Their miracle 2016 Premier League title put the club at the forefront of the world’s attention, but there’s more to Leicester City than just that one glorious season.

Leicester City are a football club from Leicester, England, who will be playing in the Premier League for the 2024/25 season.

Known as The Foxes, Leicester play their home matches at the King Power Stadium. They are most famous for winning the 2015/16 Premier League under Claudio Ranieri after they had been widely tipped as relegation candidates before the season began.

Leicester became a consistently competitive force in the Premier League, spurred on by goals from Jamie Vardy and the tactical astuteness of manager Brendan Rodgers.

Under Rodgers, Leicester twice missed out on Champions League qualification with final-day defeats - finishing fifth in 2019/20 and 2020/21. But he did get his side over the line in the 2021 FA Cup as the club won the famous competition for the first time in their history.

They reached their first ever European semi-final in the 2021/22 season, with a run to the last four of the inaugural Europa Conference League before losing to Roma.

But the landscape of the club changed in the summer of 2022, with financial constraints seeing a number of players leave.

Leicester struggled and after a winless run of six games, including defeats against relegation rivals Southampton and Crystal Palace, the board sacked Rodgers in April 2023.

In a surprise move, former Aston Villa and Norwich manager Dean Smith was brought in as interim manager to take charge for the final eight games of the season.

But Smith was unable to stop the club from falling through the relegation trapdoor and despite beating West Ham 2-1 on the final day of the season, they dropped into the Championship seven years after being crowned champions of England and two seasons since winning the FA Cup.

Under Enzo Maresca, Leicester secured their return to the Premier League the following season, after securing the Championship title in late April 2024. But the Italian left for Chelsea less than a month later.

Former Nottingham Forest boss Steve Cooper was named as the new manager in June 2024.

 

Foundation and early history

Leicester City FC were founded in 1884 as Leicester Fosse FC. They moved from a field near Fosse Road to Filbert Street in 1891 and became part of the Football League in 1894.

In 1907/08, Leicester finished as Second Division runners-up and gained promotion to the top flight of English soccer for the first time. They did not settle well and were relegated at the first attempt, suffering a club record 12-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest along the way.

In 1919, after the First World War, financial trouble forced Leicester Fosse to stop trading and the club was reformed as Leicester City FC.

With Peter Hodge as manager and club record goalscorer Arthur Chandler leading the line, Leicester won Division Two in 1924/25.

In 1928/29, Leicester finished second in the First Division, losing the league title to The Wednesday (later renamed Sheffield Wednesday) by a single point.

Leicester would then have to wait some time before any further success as the 1930s saw them bounce between the top two divisions.

Post-war period

Leicester City made their first ever FA Cup final in 1949, losing 3-1 to Wolverhampton Wanderers.

After Arthur Rowley's 44 goals helped Leicester secure promotion to the top flight in 1957, they remained there for 12 years - the longest stint in the division in the Foxes' history.

Under the guidance of manager Matt Gillies and his assistant Bert Johnson, Leicester reached the FA Cup final in both 1961 and 1963. The first of those finals saw them lose 2-0 to double winners Tottenham Hotspur. Two years later, they went down 3-1 to Manchester United despite a goal from Ken Keyworth.

Leicester represented England in the 1961/62 European Cup Winners' Cup. The following season, they led the First Division over the British winter thanks to their superb form on icy and frozen pitches. The Leicester team of this era earned the nickname The Ice Kings. Leicester ultimately finished fourth in the league.

In 1964, Gillies led Leicester to their first major trophy, the League Cup. They had lost the previous year's final 3-2 on aggregate to Chelsea, but this time, they beat Stoke 4-3.

Gillies resigned in November 1968 and was succeeded by Frank O'Farrell. Despite reaching the 1969 FA Cup final, which they lost 1-0 to Manchester City, Leicester were relegated.

Leicester spent much of the next three decades yo-yoing between divisions. They went 33 years between 1964 and 1997 without a major trophy, but the emergence of legendary England striker Gary Lineker in the late 1970s and early 1980s gave Leicester fans something to shout about.

Lineker scored 95 league goals in 194 appearances for Leicester between 1978 and 1985. He then moved on to Everton and later Barcelona, Tottenham and Nagoya Grampus.

Martin O'Neill era

Martin O'Neill took over as Leicester City manager in 1995. He won promotion to the Premier League via the play-offs in his first season and this proved to be a sign of things to come.

In 1997, O'Neill ended Leicester's 33-year trophy drought when he guided them to a 1-0 replay victory over Middlesbrough in the League Cup final, having drawn the initial match 1-1.

Three years later, a brace from Matt Elliott saw Leicester beat Tranmere Rovers 2-1 to win the trophy again under O'Neill.

O'Neill led Leicester to ninth in the Premier League in 1997, 10th in the following two years and eighth in 2000. He left for Celtic in the year of his second League Cup win and highest league finish with Leicester. A difficult period followed for the Foxes.

League One and Premier League comeback

Leicester were relegated to League One in 2008 under Ian Holloway, just four years after they had last been dumped out of the Premier League.

Holloway left by mutual consent at the end of the 2007/08 season and was replaced by Nigel Pearson, who won immediate promotion back to the Championship.

Leicester made two play-offs over the next four seasons but failed to get promotion to the Premier League on both attempts. Under Pearson, the Foxes lost the 2009/10 play-off semi-final against Cardiff City on penalties.

After Pearson left to manage Hull City, Leicester went through stints under Paulo Sousa and Sven-Goran Eriksson before Pearson returned in 2011. He led Leicester to another play-off in 2012/13, but they lost in the semi-finals to Watford following Anthony Knockaert's late penalty miss.

