From Premier League champions to League One: The story of Leicester City’s decline

From Premier League champions to League One: The story of Leicester City’s decline

Ten years ago, Leicester City completed arguably the most unlikely title triumph in football history.

A 5,000-to-one outsider, a club with seemingly no business winning anything, beat every team in England across 38 games to lift the Premier League trophy. It was a story that transcended sport.

A decade on, that same club is fighting to avoid relegation to League One with only four games left to play.

The speed and scale of the collapse are genuinely staggering. Just five years after winning the FA Cup and competing in the Europa League, Leicester now find themselves on the cusp of back-to-back relegations.

In 2024-25, their return to the Premier League lasted just one season. They conceded 80 goals – the most in the club’s top-flight history – kept just three home clean sheets across the campaign, and managed only 25 points from 38 games. By every measure, it was a complete capitulation.

The causes are both financial and structural. In the three years leading up to June 2024, Leicester accumulated losses of more than £200 million, far exceeding the permitted £81 million limit over a three-year rolling period.

The result was a six-point deduction in February 2026, which dropped them into the Championship relegation zone.

Their appeal against the penalty was rejected on April 8, leaving them one point from safety with five games remaining.

Boardroom chaos has been equally damning. Since the 2021 FA Cup win, Leicester have cycled through Brendan Rodgers, Dean Smith, Steve Cooper, Enzo Maresca, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Martí Cifuentes, Andy King, and Gary Rowett.

Each managerial change has reflected deeper institutional instability; a club consistently making short-term decisions while long-term foundations crumbled.

Even relegation to League One would not guarantee a swift return, given increasingly stringent financial rules in the lower divisions. Leicester’s estimated annual wage bill remains the highest in the Championship at around £42.6 million.

The 2016 title feels like ancient history now. What remains is something sadder: a club that had everything, spent everything, planned for nothing, and is now paying a price that may take a generation to recover from.