Leicester City: A Decade To Remember
The Foxes completed what is regarded by many as the greatest sporting achievement of all time midway through the decade, when against odds of 5000/1, they claimed their first-ever Premier League title.
The foundations that led to that triumph were built by the Srivaddhanaprabha family, who acquired the Club on 12 August, 2010, and the legacy left by late Chairman Khun Vichai to his son, Khun Top, is one that has been shaped throughout the past 10 years.
Starting with the 2010/11 campaign, and running all the way up to present day, join us on a journey through the past decade of Leicester City’s history on LCFC.com.
Season: 2010/11
Division: Championship
Position: 10th
Top Scorer: Andy King (16 goals)
Having narrowly missed out on promotion to the Premier League the previous season after a shootout defeat by Cardiff City in the Championship Play-Off Semi-Finals, the Foxes finished 10th the following season.
Former England manager Sven-Göran Eriksson replaced Paulo Sousa at the helm in October 2010, and the Swede’s first victory in charge of the Club arrived in the form of a 2-1 win against Leeds United at Elland Road.
An entertaining FA Cup Third Round tie with Manchester City in January saw Leicester hold the star-studded outfit to a 2-2 draw at King Power Stadium, before the Foxes bowed out of the competition with a spirited 4-2 loss in the replay.
Five-consecutive Championship triumphs followed across January and February, but Leicester couldn’t force a spot in the play-offs and finished 2010/11 with 67 points from 46 outings.
Season: 2011/12
Division: Championship
Position: 9th
Top Scorer: David Nugent (16 goals)
After departing the Football Club for Hull City in the summer of 2010, Nigel Pearson returned in place of Sven-Göran Eriksson in November 2011, and set about building the foundations for a promotion push.
A ninth-place finish in the Championship was backed up with a brilliant run in the FA Cup, which saw City reach the quarter-finals of the competition after wins over Nottingham Forest, Swindon Town and Norwich City.
For the second-consecutive season, City came up against one of England’s elite clubs in a cup competition, as they were beaten 5-2 by Chelsea at Stamford Bridge after a display full of character in the capital.
Striker David Nugent, meanwhile, finished as the Club’s top scorer that term with 16 goals, and would later do so in the following two campaigns.
Season: 2012/13
Division: Championship
Position: 6th
Top Scorer: David Nugent (16 goals)
The 2012/13 season ultimately ended in heartbreak for Leicester City, who were beaten in dramatic circumstances by Watford at Vicarage Road in the semi-finals of the Championship Play-Offs.
Nigel Pearson’s first full season in charge of City since his return saw them finish sixth in the table after a much-improved campaign in England’s second division.
Seven victories in nine games across September and October saw the Foxes put themselves in a commanding position at the top of the table, but a difficut spell of form eventually saw them qualify for the play-offs thanks to Anthony Knockaert’s 90th-minute winner against Nottingham Forest on the final day of the regular season.
City succeeded in the first leg of their Championship Play-Off Semi-Final 1-0 thanks to David Nugent’s 15th goal of 2012/13, but a late 3-1 loss to Watford at Vicarage Road followed, as Knockaert had a penalty saved in injury time before Troy Deeney went up the other end and netted a decisive winner.
Season: 2013/14
Division: Championship
Position: 1st
Top Scorer: David Nugent (22 goals)
Promotion to the Premier League with a Club-record points total of 102, Leicester City were without doubt the best team in the Championship in 2013/14.
The Foxes were beaten just once in their first 13 outings in all competitions, while 12 Championship victories throughout the opening four months of 2013/14 meant they would be battling it out at the top of the table once more.
A spell of four games without success in December followed, but Leicester recovered to win 13 of their next 15 Championship fixtures – a run that started with a vital 1-0 victory at fellow promotion hopefuls Queens Park Rangers on 21 December, 2013.
Leicester roared to the Championship title in style, losing just once in 22 matches to achieve promotion back to England’s top-flight for the first time in a decade – where they remain still.
Season: 2014/15
Division: Premier League
Position: 14th
Top Scorer: Leonardo Ulloa (13 goals)
City started their 2014/15 campaign with a 2-2 draw against Everton after Chris Wood’s late equaliser, while back-to-back wins in September saw them beat Stoke City 1-0 in Staffordshire before a sensational 5-3 victory over Manchester United.
After an hour at King Power Stadium, the Foxes found themselves 3-1 down, but a sensational comeback meant two goals from Leonardo Ulloa, and efforts from David Nugent, Esteban Cambiasso and Jamie Vardy resulted in an unforgettable triumph.
The Foxes did not taste victory for another 14 matches, with Riyad Mahrez scoring the winning goal in a 1-0 success at Hull City on 28 December, 2014, while a draw with Liverpool at Anfield and a 1-0 win against Aston Villa proved crucial.
It wasn’t until 4 April, 2015 that City’s push for survival really gathered momentum. Their 2-1 triumph against West Ham United ignited a run of seven wins from nine games, and Leicester secured their Premier League status with a game to play before running riot in a 5-1 victory against QPR on the final day of the season.
