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The bookmakers famously had the Foxes at 5,000-to-one odds to win the league at the start of the campaign. <\/p>\n
They were instead tipped to suffer relegation – having avoided so the season prior by winning seven of their last nine games after sitting bottom of the table for almost six months.<\/p>\n
Leicester\u2019s starting XI for that season cost \u00a322.25 million in transfer fees as they seemed to pluck players from obscure places.<\/p>\n
While, they spent roughly \u00a390m less on wages than perennial contenders Manchester City did.<\/p>\n
None of it made sense.<\/p>\n
But the best sporting stories often don\u2019t.<\/p>\n
This file photo taken on May 07, 2016 shows Leicester City’s Italian manager Claudio Ranieri (C) and Leicester City’s English defender Wes Morgan holding up the Premier league trophy.Source: AFP<\/p>\n
Now, Leicester are once again causing fans around the world to scratch their heads.<\/p>\n
Although this time it is for all the wrong reasons.<\/p>\n
After being relegated from the Premier League last season, Leicester are in serious danger of suffering the embarrassment of the double drop.<\/p>\n
Having lost their last four matches, the Foxes are currently sitting 22nd on the Championship table, inside the relegation zone.<\/p>\n
They were also knocked out of the FA Cup on the weekend by fellow relegated side Southampton.<\/p>\n
As a result of their dismal display, there are now grave fears for the club\u2019s future both on and off the pitch.<\/p>\n
Leicester\u2019s financial mismanagement has been thrust further into the spotlight with every defeat.<\/p>\n
Earlier this month, they were docked six points for breaching profit and sustainability rules during their last season in the Championship – a title winning campaign two years ago.<\/p>\n
And their case has shown that a deviation from the formula that brought them the unthinkable success of a decade ago has been to blame for their current struggles.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe tried to play with the big boys and we couldn\u2019t,\u201d Lynn Wyeth, chair of supporter group the Foxes\u2019 Trust, told BBC Sport.<\/p>\n
LEICESTER, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 10: Ben Nelson of Leicester City looks dejected after the team’s defeat in the Sky Bet Championship match between Leicester City and Southampton.Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
After having unearthed goalscoring machine Jamie Vardy from non-league football and bringing in gun midfielder N\u2019Golo Kante from the French second tier, Leicester decided to go away from searching for diamonds in the rough.<\/p>\n
Selling players to bigger clubs for major profits had been a successful ploy for them.<\/p>\n
Kante, who went on to be a World Cup winner with France, was sold to Chelsea for \u00a332m.<\/p>\n
Fellow midfielder Danny Drinkwater\u2019s career went in a different trajectory, but he also headed to Stamford Bridge for \u00a335m.<\/p>\n
Winger Riyad Mahrez was sold to Manchester City for \u00a360m, having been bought by Leicester from French club Le Havre for \u00a3400,000.<\/p>\n
Defender Harry Maguire was sold to Manchester United for a club record \u00a380m.<\/p>\n
Cashing in on rising stars was good for the bank balance.<\/p>\n
But, off the back of winning the FA Cup for the first time in the club\u2019s history in 2021 as well as playing European football after back-to-back fifth place finishes in the Premier League, the Foxes tried to flex their own muscle.<\/p>\n
Across the 2021\/22 and 2022\/23 seasons, they spent more than \u00a3100m on only six players.<\/p>\n
And their wage bill blew out to more than \u00a3200m (A$380m) per season – almost six times what it was in 2015\/16.<\/p>\n
As a result, the club lost \u00a392.5m in 2022 as expenditure massively outweighed revenue. <\/p>\n
Leicester started to think like a big club, and it showed in their player contracts.<\/p>\n
LEICESTER, ENGLAND – MAY 07: Ngolo Kante of Leicester City poses with the Premier League Trophy.Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
It is common practice for Premier League clubs to insert clauses into player contracts that their wage will be reduced by anywhere from 30 to 50 per cent if relegated to the Championship.<\/p>\n
The second tier of English football has less lucrative broadcast rights and sponsorship deals, so clubs\u2019 revenue streams take a hit and so too do the players.<\/p>\n
But Leicester ignored common practice.<\/p>\n
Riding the high of the club\u2019s golden era, the Leicester hierarchy thought there was no chance they could fall off the perch.<\/p>\n
