{"id":239693,"date":"2026-04-22T02:37:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T02:37:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/22\/ugly-spats-and-heroes-scared-to-walk-streets-how-5000-1-dream-turned-to-complete-calamity\/"},"modified":"2026-04-22T02:37:00","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T02:37:00","slug":"ugly-spats-and-heroes-scared-to-walk-streets-how-5000-1-dream-turned-to-complete-calamity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/22\/ugly-spats-and-heroes-scared-to-walk-streets-how-5000-1-dream-turned-to-complete-calamity\/","title":{"rendered":"Ugly spats and heroes scared to walk streets \u2014 How 5000-1 dream turned to \u2018complete calamity\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

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A decade on from the most remarkable of Premier League titles, football\u2019s fairytale club has plummeted to the English third division.<\/p>\n

Leicester City\u2019s relegation from the Championship to League One was confirmed on Wednesday morning with the Foxes\u2019 2-2 draw at home to Hull<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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There are two matchdays remaining in the Championship season and Leicester sit in 23rd place, seven points behind Blackburn Rovers above the drop zone.<\/p>\n

The only team worse than them this campaign were Sheffield Wednesday – who are in ruin on -3 points after a whopping points deduction due to unresolved financial issues.<\/p>\n

Ten years on from overcoming 5,000-to-one odds to win the most astonishing of all Premier League titles, and nine years on from playing a Champions League quarter-final against Atletico, many would assume this would be rock bottom for Leicester.<\/p>\n

But that would be too presumptive to say.<\/p>\n

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Jannik Vestergaard, Patson Daka and Jordan Ayew look dejected as Leicester City are relegated to League One.<\/span>Source: Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Trips to the likes of Bromley, who have spent 132 of their 134 years in existence playing non-league football but top the League Two table this season, will no doubt bruise a few egos.<\/p>\n

While Leicester fans may be able to reminisce about the good old days of top flight football with their counterparts from other fallen clubs like Luton Town, Huddersfield, Wigan and Blackpool.<\/p>\n

Those interactions would be a welcome change to clashes with their own players and club officials in recent months.<\/p>\n

On the weekend, tensions escalated when former Tottenham and England midfielder Harry Winks twice told a Leicester fan to \u201cf*** off\u201d in an altercation following the Foxes\u2019 1-0 loss at Portsmouth.<\/p>\n

In a video that blew-up on social media, Winks was seen heading back to the team bus as a fan yelled out \u2018see ya Harry\u2019 while another swore at the 30-year-old, who joined Leicester in 2023.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou f*** off,\u201d Winks fired back at the supporter.<\/p>\n

He then pointed at the individual, angrily shouting \u201cshut the f*** up\u201d and \u201cshut up, f*** off\u201d as the exchange continued.<\/p>\n

The sour moment was simply the latest incident as years of angst has grown around the club.<\/p>\n

As the current season spiralled out of control, fans have directed their anger at players, owners and club officials alike.<\/p>\n

They gathered outside the ground once relegations was confirmed with Winks in the firing line again, while teammate Riciardo Perera was abused for ignoring the protesting fans and signing autographs as well as taking pictures away from them.<\/p>\n

Leicester\u2019s Hamza Choudhury was shown respect, however, as he came over and spoke to the angry mob.<\/p>\n

The Telegraph\u2019s<\/a> Midlands football reporter John Percy revealed that the situation has got so bad that one key figure who has been at the club for more than three decades, and served as director of football when Leicester won the Premier League, fears for his safety in public.<\/p>\n

\u201cLeicester\u2019s owner Aiyawatt \u2018Top\u2019 Srivaddhanaprabha has good intentions, but he has presided over a complete calamity,\u201d Percy wrote. <\/p>\n

\u201cAn era of errors from \u201cTop\u201d to bottom. He has placed too much faith in senior figures, such as chief football officer Jon Rudkin, who is a constant target for fans. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt is understood that Rudkin does not even feel safe nowadays walking around the city where he was born.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Kevin Davis, Chief Executive Officer, Jon Rudkin, Chief Football Officer and Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha, Leicester City chairman at The King Power Stadium.<\/span>Source: Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

That animosity is a far cry from the endearing spirit that won over football fans around the globe during their unforgettable Premier League triumph.<\/p>\n

Perhaps the greatest underdog story in modern football was built in a working class city, where the club was the heart and soul of the place.<\/p>\n