Season: 2015/16
Division: Premier League
Position: 1st
Top Scorer: Jamie Vardy (24 goals)
As relegation favourites heading into the 2015/16 season, Claudio Ranieri’s Foxes, with the assistance of 24-goal striker Jamie Vardy, the magical Riyad Mahrez and the indefatigable N’Golo Kanté, stunned the sporting world with their 5000/1 Premier League title triumph.
The Italian replaced Nigel Pearson as manager in the summer and got off to a fine start as City went eight games unbeaten in all competitions before being beaten by Arsenal at King Power Stadium in September 2015.
Leicester continued their excellent form, beating Norwich City, West Bromwich Albion, Watford and Newcastle United before a 1-1 draw with Manchester United saw Jamie Vardy set a new Premier League record of scoring in 11 consecutive games.
The sensational Foxes then beat 2014/15 champions Chelsea in December before becoming the first team in Premier League history to be bottom of the table one Christmas and top of the league the next, as they recorded a 3-2 win at Everton on 19 December, 2015.
A 1-0 reverse at Liverpool followed on Boxing Day, and while consecutive goalless draws with Manchester City and AFC Bournemouth threatened City’s title challenge, a 1-0 win at Tottenham Hotspur in mid-January got it back on track.
A run of 11 wins from 16 games included a brilliant 3-1 triumph at Manchester City, a 2-0 success against Liverpool and five 1-0 victories in six games before a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford earned them the point that eventually secured the title, as Tottenham drew 2-2 with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge a day later.
Season: 2016/17
Division: Premier League
Position: 12th
Top Scorer: Jamie Vardy (16 goals)
A maiden foray in the UEFA Champions League came as a result of Leicester’s 2015/16 title success, and it proved to be an impressive debut in the competition after they finished as winners of their group before meeting Sevilla in the last-16.
A 2-1 reverse at Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium meant City had work to do in the second leg, and under the guidance of Craig Shakespeare, who replaced Claudio Ranieri in February 2017, they beat the Spanish side 2-0 at King Power Stadium.
However, their European fairy-tale came to an end at the quarter-final stage, as City were defeated 1-0 at Atléico Madrid’s Vicente Calderón in the first leg, before a 1-1 draw followed on Filbert Way.
On the domestic front, they were edged 2-1 at Wembley Stadium by Manchester United in the FA Community Shield and finished 12th in the Premier League standings.
Season: 2017/18
Division: Premier League
Position: 9th
Top Scorer: Jamie Vardy (20 goals)
Leicester City recorded their third-best Premier League finish in the 2017/18 campaign after placing ninth in the division, while they also reached the quarter-finals of both the League Cup and FA Cup.
After a difficult run of opening games, which saw City face Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool, Claude Puel replaced Craig Shakespeare and tasted success in his first game in charge – a 2-0 win against Everton in October 2017.
A purple patch in November and December resulted in four successive Premier League victories, while a penalty shootout loss to Manchester City, who went on to win the competition, saw them exit the League Cup at the quarter-final stage by the narrowest of margins.
A productive run in the FA Cup followed, as the Foxes were again beaten in the last-eight by eventual winners Chelsea, while in the Premier League, Jamie Vardy scored an impressive 20 goals, including a stunning volley against West Brom that earned him the Goal of the Month award for March 2018.
Season: 2018/19
Division: Premier League
Position: 9th
Top Scorer: Jamie Vardy (18 goals)
The 2018/19 season was the most difficult in the Football Club’s history following the death of Chairman Khun Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha and four others in a helicopter crash outside King Power Stadium on 27 October, 2018.
An outpouring of grief across the football world and beyond followed, as Leicester City received incredible support in recognition of the impact that Khun Vichai had on Leicester and its wider community.
Beautiful tributes, including flowers, scarves and Leicester City memorabilia, were laid outside King Power Stadium, where people from across the globe visited to pay their respects to the Club’s late Chairman.
Their first match since Khun Vichai’s passing resulted in a 1-0 win at Cardiff City thanks to Demarai Gray’s 55th-minute strike. The triumph inspired emotional scenes in the away end, as City’s players, staff and supporters all came together and sang Khun Vichai’s name aloud to remember a man that had given so much to their Football Club.
Season: 2019/20
Division: Premier League
Position: 2nd*
Top Scorer: Jamie Vardy* (17 goals)
During Brendan Rodgers’ first full season in charge of the Foxes, the Northern Irishman’s side have been in excellent form and currently sit second in the Premier League table at the season’s midway point.
City also have a two-legged Carabao Cup Semi-Final tie against Aston Villa to look forward to, after reaching the last-four of the competition for the first time since 2000, when they last lifted the trophy.
Rodgers joined the Club as manager in February 2019 and guided the Foxes to five Premier League wins from 10 outings, including four on the bounce across March and April.
This term, in the Premier League, they have already smashed a number of records, including the biggest-ever away win following a sensational 9-0 success over Southampton at St. Mary’s Stadium on 25 October, 2019.
They have set a new Club record for consecutive top-flight victories, having won eight on the spin across October, November and December, which contributed to their best-ever start to a Premier League season.