Leicester City's fairy-tale Premier League title win in 2016 now seems like a distant memory, as the club has plummeted to League One in a staggering fall from grace. The Foxes' miraculous 5,000/1 title victory under Claudio Ranieri was celebrated with an unforgettable performance by opera singer Andrea Bocelli at the King Power Stadium. However, 3,642 days later, Leicester's relegation to the third tier was confirmed after a 2-2 draw with Hull, marking a new low point in the club's history. While other former First Division champions, such as Portsmouth and Leeds, have experienced similar declines, Leicester's downfall is particularly striking in the modern era.
The club's struggles began after their title win, with a 12th-place finish in the 2016/17 season, followed by two ninth-place finishes and two fifth-place finishes. Despite winning the FA Cup in 2020/21 and reaching the Conference League semi-finals in 2021/22, Leicester's fortunes continued to dwindle, culminating in relegation to the Championship in 2023. Under Enzo Maresca, the team bounced back with a Championship title in 2023/24, but his departure for Chelsea marked the beginning of the end. Ruud van Nistelrooy's tenure was disastrous, with the team losing 15 of 16 Premier League games between December 14 and April 7.
The appointment of Marti Cifuentes and later Gary Rowett failed to arrest the slide, and the club's relegation to League One was all but sealed. The financial implications of this decline will be severe, with revenues predicted to fall by around 50% compared to the Championship, and the club's wage bill will need to be drastically reduced. The future looks bleak for Leicester, with many of their high-profile players likely to leave, and the club's very existence as a top-tier team hanging in the balance.