They did things on a minimal budget compared to the heavy weights they were up against.<\/p>\n

At the start of the season in which they won the Premier League, the Foxes were instead tipped to suffer relegation – having avoided so the season prior by winning seven of their last nine games after sitting bottom of the table for almost six months.<\/p>\n

Leicester\u2019s starting XI for that season cost \u00a322.25 million in transfer fees as they seemed to pluck players from obscurity.<\/p>\n

While, they spent roughly \u00a390m less on wages than perennial contenders Manchester City did.<\/p>\n

What has become clear in recent times is that Leicester\u2019s demise has come as they lost sight of their roots.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe famous spirit from that title-winning season has disintegrated,\u201d Percy wrote. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe \u00a3100m training ground is outstanding but appears to have robbed the club of their underdog spirit.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt includes luxurious hotel rooms, a swimming pool and a nine-hole golf course. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf you added rapids and a slide it would be more appropriate.\u201d<\/p>\n

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HOW DID THE FREEFALL BEGIN?<\/b><\/p>\n

Experts and fans alike pin point many moments that triggered Leicester\u2019s slide down the English pyramid.<\/p>\n

But it is hard to argue against it stemming from a tragedy that rocked the football world.<\/p>\n

Chairman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha and four others died in a helicopter crash outside the club\u2019s stadium after a Premier League match against West Ham in 2018.<\/p>\n

The Thai billionaire\u2019s company King Power, a duty free retail group, is still the naming rights sponsor of Leicester\u2019s stadium.<\/p>\n

His son, Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha (known as Khun Top), took over as chairman of both the club and the company after the accident.<\/p>\n

But he has failed to warm himself to the supporters like his father did.<\/p>\n

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Fans observe a minute’s silence to remember the victims of the Leicester City helicopter crash which killed Chairman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha.<\/span>Source: AFP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cHe was so influential,\u201d title-winning defender Robert Huth told the BBC<\/a> when discussing the older man in the father-son combination.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe had a \u2018get stuff done\u2019 attitude.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTop is younger than me,\u201d Huth added.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe lost his dad, he now has to run King Power. The spotlight is on him. It\u2019s very easy to criticise.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe lost his father in public surroundings and it\u2019s going to have an effect. People overlook that. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe had to take over the company when he was 33. You\u2019re a young man, you look at your dad for guidance, and it was taken away from him overnight.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Leicester City fans hold a banner directed at the ownership.<\/span>Source: Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2018Top\u2019 has been ridiculed this season as he stepped in as interim CEO, but spent long periods of time away from the club due to King Power commitments as well as mourning the death of Thailand\u2019s Queen Mother Sirikit in October.<\/p>\n

He has regularly blamed the Covid-19 pandemic for the club\u2019s messy financial situation.<\/p>\n

But there have also been multiple mistakes within the club that have not sat well.<\/p>\n

\u201cWinning back the hearts and minds of supporters will be difficult and the efforts of Khun Top to be more open will not be helped, inside and outside the club, by own goals such as the decision to change their payroll procedure to be in line with that of King Power. As a result, staff were not paid before Christmas but, instead, received their salary on the last day of December,\u201d The Athletic\u2019s Rob Tanner wrote earlier this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cStewards were told they would not receive their \u00a310 meal voucher for the Derby County game on December 29 because of a misunderstanding around ordering enough pies for that match \u2014 another avoidable mistake. The issue was rectified, but the public damage had been done.\u201d<\/p>\n

The backlash was shown at a home game against a West Brom last month with a fan protest.<\/p>\n

The official attendance for the match tallied more than 27,000 spectators, but it took into account roughly 15,000 season ticket holders who had not shown up.<\/p>\n

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WHERE DID IT ALL GO WRONG?<\/b><\/p>\n

With every single one of their 18 defeats this season, Leicester\u2019s financial mismanagement has been thrust further into the spotlight.<\/p>\n

But the prospect of relegation hit them in face when, earlier this year, they were docked six points for breaching profit and sustainability rules during their previous season in the Championship – a title winning campaign two years ago.<\/p>\n

The breach, as well as their relegations from the Premier League in 2022\/23 and 2024\/25, revealed a deviation from the formula that brought them unthinkable success a decade ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe tried to play with the big boys and we couldn\u2019t,\u201d Lynn Wyeth, chair of supporter group the Foxes\u2019 Trust, told BBC Sport.<\/p>\n