Finally, in 2013/14, Leicester won the Championship to earn promotion to the Premier League.

Miracle relegation escape and Premier League title

Leicester City won seven of their last nine league games in the 2014/15 season under Pearson to pull off a sensational escape from relegation, which had seemed all but certain.

Pearson was controversially replaced by Claudio Ranieri ahead of the 2015/16 campaign. Ultimately, it proved to be a masterstroke. Inspired by the form of striker Jamie Vardy, winger Riyad Mahrez and midfielder N'Golo Kante, Ranieri led the Foxes to the Premier League title despite odds of 5000/1 at the start of the season.

Kante left for Chelsea after the season ended and Mahrez moved to Manchester City ahead of the 2018/19 campaign. However, Vardy stayed to lead the line for Leicester in a new era.

Ranieri lost his job during a difficult 2016/17 season. After Claude Puel steadied the ship during his stint in charge, Brendan Rodgers became Leicester manager in February 2019.

After an impressive end to the 2018/19 season, Rodgers led Leicester to fifth place in the 2019/20 campaign, qualifying for the Europa League group stage.

Helicopter disaster

On October 27, 2018, shortly after take-off from the King Power Stadium following a match against West Ham United, a helicopter crash killed five people including Leicester owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, also known as Khun Vichai.

His consortium had purchased Leicester eight years earlier and led them from the Championship to the top of the Premier League. Khun Vichai was honoured throughout the soccer fraternity following his tragic passing.

 

Winning the FA Cup and Community Shield

In May 2021, Leicester City won the FA Cup for the first time in the club's history after beating Chelsea 1-0 in the final.

Belgian midfielder, and man-of-the match, Youri Tielemans scored a fantastic long-range cracker to secure the victory, but the Foxes were also indebted to goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel for several crucial saves.

They followed this up by beating Premier League winners Manchester City in the Community Shield on August 8, 2021. Kelechi Iheanacho scored the only goal of the game late on from the penalty spot.

The Foxes finished a disappointing 8th in the 2021/22 Premier League season and reached the semi-finals of the inaugural Europa Conference League.

Relegation to the Championship

The landscape of the club changed in the summer of 2022, with financial constraints seeing a number of players leave and their replacements were not of a similar calibre.

Leicester chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha acknowledged the impact of Covid had a serious effect on the club's finances, with summer cutbacks meaning that Rodgers was unable to significantly strengthen his squad.

The departures of long-serving goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel to Nice and defender Wesley Fofana to Chelsea also had a detrimental effect on the squad.

They started the 2022/23 campaign terribly, losing six of their first seven games, before picking up form and heading towards mid-table.

However, a run of six games, including defeats against relegation rivals Southampton and Crystal Palace, proved too much and the board sacked Rodgers in April 2023.

Rodgers' replacement Dean Smith was unable to prevent relegation after taking charge for the final eight games.

Despite beating West Ham 2-1 on the final day of the Premier League season, Leicester dropped into the Championship seven years after being crowned champions of England and two seasons since winning the FA Cup.

Former Manchester City assistant manager Enzo Maresca took the managerial reins in June 2023.

He swiftly steered Leicester to the top of the Championship, claiming the manager of the month trophy in August, October and December.

Despite stumbling towards the end of the campaign, Leicester secured the Championship title after a 3-0 win at Preston on April 29, with a game to spare in the 2023/24 season

The 37-year-old Vardy scored twice against Preston taking his tally for the league campaign to 18.

But that was it for Maresca after just one season at Leicester, and in June 2024 he was named as the new head coach of Chelsea.

On June 20, 2024, former Nottingham Forest manager Steve Cooper took the helm at Leicester.

Cooper took the job with a possible points deduction hanging over Leicester and may also need to sell players to comply with the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules.

“I am very proud to be joining a club with a rich history,” Cooper wrote in an open letter to Leicester’s fans.

“I congratulate the players and staff on the achievements of their promotion to the Premier League. I know how hard that is.

“Any person who loves football can only look with great respect upon how much this club has achieved in recent years.

“The Premier League title of 2016 and the FA Cup of 2021 have demonstrated what’s possible for a united club. As the new manager, I don’t take that legacy lightly.

“My job will be to build on those achievements and to bring everyone along – players, staff and fans. Great challenges lie ahead but I get the feeling that Leicester thrives in these moments. I know we will be ready.”

Cooper took the job with a possible points deduction hanging over Leicester and may also need to sell players to comply with the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules.

Leicester chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha said: “We are delighted to welcome Steve to Leicester City.

“His vision for the team, including his ability to develop players and implement a dynamic style of play, is very much aligned with our aspirations for the club.

“As a leader, he has the ability to build on the strong relationship that has been forged between our fans and our team, strengthening a bond that will be vital to us re-establishing the club in the Premier League.”

 

Biggest rivals

Leicester City have local rivalries with Derby County, Nottingham Forest and Coventry City.

The East Midlands derby with Nottingham Forest is widely viewed as Leicester's primary grudge match.

 

The fanbase

The city of Leicester is widely known for the Leicester Tigers rugby team, arguably the most prestigious rugby union side in the country. However, in recent years, their soccer club has gained fans from all over the world, largely due to their 2015/16 Premier League triumph.

Leicester have supporters groups across various continents and are also famous for the Foxes Pride organisation, which works with the LGBT community and club supporters.

 

Club finances

Leicester City are the 23rd most valuable football club in the world according to Forbes, with a value of $781 million as of May 2023.

Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha, the son of the deceased Khun Vichai and current CEO and chairman of King Power, is Leicester City's chairman and in 2021 had a net worth of $2.15billion according to Forbes.