The shocking demise of Leicester City and how a dream turned into a nightmare

Dilly ding, dilly dong. Jamie Vardy ’s having a party. Or he was a decade ago, anyway. Then Leicester , in the words of their director of football Steve Walsh, played three in midfield: Danny Drinkwater in the middle with N’Golo Kante on either side of him. Then, in the words of the club's Twitter account, for those just tuning into their away game at Manchester City, Leicester were 3-0 up and centre-back Robert Huth was on a hat-trick.

Premier League winners then, relegated to League One now, Leicester City have defied sporting logic and footballing finances again. They were the 5000/1 shot who won the title; scarred by that, the bookmakers can be far less generous to outsiders now, but Leicester have provided a different kind of surprise. Ten years on from the best season in their history, this has been the worst. After surely the greatest feat of overachievement in English football, one of the most ignominious instances of underachievement.

“I know it's a rollercoaster being a fan at times, but I probably wouldn't expect that rollercoaster to be quite so extreme,” said Gary Rowett , the manager who took them down. Leicester’s demotion to the third tier was sealed by Tuesday’s draw with Hull; unless, somehow, the Profitability and Sustainability charge against West Bromwich Albion provides an escape route. But even then, Leicester cannot argue that their own six-point deduction, for historic breaches of financial regulations, has rendered this an unfair relegation. Put six points back on, and they are still in the bottom three.

Perhaps Leicester lived the dream, chased it again, and it turned into a nightmare. The King Power Stadium , which hosted Andrea Bocelli in 2016, the Italian singer, a friend of the title-winning manager Claudio Ranieri, had a soundtrack of boos on Tuesday, amid calls to sack the board and jeers for midfielder Harry Winks; from those still there, anyway, given that it was half-empty. The feel-good story ended years ago; it included the 2021 FA Cup win but, a decade on from facing Atletico Madrid in a Champions League quarter-final, Leicester will be a division below Lincoln.

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Decline has been shocking and sudden, but also coming. Leicester were third in early October, eighth in December but 23rd by late April. They have no victory in eight, one in 18 league matches. But going back further, they have a mere 17 wins in 82, three relegations in four seasons.

The slogan of the title win was “Foxes never quit”. There was some fight in the second half of the 2-2 draw with Hull; but precious little in Saturday's defeat against Portsmouth or over their recent run. Perhaps, Leicester could argue, the shadow of the potential points deduction, and the reality of it being imposed in February, drained their spirit. Certainly, Leicester have paid an eventual price for their overspending under Brendan Rodgers.

But their last four managerial appointments, in Steve Cooper, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Marti Cifuentes and Rowett, have all backfired. Cooper won two league games, Van Nistelrooy four, Rowett one. Cifuentes was underwhelming, but Leicester got worse without him. Maybe the Spaniard should not have been sacked.

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All of which can reflect on director of football Jon Rudkin and owner Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha; that Leicester’s triumph was followed by the tragedy of his father, Vichai, dying in a helicopter crash near the stadium in 2018 means that, understandably, the Thai is not the focus of complaints.

Recent years have brought financial losses, footballing setbacks, and too many poor signings. Leicester’s starting 11 against Hull cost almost £100m, even though their outstanding individual this season, the Championship’s young player of the year, Jordan James, is only on loan from Rennes. Leicester had more pedigree and talent than the Coventry team, which won the division on Tuesday night.

Winks, after all, was Tottenham’s best player in a Champions League final. Jamaal Lascelles has captained Newcastle in the Champions League. Jannik Vestergaard has started a European Championship semi-final. Ricardo Pereira, at his peak, was one of the best full-backs in the Premier League. Patson Daka scored four goals in a European game for Leicester. Many of this group won the Championship two seasons ago under Enzo Maresca, getting 97 points in the process.

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Leicester City fans hold a banner directed at the ownership (Getty)

As in 2022-23, Leicester have had a squad that should never have gone down; that included Youri Tielemans, James Maddison, Harvey Barnes and Wilfred Ndidi as well as Vardy and Pereira.

Now, Leicester, who made a £71m loss last season, may need a clearout, but with the problem that their players should be tarnished by this dreadful campaign. If much of this team may not want to play in League One, and much of the fanbase may not want them playing for the club, the market for them may be disappearing. Leicester will at least still have parachute payments, even with a host of players whose contracts expire this year; their squad still looks unaffordable

They will have the best stadium and training ground in League One, but they will be playing Bromley. Their final Championship game, at Blackburn, falls on the 10th anniversary of the day they won the Premier League title. A decade on, however, the party has fallen flat.