After having unearthed goalscoring machine Jamie Vardy from non-league football and bringing in gun midfielder N\u2019Golo Kante from the French second tier, Leicester decided to go away from searching for diamonds in the rough.<\/p>\n

Selling players to bigger clubs for major profits had been a successful ploy.<\/p>\n

Kante, who went on to be a World Cup winner with France, was sold to Chelsea for \u00a332m.<\/p>\n

Fellow midfielder Danny Drinkwater\u2019s career went in a different trajectory, but he also headed to Stamford Bridge for \u00a335m.<\/p>\n

Winger Riyad Mahrez was sold to Manchester City for \u00a360m, having been bought by Leicester from French club Le Havre for \u00a3400,000.<\/p>\n

Defender Harry Maguire was sold to Manchester United for a club record \u00a380m.<\/p>\n

Cashing in on rising stars was good for the bank balance.<\/p>\n

But, off the back of winning the FA Cup for the first time in the club\u2019s history in 2021 as well as playing European football after back-to-back fifth place finishes in the Premier League, the Foxes tried to flex their muscles.<\/p>\n

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Leicester City’s Italian manager Claudio Ranieri and English defender Wes Morgan hold up the Premier league trophy.<\/span>Source: AFP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Across the 2021\/22 and 2022\/23 seasons, they spent more than \u00a3100m on only six players.<\/p>\n

And their wage bill blew out to more than \u00a3200m (A$380m) per season – almost six times what it was in 2015\/16.<\/p>\n

As a result, the club lost \u00a392.5m in 2022 as expenditure massively outweighed revenue.<\/p>\n

Leicester started to think like a big club, and it showed in their player contracts.<\/p>\n

It is common practice for Premier League clubs to insert clauses into player contracts that their wage will be reduced by anywhere from 30 to 50 per cent if relegated to the Championship.<\/p>\n

The second tier of English football has less lucrative broadcast rights and sponsorship deals, so clubs\u2019 revenue streams take a hit and so too do the players.<\/p>\n

But Leicester ignored common practice.<\/p>\n

Riding the high of the club\u2019s golden era, the Leicester hierarchy thought there was no chance they could fall off the perch.<\/p>\n

Sure enough, they were relegated at the end of 2022\/23 season with a final day victory not enough to save them from the drop.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody assumed that they would be a top-eight club,\u201d Football finance expert Kieran Maguire told BBC Sport.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey effectively budgeted for that and didn\u2019t take into consideration the potential downside.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey had one bad season and they had no comeback in terms of relegation clauses and relegation avoidance clauses,\u201d Maguire added.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt does seem that these contracts were awarded in such a way that they ignored the existential risk of relegation.\u201d<\/p>\n

The club\u2019s long-term fans, who had seen their beloved team regularly bounce between divisions over many decades, could see the disaster waiting to happen.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt didn\u2019t fit our model. It didn\u2019t fit a club of our size. It didn\u2019t fit our budget,\u201d Wyerth said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then we\u2019ve just had an absolute spiral downwards.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere weren\u2019t enough safeguards in there for thinking what could go wrong,\u201d Wyeth added.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were all saying, what if we get relegated?<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fans could see them walking into it.\u201d<\/p>\n

James Maddison and Harvey Barnes were sold to Tottenham and Newcastle for \u00a340m and \u00a338m respectively to ensure they stayed in the top flight.<\/p>\n

While five other players were allowed to leave on a free transfer to get their contracts off the books.<\/p>\n

But Leicester still maintained the bones of a squad that were being paid Premier League salaries.<\/p>\n

So, they enjoyed a bounce back season in 2023\/24, winning the Championship despite later being found to have breached profit and sustainability rules on three separate occasions.<\/p>\n

The results on the pitch may have created a renewed sense of optimism among the fans, but behind the scenes little was done to fix the financial problems.<\/p>\n

For their Premier League return, Leicester sold Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall to Chelsea \u00a330m, but still spent almost double the amount on transfer fees for incoming players as they received from departing players.<\/p>\n

And the players they brought in failed to fire, while those making the step up to Premier League struggled to handle the leap.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve relied on player sales to dig them out of a really messy situation,\u201d Maguire said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut if you keep selling your best players then that catches up with you.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Title race open! M City beat Arsenal | 03:32<\/p>\n

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WHERE ARE THE STARS OF TEN YEARS?<\/b><\/p>\n

As with any club in turmoil, Leicester has been a picture of instability in recent years.<\/p>\n

