Leicester wins English title for 1st time in 132-year history

World Today

Close Window Photo Details Save Email Print History Photo |Caption|Summary Showing 5 of 11 previous : more Copyright 2016, The Associated Press Caption Leicester City fansLeicester City fans react in Hogarths public house in Leicester, central England, after Chelsea’s Eden Hazard scores the equalising goal against Tottenham Hotspur in their English Premier League soccer match. The match ended 2-2 resulting in Leicester City winning the Premier League, Monday May 2, 2016. (Jonathan Brady/PA via AP)

Leicester secured an incredible first Premier League title without playing on Monday after second-place Tottenham drew 2-2 at Chelsea in one of the biggest-ever triumphs by an underdog in sports.

England’s most unlikely football contender watched from the sidelines Monday, watching the two other teams face off.

Leicester was playing in the second tier only two years ago, came close to be relegated again last year and started this season as 5,000-1 outsiders for the title.

Now for the first time in their 132-year history Leicester is champion of England after establishing an insurmountable seven-point lead over Tottenham with two games remaining.  Richard Bestic

The Foxes missed a chance to seal the title on Sunday when they were held by Manchester United but deposed champion Chelsea ensured the party wasn’t delayed any longer. Some Leicester players were gathered at the house of 22-goal top scorer Jamie Vardy as Tottenham was playing Chelsea, and defender Christian Fuchs tweeted a video of players celebrating.

Tottenham had to win at Chelsea to keep its bid for a first title since 1961 alive and led 2-0 thanks to goals from striker Harry Kane and Son Heung-min, before Chelsea staged a second-half fight back to draw in a fiery London derby where tempers frayed and tackles flew in from everywhere. 

Center half Gary Cahill pulled a goal back for Chelsea early in the second half, and with Tottenham clinging on, the equalizing goal was scored by Eden Hazard.

Hazard’s goal was almost a year to the day since his strike won the title for Chelsea, which is 29 points behind Leicester. Chelsea’s collapse has been as astonishing as Leicester’s surge to the top of the standings it was bottom of last April.

Leicester will collect the trophy on Saturday when it hosts Everton at the King Power Stadium.

English soccer has not had a maiden champion of the top flight since Nottingham Forest in 1978. And for the last 20 years the Premier League trophy has never left London or Manchester, with Arsenal, Chelsea, United and City sharing the trophy between them.

Unlike that title-winning quartet or 1995 champion Blackburn, Leicester has achieved its success without lavish spending on its squad.

Chelsea’s draw also ensured Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri became a league title winner for the first time in his career, 12 years after the 64-year-old Italian was fired by the Blues.

“Let’s do it for Ranieri,” read one Chelsea fan’s banner at Stamford Bridge where the trophy was presented to Chelsea last May.

CCTV’s Richard Bestic reports.

Little Leicester City hasn’t come close to football glory in 132 years of trying, even though fans have remained loyal.

To put Leicester’s triumph in perspective, at the start of the season, the bookies were placing odds of 5,000 to one on the club winning the premiership. The odds for discovering the Loch Ness monster are 500 to one, while Elvis being alive are a meager 2,000 to one.

Story by The Associated Press