Leicester demise 'sad to see' for title-winning captain Morgan

Wes Morgan said he is "sad and hurt" to see Leicester City drop into League One just a decade after he captained the club to the Premier League title.

The 42-year-old former defender retired as a player after helping the Foxes claim the FA Cup in 2021.

Just five years later, the club has tumbled into the third tier for just the second time in its 142-year history after suffering successive relegations.

Leicester's fate was sealed just 12 days before the 10-year anniversary of the 5,000-1 title success of 2016.

"I'm sad to see where we were as a club when I left, to where it is now," Morgan told BBC East Midlands Today.

"I just don't want to see the team in that position and I can understand the fans and how they feel angry about the position they are in.

"It hurts to see where the club is, but at the same time I know football, know that things change and it goes full-circle sometimes. I know the club will be back."

Former Jamaica international Morgan made 324 appearances in his near decade-long stay with the club, having joined the Foxes from East Midlands rivals Nottingham Forest in 2012.

He was part of the team that won promotion as Championship title-winners in 2014, led them in the 'great escape' as they narrowly avoided relegation a year later and then went on to skipper them to the famous Premier League title win.

In his time at the club, he featured for the Foxes in the Champions League quarter-finals and played in the Europa League before finally calling it quits after they claimed the FA Cup for the first time.

Morgan says he treasures those years of success and feels they "need to be enjoyed" - even now, when the club is at one of the lowest points in its existence.

"I'm sure the memories of our successes are still quite fresh in the minds of fans, so it is difficult," he said.

"For me, the time we had 10 years ago, the special moment, needs to be celebrated and talked about."

When Morgan left, the Premier League title-winning side had largely been broken up already.

However, the final member of that side, striker Jamie Vardy, only moved on after last season's relegation from the top flight.

The reasons Leicester have tumbled to the depths they have in recent years will be many, with a torrent of criticism being aimed at the club's hierarchy and ownership, and people repeatedly questioning the influence of a succession of managers and woeful performances of a highly-paid squad of players.

Morgan was not exacting in levelling blame when asked about Leicester's struggles but said his generation of players achieved something few could expect to emulate.