Gary Rowett was the manager tasked with avoiding relegation this season.<\/p>\n

The former Oxford United boss was appointed in February for the remainder of the season.<\/p>\n

He solidified a shaky defence by drawing seven of the 11 matches in which he was in charge, but won only once.<\/p>\n

Since Claudio Ranieri took them to the promised land, Rowett is the ninth full-time manager.<\/p>\n

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Gary Rowett, Manager of Leicester City, and Patson Daka react as Leicester City are relegated to League One.<\/span>Source: Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There have also been five interim managers.<\/p>\n

Former Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca, one-time Manchester United caretaker Ruud van Nistelrooy and former Liverpool and Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers are among those who have tried but failed to turn the ship around.<\/p>\n

None of the title-winning squad are still at Leicester.<\/p>\n

Vardy was the last to go at the end of last season, ending his 13-year spell at the club with 200 goals from 500 games, including scoring in a Premier League record 11 straight games in the 2015\/16 season.<\/p>\n

The 39-year-old is now in Italy with Serie A side Cremonese.<\/p>\n

He was the last remaining picture of stability at the club.<\/p>\n

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Jamie Vardy celebrates scoring his 200th goal for Leicester City during a Premier League match against Ipswich Town in 2025.<\/span>Source: Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ranieri has not exactly been that himself with the Italian having seven managerial stints across six different clubs after being sacked by Leicester in 2017.<\/p>\n

The 74-year-old is now retired from managing – having had 23 different coaching jobs across almost four decades – and is serving as senior adviser at AS Roma – the club he grew up supporting, played for and managed on three separate occasions.<\/p>\n

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Hat-trick hero Tour firing for Norwich | 01:01<\/p>\n

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WHERE TO FROM HERE?<\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cSo what happens next?\u201d Percy posed. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe drop into League One is a nightmare for the bean counters, with huge pressure to get promoted next season. <\/p>\n

\u201cParachute payments will expire in the 2027-28 season, and staying in League One that year could place the club in serious trouble.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the first summer transfer window jobs for Leicester will be to try sell off several of their big names.<\/p>\n

Despite such a disastrous campaign, the Foxes still had many of the highest-paid players in the Championship.<\/p>\n

The key to sorting out Leicester\u2019s financial mess may lie in Sydney, however. <\/p>\n

\u201cMany of the big earners – such as Patson Daka, Ricardo Pereira and Winks – will be out of contract in the summer,\u201d BBC football issues correspondent Dale Johnson wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut Oliver Skipp is contracted through to 2029 and Jannik Vestergaard remains under contract after being given a three-year deal just before his 31st birthday in 2024.<\/p>\n

\u201cFinding new clubs for those players will not be easy.<\/p>\n

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Harry Winks looks dejected as Leicester City are relegated to League One.<\/span>Source: Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cAnd then there\u2019s the issue with Leicester\u2019s loan from Australian investment bank Macquarie.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn September, they went to Macquarie to bring forward instalments due from the transfers of Tom Cannon, Kasey McAteer and James Justin. In January, they rolled over another loan to take in their last remaining parachute payment to June 2027.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018Top\u2019 has previously written off hundreds of millions of pounds in loans.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut now it seems Macquarie has been providing lots of the advanced funding, spending future moneys due.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith television revenues much lower in the League One, there will come a point when there is not much left to take out loans against.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom next season, clubs in League One will be restricted to spending 60% of their extra football income – such as prize money, cup earnings or transfer fees received – on player-related expenditure.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith many players still at the club on – in League One terms – astronomical wages, it will be tough for Leicester to operate within these parameters.\u201d<\/p>\n

That is why rock bottom may still not have been hit.<\/p>\n

When Ranieri was serenaded in a spine-tingling performance by Italian opera singer Andrea Bocelli before a 3-1 home victory against Everton once Leicester had been crowned champions ten years ago, no one could have imagined the mess the club would become.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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A decade on from the most remarkable of Premier League titles, football\u2019s fairytale club has plummeted to the English third division. Leicester City\u2019s relegation from the Championship to League One was confirmed on Wednesday morning with the Foxes\u2019 2-2 draw at home to Hull. \ufeffGet all the latest football news, highlights and analysis delivered straight […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":239694,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6807],"tags":[156],"class_list":{"0":"post-239693","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-leagues-cups","8":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239693","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=239693"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239693\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/239694"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=239693"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=239693"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=239693"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}