To say Leicester City have had a whirlwind decade would be an understatement.
Since 2014, the Foxes have attained promotion to the Premier League, narrowly escaped going straight back down in their first season back, shocked the sporting universe with a 5,000/1 Premier League title win, played in the Champions League, lost their owner in a tragic accident, won an FA Cup, and suffered a surprise relegation back to the Championship – and that’s putting it briefly.
Perhaps no other club has ridden the emotional pendulum quite like Leicester City, and, to bookend their last decade, the club is gunning for another Championship title win. Enzo Maresca is now in charge, goals are plentiful, and victories seem to happen every week.
This season marks a huge change from the dismal 2022/23 season where the Foxes were outfought and outplayed virtually every week. Gone are Brendan Rodgers, James Maddison, and Johnny Evans, and in are a crop of younger, hungrier players aiming to play in the top flight next season.
Back in time – Leicester in 2014
Foxes hearts were broken in the 2012/13 play-off semi-final courtesy of an iconic Troy Deeney goal, but the Midlands club rebounded by attaining a colossal 102 points to storm the title the season after. The 31 league wins were, and still are, a club record and the points total was 21 more than the Foxes attained in their legendary 2015/16 season.
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Wes Morgan was the club captain a decade ago, with the Jamaican marshalling a defence that only conceded 43 goals in the 46-game season. Danny Drinkwater helped gel the midfield, and Matty James picked up the club’s Young Player of the Year Award.
David Nugent, Kevin Phillips, and Jamie Vardy were just some of Leicester’s attackers that season, with a then-unknown Riyad Mahrez joining in the January transfer window. The Foxes now boast Stephy Madividi, Patson Daka, and Kelechi Ineanacho up-front, with the evergreen Vardy the sole survivor of the last promotion-winning Leicester team.
Nigel Pearson’s side were one of the strongest the Championship has ever seen – their trademark being hard-fought, tight victories. A whopping 17 of Leicester’s 31 wins were by a single goal. Maresca’s side may be more flamboyant in front of goal (scoring three goals or more on nine occasions already) but the grit and determination of Pearson’s men was obvious to see. A points-per-game ratio of 2.22 is certainly title-winning form, and Maresca’s men have managed to better that this season with a return of 2.50.
The rest, they say, was history – with the Foxes completing one of the greatest relegation escapes in Premier League history in 2014/15 before Claudio Ranieri wrote his name into footballing folklore the following year.
There’s still work to be done before Maresca takes Leicester back to the big time, but one thing’s for sure – the more things change, the more they stay the same. The Foxes were eyeing up a Premier League return in January 2014, and they find themselves in the same position exactly ten years later.
Promotion is looking very likely for Leicester City this season, but the Midlands club must be sure to not take their foot off the gas just yet. Games will come thick and fast now, and, if their collapses in 2019/20 and 2020/21 are anything to go by, the Foxes know a thing or two about letting a season slip away from them.
