Leicester City: A Story To Be Remembered

Leicester had never won the Premier League. They'd never finished in the top five. Their last top-10 finish was in 1999-2000. They were bad enough to get relegated to England's second-tier league, the Football League Championship, in 2004. They were bad enough in England's second-tier league that they got relegated to England's third-tier league, League One, in 2008. To be fair, they only spent one season in England's third tier, quickly winning the League One title. But within the last 10 years, Leicester wasn't one of the top 44 teams in English soccer. They weren't good enough to be in the league for teams that aren't good enough for the Premier League. They finally made it back to the Premier League last year, and were close to getting relegated right back out. They finished in 14th, just six points clear of another trip down. Like many European soccer leagues, the Premier League is historically dominated by the same few teams. Only five teams had ever won the Premier League, and one of those teams, Blackburn Rovers, won it just once, all the way back in 1995. (They've since been relegated out of the league.) In the 20 years since, Manchester United was won 11 times, Chelsea four times, Arsenal three times, and Manchester City twice. The other teams in the league aren't supposed to hope for titles. They're just supposed to fill up the other 16 slots, and their fans are supposed to root for other things. Maybe they can win one of England's other competitions, like the FA Cup or League Cup. Maybe they'll beat their big rival. Maybe they'll just be happy to stay in the Premier League. But winning the title? Never. Leicester City's win threw that logic out the window. Teams besides the elite few aren't supposed to win, and even if somebody besides those teams did win, it wasn't supposed to be Leicester City. But the Foxes ignored the odds and every other reason they weren't supposed to win the damn thing and ended up champions of England. It's possible neither Leicester City nor any of England's other perennial also-rans will ever achieve this again. But that doesn't matter. Leicester's championship will forever serve as a reminder that the unlikely is not the impossible. If you want to know just how big a shock Leicester's triumph is then ponder this. At the start of last August, just weeks after Leicester had escaped demotion from the Premier League where it had spent most of the year 20th out of 20. You would have got better odds on Kanye West becoming the president by 2020. After winning promotion to the Premier League in 2014, Leicester was forced to produce an astonishing run of seven victories from its final nine games to avoid demotion. Nigel Pearson, the former coach, was let go and the club brought in Claudio Ranieri, an Italian coach who had just been fired by the Greek national team after losing to minnow Faroe Islands. Ranieri talked about keeping Leicester in the division and making sure it attained the safety mark of 40 points which is usually enough to avoid demotion in the English system, which sees the bottom three teams dropped from the Premier League at the end of each season to be replaced by the three teams from the second level, the Championship. A polite and gentle man, Ranieri, who likes to shake hands with every single journalist attending his press conferences, was not expected to remain in his job beyond Christmas. Yet, while the pundits fell over themselves to read Leicester its last rites, the team and Ranieri, started giving back big time. A 4-2 win on the opening day was the start of a run which would include just two defeats in 18 games. Much of the success has come down to a solid defense and an explosive counter attacking trio of Riyad Mahrez, N'Golo Kante and Jamie Vardy. Algeria's Mahrez, who was signed from the second division of French football for $585,000, was named Premier League Player of the Year a few weeks ago, the first African to win the award. His spectacular goals, 17 in 34 games, and crucial assists have allowed Leicester to shock opponents week in, week out. France's Kante, an all-action midfielder, has been one of the outstanding players in Europe this season and is being courted by some of the world's biggest clubs. And then there's Englishman Vardy - a player who was working in a carbon-fiber factory seven years ago while playing semi-professional football after being released as a young player by Sheffield Wednesday.

Vardy, who is set to feature for England at the European Championship finals in June, has netted 22 times in 34 appearances in the league this season and has become the icon of this team's quest.

Rejected, doubted and written off, he has come back to climb from the depths of the professional game towards the very top. His teammates, such as captain Wes Morgan, who at the age of 32, has spent most of his career playing in the lower leagues, and Danny Drinkwater, given up on by Manchester United, have also become heroes on a national scale. But it is the collective spirit of this unbreakable band of brothers which has endured. It has seen off the richest clubs in the country such as Manchester City, Manchester United and Arsenal, while others such as Liverpool and Chelsea never had a chance. Its victories over Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur, which sits second, were particularly impressive, as was the 4-0 win over Swansea which left it on the brink. Victory at Manchester United's fabled Old Trafford ground Sunday would have sealed the title, but the 1-1 draw meant Leicester would have to wait until Tottenham failed to beat Chelsea Monday to clinch the crown. So all in all, is it fair to say that this is the greatest sporting story of all time? Well, it is more than fair. It is true. We will talk about this as long as football lasts. It's something that defies the odds. It's a miracle.