Claudio Ranieri, manager<\/p>\n
I remember in January, February that season Riyad Mahrez asked: \u201cWhat do you think we can achieve?\u201d I laughed, but didn\u2019t say anything. Riyad said: \u201cYou know, you know.\u201d I am a very pragmatic man \u2026 I knew we could do something special, but not to win the Premier League. Now people everywhere recognise me \u2013 people from the US, Canada and Asia ask to take pictures: \u201cLeicester! The legend!\u201d Unbelievable. It was a story that was something special for the world.<\/p>\n
From the beginning of the season I told the players our goal was 40 points. The chairman, Vichai [Srivaddhanaprabha], told me it was important to stay up. When we got to 40 points, I said to the players: \u201cTry to get into Europe because it would be a great experience.\u201d When we qualified for the Europa League, I said: \u201cOK, try for the Champions League.\u201d When we achieved the Champions League, I said: \u201cOK, this year or never again \u2013 this is our year,\u201d and we went out to win the title. It is a miracle because we were a little team but the effort, the mentality, was strong.<\/p>\n
Claudio Ranieri with the Premier League trophy while Kasper Schmeichel puts the crown on the manager\u2019s head. Photograph: Tom Jenkins\/The Guardian<\/p>\n
On the day Tottenham played at Chelsea [a game Spurs drew 2-2<\/a> when needing to win, giving Leicester the title] I flew to Rome to have lunch with my mother. My flight back was going to arrive back too late for the game but I thought the pilot would tell me the result. But when Vichai heard, he sorted another flight. I arrived at my house in Leicester in time for kick-off.<\/p>\n Before Easter, Andrea Bocelli called: \u201cI have to come to Leicester because you are doing something special.\u201d \u201cOK, I will put my secretary in touch with yours and you can choose the date to perform at the stadium.\u201d The date he picked was the date we lifted the title, against Everton. Nobody imagined we would win the league when he selected the date, but he felt something. Now when I rewatch the footage of Andrea singing<\/a>, it\u2019s amazing, the people going crazy,so happy.<\/p>\n It changed the lives of everybody. For my players, who can say: \u201cI won the Premier League.\u201d I\u2019m a very shy man, I don\u2019t say: \u201cI won the title!\u201d But I\u2019m very proud, Leicester there is a big Indian community and some Indian people told me: \u201cThank you, Claudio, because now we link more with the Leicester people, the English people. When we go to the stadium, we push together.\u201d And that is very, very special for me. It\u2019s bigger than football.<\/p>\n Andrea Bocelli performs next to Claudio Ranieri before kick-off against Everton in May 2016. Leicester won and were presented with the Premier League trophy afterwards. Photograph: Tom Jenkins\/The GuardianChristian Fuchs, defender<\/p>\n We didn\u2019t feel any pressure \u2013 the people that expected it least were ourselves. We worked hard but we didn\u2019t take ourselves too seriously and that was a big ingredient that helped the players be comfortable, happy and have fun. It also had a lot to do with the culture of the club. Vichai and Top [Aiyawatt] were owners that were touchable. They were around all the time, you talked to them, you would dance with them. It\u2019s very important in Thailand\u2019s traditions that everybody is together like a family.<\/p>\n Everybody was just generally happy for each other to be successful. One of the biggest moments was when Vards scored in 11 successive Premier League games \u2013 everybody was just so happy for him to set the record.<\/p>\n Christian Fuchs celebrates with Leicester fans as they celebrate winning the Premier League. Photograph: Jim Powell\/The Guardian<\/p>\n After our first clean sheet Claudio took us out for pizza as a reward \u2013 it ended more in a pizza fight than actually eating the pizza. But that also characterised the group \u2013 we were just some misfits that wanted to stir things up and have fun along the way. Our WhatsApp group chat is still alive and kicking \u2013 it is something that binds you. We did the unthinkable.<\/p>\n Claudio was presented to the squad on our pre-season training camp in Austria. For the first week he was hands-off because he wanted to observe: \u201cIt looks good. I\u2019m not going to change anything.\u201d He implemented a couple of things but for a manager to step back and let things flow showed great strength and proved a great decision.