How Leicester went from Premier League champions to third tier in 10 years

Ten years after delivering a sporting miracle, Leicester City have been relegated to League One – a consequence of some catastrophic mismanagement, negligence and ruinous decision-making.

Leicester’s third relegation in four seasons was confirmed on Tuesday night after the 2-2 draw at home with Hull City and is completely self-inflicted.

It has been argued in some quarters that the drop into the third tier is simply the cycle of football. There is also a claim that while Leicester’s amazing Premier League title win will never be repeated, the lows which have followed are inevitable for a club of their size. That is absolute rubbish.

Leicester had their shot at glory and blew it. From a position of strength, where many other clubs envied them, they have inexplicably tossed it away.

Supporters’ moods range from anger to apathy. Many of them detest the players. They certainly detest the club.

Leicester’s owner Aiyawatt ‘Top’ Srivaddhanaprabha has good intentions, but he has presided over a complete calamity. An era of errors from “Top” to bottom.

He has placed too much faith in senior figures, such as chief football officer Jon Rudkin, who is a constant target for fans. It is understood that Rudkin does not even feel safe nowadays walking around the city where he was born.

The six-point deduction for breaching financial rules, which was imposed in February, was another hammer blow that increased scrutiny on King Power’s running of the club.

Rowing with supporters

Though Leicester have put together a new football structure in recent weeks, it is too late. Quite simply, they have made too many mistakes and then continued to repeat them. How can any professional football club have 11 players out of contract going into the summer?

This was an issue when Leicester were relegated from the Premier League in the 2022-23 season, when too many players were in the dark over their futures. We can talk all day about professional pride, but are those players really going to be focused on the task?

This is not a free pass for those players. Most managers in the Championship will point to the fact that Leicester’s squad should not be in this position.

Those players will rail against the accusation, but most fans insist they simply do not care. The image of Harry Winks rowing with supporters as he boarded the bus after defeat at Portsmouth last Saturday perfectly captures the disconnect. The midfielder has fallen out with three of the past four managers but is still affectionately referred to as “Winksy” on official Leicester social media.

The famous spirit from that title-winning season has disintegrated. The £100m ($190m) training ground is outstanding but appears to have robbed the club of their underdog spirit. It includes luxurious hotel rooms, a swimming pool and a nine-hole golf course. If you added rapids and a slide it would be more appropriate.

Gary Rowett was appointed as interim manager in February and will have expected to do far better. He has solidified a leaky defence and drawn seven of his 11 matches, but won only one.

Yet even before the game against Hull, statistics from the previous five matches painted a sobering picture: 99 shots (33 on target) and only three goals. Expected goals over the five matches were around nine, but the problem is that Leicester fans were not expecting any.

Poor fortune has also affected them. Centre-back Ben Nelson was ruled out for the season after injuring his thigh in a warm-down exercise following the 1-1 draw at Sheffield Wednesday. Another defender, Caleb Okoli, sustained a hamstring injury in an innocuous training incident.

Huge salaries will be slashed

The inquest into this season should be extensive, but fans are not expecting a root-and-branch review.

Recruitment must be identified as a major failing. Leicester have spent too much on wages in the past five years or so, and then struggled to shift the players.

They could point to their issues with spending, after a long battle with the Premier League and Football League over compliance. They will argue that sporting ambition has been unfairly restricted, but there have been too many average players signed on big money.

Even last year, in their doomed Premier League season, they gave midfielder Wilfred Ndidi wages of more than £100,000-a-week to prevent him leaving on a free transfer.

When Wrexham signed Conor Coady for £2m in August 2025, Leicester had no option but to agree a deal where they still contributed to his salary.

The recent January transfer window was underwhelming, and the reluctance to sign a centre-forward was a big mistake. It has left them with an unbalanced squad with all the cutting edge of a wooden spatula.

So what happens next? The drop into League One is a nightmare for the bean counters, with huge pressure to get promoted next season. Parachute payments will expire in the 2027-28 season, and staying in League One that year could place the club in serious trouble.

Players will have their salaries slashed in the event of relegation, but how many of them will be there to stick around? Abdul Fatawu, the Ghana international, will inevitably leave while Nelson and highly rated academy product Jeremy Monga also have admirers.

As reported by Telegraph Sport last week, Arsenal are keeping tabs on Monga.

Leicester will build their future around the academy, and try to establish some affinity for the players with a thoroughly disillusioned fan base.

Kevin Davies was recently promoted from finance director to chief executive, and has plans for the short-term and long-term. Without Davies, the financial picture could arguably have been even worse.

Avoidable issues

This could well be the reset Leicester need, but it did not need to be like this. Just four years ago they finished eighth in the Premier League and reached the semi-final of a European competition.

That was perceived as an average season at the time. It arguably precipitated the alarming decline that finds them facing trips to Bromley and Burton next season.

On a purely personal note, the decline has been sad to watch. As a football reporter, the Premier League title win was a brilliant, uplifting season to cover.

When Leicester challenged the elite by occupying the top four under Brendan Rodgers, it was stirring stuff until it all unravelled. Many point to the summer transfer window of 2021 as the start of the decline, when Rodgers was given more than £50m to spend and no star players were sold.

The tragic death of owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha in October 2018 cannot be underplayed. Leicester lost an important, demanding figure which in turn decreased the influence of former chief executive Susan Whelan.

Whelan was a respected figure and left the club last season, with the final straw allegedly her resistance over a sponsorship deal with a gambling company.

Allowing the likes of Youri Tielemans, Jonny Evans, Ayoze Pérez, Kelechi Iheanacho and Caglar Soyuncu to leave on free transfers was bewildering business.

Even this season, why was respected club stalwart Andy King given four matches as interim manager when he made it abundantly clear he did not want the job? Leicester lost all four games and spent almost four weeks searching for a new manager before appointing Rowett, who was available all that time.

We could go on. It is a sorry tale that deserves far greater scrutiny and, unfortunately, Leicester have only themselves to blame.

The Telegraph, London