Sure enough, they were relegated at the end of 2022\/23 season with a final day victory not enough to save them from the drop.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody assumed that they would be a top-eight club,\u201d Football finance expert Kieran Maguire told BBC Sport.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey effectively budgeted for that and didn\u2019t take into consideration the potential downside.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey had one bad season and they had no comeback in terms of relegation clauses and relegation avoidance clauses,\u201d Maguire added.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt does seem that these contracts were awarded in such a way that they ignored the existential risk of relegation.\u201d<\/p>\n
The club\u2019s long-term fans, who had seen their beloved team regularly bounce between divisions over many decades, could see the disaster waiting to happen.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt didn\u2019t fit our model. It didn\u2019t fit a club of our size. It didn\u2019t fit our budget,\u201d Wyerth said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then we\u2019ve just had an absolute spiral downwards.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere weren\u2019t enough safeguards in there for thinking what could go wrong,\u201d Wyeth added.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were all saying, what if we get relegated?<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fans could see them walking into it.\u201d<\/p>\n
LONDON, ENGLAND – MAY 15: Leicester City fans show their support during The Emirates FA Cup Final match between Chelsea and Leicester City at Wembley Stadium on May 15, 2021 in London, England. A limited number of around 21,000 fans, subject to a negative lateral flow test, will be allowed inside Wembley Stadium to watch this year’s FA Cup Final as part of a pilot event to trial the return of large crowds to UK venues. (Photo by Nick Potts – Pool\/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
James Maddison and Harvey Barnes were sold to Tottenham and Newcastle for \u00a340m and \u00a338m respectively to ensure they stayed in the top flight.<\/p>\n
While five other players were allowed to leave on a free transfer to get their contracts off the books.<\/p>\n
But Leicester still maintained the bones of a squad that were being paid Premier League salaries.<\/p>\n
So, they enjoyed a bounce back season in 2023\/24, winning the Championship despite later being found to have breached profit and sustainability rules on three separate occasions.<\/p>\n
The results on the pitch may have created a renewed sense of optimism among the fans, but behind the scenes little was done to fix the financial problems.<\/p>\n
For their Premier League return, Leicester sold Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall to Chelsea \u00a330m, but still spent almost double the amount on transfer fees for incoming players as they received from departing players.<\/p>\n
And the players they brought in failed to fire, while those making the step up to Premier League struggled to handle the leap.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ve relied on player sales to dig them out of a really messy situation,\u201d Maguire said. <\/p>\n
\u201cBut if you keep selling your best players then that catches up with you.\u201d<\/p>\n
The poor decision making by the club hierarchy stemmed from tragedy.<\/p>\n
Chairman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha and four others died in a helicopter crash outside the club\u2019s stadium after a match in 2018.<\/p>\n
The Thai billionaire\u2019s company King Power, a duty free retail group, is still the naming rights sponsor of Leicester\u2019s stadium.<\/p>\n
His son, Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha (known as Khun Top), took over as chairman of both the club and the company after the accident.<\/p>\n
But he has failed to warm himself to the supporters like his father did.<\/p>\n
Khun Top has been criticised this season as he stepped in as interim CEO, but has spent long periods of time away from the club due to King Power commitments as well as mourning the death of Thailand\u2019s Queen Mother Sirikit.<\/p>\n
Apichet (L) and Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha (C) the sons of Leicester City’s late Thai chairman Vichai.Source: AFP<\/p>\n
He has regularly blamed the Covid-19 pandemic for the club\u2019s messy financial situation.<\/p>\n
But there have also been multiple mistakes within the club that have not sat well.<\/p>\n