<\/p>\n The best part was that our last game was at Stamford Bridge and Chelsea, champions the previous season, built a guard of honour. It still puts a smile on my face. For those legends to stand there and applaud is the ultimate.<\/p>\n Leicester players receive a guard of honour from Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in their final game of the season. Photograph: Plumb Images\/Leicester City FC\/Getty ImagesSerge Pizzorno, Kasabian and lifelong Leicester fan<\/p>\n Claudio mentioned the band on Match of the Day after the first game. The club were playing Fire after our goals and he wanted to know the background. To get a shoutout from him was unreal. When we played the stadium at the end of the season, we sampled that clip of Claudio and used his voice as we walked on stage. He was clever because he lived in the city, walked the streets, did it the right way, where he integrated with the culture.<\/p>\n No matter where we played \u2013 Europe, Japan, America \u2013 Leicester were everyone\u2019s second team. Everyone was willing it to happen. The last five or six weeks, the whole city came together \u2013 at the school gates, post office, pubs, on the street, everyone was on this journey. It was such a special place to be: why can\u2019t it always be like this? It was pure fairytale.<\/p>\n The whole 5,000-1 thing \u2026 Before every season my wife\u2019s uncle is one of about 20 old boys who go to Skeggy, the nearest beach, and they always put \u00a320 on Leicester winning the league. He won \u00a380,000 \u2013 a lot of his pals cashed out, but he stayed strong. Ten years on, what a ride: win the league, play in the Champions League, win the FA Cup<\/a>, couple of top-five finishes, a promotion, three relegations<\/a>.<\/p>\n When the title season is documented, you can hear our music in the background, so, in a small way, we\u2019re part of it. We played at Victoria Park [in Leicester], with 120,000 people on the field and I got pictures of my son with the Premier League trophy, Wes Morgan and Kasper Schmeichel. The players were in full party mode. You could see disbelief in their eyes \u2013 they were drinking Peroni on the side of the stage and then you remember they\u2019re just young lads.<\/p>\n Sergio Pizzorno (right) poses with fellow Leicester fan, and bandmate, Tom Meighan after Kasabian finished their set at Victoria Park, Leicester during the Foxes\u2019 winners\u2019 bus parade in May 2016. Photograph: Plumb Images\/Leicester City FC\/Getty ImagesMike Stowell, first-team and goalkeeper coach<\/p>\n Claudio did a couple of genius things: he changed to a back four the week before the season, from a back five, which was the platform for the \u201cgreat escape\u201d [avoiding relegation in 2015]. The rest of us thought: \u201cWe have quite an old back four, I\u2019m not sure about this,\u201d but Claudio was convinced. For him, the full-backs were there to defend the width of the box, so everybody else had to track back. We were great without the ball \u2013 not so good with it \u2013 but when we counterattacked: wow!<\/p>\n The other thing was Claudio gave the lads a week off after we lost at Arsenal in February. Danny [Simpson] was sent off and Danny Welbeck scored a winner with the last kick.<\/p>\n Arsenal did a lap of honour. All we could hear was them in their dressing room. One of our players showed the staff a picture on Instagram of Arsenal\u2019s players celebrating. Claudio said: \u201cListen, think about that and I will see you a week on Monday.\u201d I remember Vards saying: \u201cDid he just say a week Monday?\u201d I\u2019m not sure, I\u2019ll check. \u201cNo, don\u2019t, because if that\u2019s the case, we\u2019re off.\u201d And they all jetted off to Dubai. They came back and we went on a mean streak. It was the worst thing Arsenal could have done. It was like poking the bear: \u201cWe\u2019re not losing this now.\u201d<\/p>\n The players loved a social at the right time. Once a month, on a Tuesday, they went out as a group. Wes was a great captain, a great leader. But we had leaders all the way through. Vardy. Schmeichel. [Robert] Huth was more English than German \u2013 he pulled everyone together. After every training session, Huthy would want me to kick about 40 crosses for him to head and kick out of touch because he just loved it. No nonsense, defend the box.<\/p>\n It helped that we got knocked out of the FA Cup and League Cup early, weren\u2019t playing in Europe. People say Manchester City, Liverpool and Manchester United dropped off, but we lost three times, twice to Arsenal and once to Liverpool. If a team have that record, they win the league.<\/p>\n Danny Simpson, defender<\/p>\n