adminLeicester City are now preparing for just a second season of League One football since the club was founded in 1884, and their recent fall from grace has certainly been well-documented.
Fast-forward to the present day, though, and there couldn’t be a greater contrast in moods at the King Power Stadium, after the club’s second successive relegation was confirmed with three games to spare following a 2-2 draw against Hull City on April 21st.
Ironically, the entertaining draw versus the Tigers had started a three-game unbeaten streak to end the season for Leicester, with four points taken in their final two matches against Millwall and Blackburn Rovers, but that hasn’t helped, in any way, sugarcoat what has been a disastrous period for the club both on and off the pitch.
The East Midlands side entered the season as one of the favourites for promotion despite not investing many funds into the playing squad throughout Marti Cifuentes’ only transfer window in charge amid a backdrop of financial uncertainty, and that came to light when, shortly before Gary Rowett’s appointment in February, the club were hit with a six-point deduction after breaching the EFL’s PSR regulations.
Even without the docked points, City would still have only just finished outside the relegation zone, emphasising the frustration shown to the club’s players, as well as those on the board.
Unsurprisingly, many of the club’s recent heroes have weighed in on what has caused Leicester’s plight, and that includes their all-time great, Jamie Vardy.
Jamie Vardy breaks silence on Leicester City’s fall from the Premier League into League One
Vardy spent 13 remarkable seasons at the King Power Stadium, having initially signed for £1m from Fleetwood Town in 2012 under Nigel Pearson, with the club returning to the Premier League two years later, and after an initial ‘great escape’ campaign under the experienced boss, won the title at odds of 5000-1 with Claudio Ranieri.
The Sheffield-born forward made several headlines throughout his time with the club, including a run of scoring in 11 consecutive Premier League matches between August and November 2015, just months before the title was clinched, before also going on to win the Community Shield, FA Cup and play in all three major European competitions at the King Power.
Even his final season, although it ended in relegation, saw Vardy make further history as he ended his spell at Leicester with 200 goals in exactly 500 appearances, before joining Serie A side Cremonese last summer.
Unfortunately for the 39-year-old, his new employers are also at risk of relegation to Serie B, but that hasn’t stopped him from weighing in on Leicester’s drop into the third tier.
“If I should say the truth, this isn’t the Leicester City I left. These players don’t deserve the badge.
I don’t know where it all went wrong but this club has lost its standards. I watch them many times and I’m NOT impressed it’s a total embarrassment.” Vardy admitted.
Indeed, the 26-time England international was recently seen in the stands watching the 1-0 defeat to Swansea City at the King Power on April 11th.
What does League One hold for Leicester City in their latest chapter?
Unsurprisingly, much has been made of the fact that Leicester will be facing off in a league fixture against Bromley in 2026/27, with the Kent club as low as the National League North when the Foxes won the Premier League.
Many high-profile earners and names are also set to leave the club in order to help balance the books, but it has already been claimed that whoever is in the hotseat will have an initial £10m budget to work with.
The identity of the man responsible for overseeing the rebuilding process also remains to be seen, with Darren Ferguson the latest man to be linked with the potential vacancy, alongside NEC Nijmegen boss Dick Schreuder.
Regardless, Vardy will be hoping that his visits to Leicester next season bring happier times.
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Abdulhafiz Teslim
