5000 to 1 Odds, No Problem! Leicester City Wins Premier League
02 May, 2016
Tottenham’s 2-2 draw at Chelsea on Monday confirmed a stunning achievement for Claudio Ranieri’s side.
Leicester started the campaign as 5,000-1 outsiders for the title after almost being relegated last season.
But they have lost just three league games in what has been described as a “fairytale” and the “most unlikely triumph in the history of team sport”.
Closest challengers Spurs, Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United and last year’s champions Chelsea, have all failed to match the Foxes’ consistency across the season.
Former Leicester, Everton and England striker Gary Lineker described his hometown team’s achievement as “the biggest sporting shock of my lifetime”.
The Match of the Day presenter had suggested the Leicester players were on the “edge of sporting immortality” last month.
He told BBC Sport: “I can’t think of anything that surpasses it in sporting history. It is difficult to put over in words.
“I got emotional. It was hard to breathe. I was a season ticket holder from the age of seven. This is actually impossible.”
After Leicester drew 1-1 at Manchester United on Sunday, Tottenham needed to win all three of their remaining league games to catch the Foxes.
But their title hopes were ended when they squandered a 2-0 lead to only draw at London rivals Chelsea.
Gianni Infantino, president of football’s world governing body Fifa, said Leicester’s “beautiful story” was a “fairytale”.
The club was also quick to hail the achievement of Ranieri and his players, saying they “have captured the imaginations of football fans around the world with one of the most brilliant and unlikely sporting triumphs ever seen”.
Sports data analysts say Leicester are set for a potential £150m boost for winning the title, coming from Premier League prize money, Champions League participation cash, and increased match-day revenues from ticket and hospitality sales.
Even Prime Minister David Cameron passed on his congratulations, saying it was “an extraordinary, thoroughly deserved, Premier League title.”
It is Leicester’s first top-flight title and the club, owned by Thai billionaire businessman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, have also qualified for next season’s Champions League group stages for the first time.
The Foxes started the season among the favourites for relegation and only the three promoted sides – Watford, Norwich and Bournemouth – were longer odds for the league title.
Ranieri, who took over from the sacked Nigel Pearson in the summer, was seen as an uninspired choice by some fans and pundits after his predecessor had overseen a run of seven wins in nine games as Leicester escaped relegation in 2014-15.
BBC
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