). The points total of 22 reflected the fact that, in those days, clubs got only two points for a win. If we adjust the total awarding three points for a win, we arrive at a total of 27 points for ‘77/8. That represents a total of 0.64 points a game compared to 0.65 (25 points from 38 games) in 2024/5.
In terms of win percentages, 2024/5 was the fourth worst season in Leicester’s top-flight history. It has not been as bad as the ’77-8 season when McLintock’s side won only 12 per cent of their matches, 2001/2, Peter Taylor’s second as boss, when the Foxes managed only five out of 38 matches (13 per cent) and ‘94/5 when Brian Little’s newly promoted side won only six out of 42 games.
Only in terms of the percentage of defeats does this season top the poll for the worst in Leicester City’s top-flight history. In the campaign just ended, the Foxes lost 66 per cent of their games (25 out of 38). This is well ahead of the previous poorest outcomes. In ‘77/8, McLintock’s team lost 60 per cent of their matches (25 games out of 42) and this was equalled in ‘94/5.
So, 2024/5 wasn’t quite the worst season in Leicester City’s top-flight history. But it’s a close-run thing and compares with the most disastrous campaigns of the past.