Leicester has been relegated once again for 2 consecutive seasons. From playing in the highest league (Premier League), they have dropped to third place (League One). Thus, in just 10 years, Leicester from a Premier League champion now has no way back.
In 2016, the "Foxes" surpassed all the strongest, richest, and top-class teams to win the Premier League in a magical way. The fairy tale at King Power is not fiction, it is real, written by very ordinary players. However, that story has too few chapters and then quickly closes, leaving a very harsh reality about a team with weak potential, defeated by COVID-19 and still struggling in later years.
10 years ago, the players were praised as heroes. Now, they are booed, even cursed harshly after the draw with Hull City recently. Worse, they were relegated with Bromley. This is a team with 134 years of age but has had 132 years to play in amateur leagues. Leicester from a Premier League champion team, now has to share a tray with unknown names like this.
Leicester has become the 5th club since the Premier League was founded to be relegated for 2 consecutive years, having to play in League One. This happened to Swindon Town in the 1994-1995 season. Wolves also relegated continuously in the 2012-2013 season, similar to Sunderland in the 2017-2018 season and Luton Town 12 months ago.
Going down to League One means that if they want to return to the Premier League, The Foxes must return to Championship first. This looks simple at first glance because there are up to 4 promotion spots, but in reality it is not easy at all. 5 years ago, Leicester was still the team that won the FA Cup, but then, they had to be relegated 3 times in 4 years, proving an irreparable collapse.
The team's fans were extremely disappointed when they uttered the harshest words aimed at the players on the field after the final whistle in the match against Hull City sounded. Not only that, as soon as the players stepped onto the field, they were scolded harshly, something that probably had never happened in the 142-year history of the club.
When the spokesperson announced the names of the players, the boos continued like that. Perhaps to avoid the hotheads in the stands, this announcer did not name the reserve players to avoid mentioning Harry Winks. The former Tottenham star was filmed cursing a Leicester fan after the defeat to Portsmouth last weekend.
It was a crowd of angry people, not tears or sadness. Leicester was actually still in the relegation zone even without the 6-point penalty they suffered at the beginning of the season for financial violations. There were also angry scenes outside the main entrance of the stadium, a long time after the final whistle.
Perhaps, what soothes the hot heads of Leicester fans is the memory of the golden age 10 years ago. Next month, they will host a commemorative match with the participation of Leicester's legendary squad. "The tinker" Claudio Ranieri will return to lead the club. Stars who were crowned 10 years ago will appear a lot such as Kasper Schmeichel, Danny Simpson, Wes Morgan, Robert Huth, Christian Fuchs, Danny Drinkwater, N'Golo Kante, Riyad Mahrez, Marc Albrighton, Shinji Okazaki and Jamie Vardy.
10 years ago, the entire football world looked at them with admiring eyes, even somewhat jealous. 10 years later, everyone looked at them again just with nostalgia to try to forget the harsh reality.
There are teams that were once famous like Leeds, it took 23 years to return to the Premier League. Or recently like Coventry City, Frank Lampard's team took 25 years to return to this playground. With Leicester, how many years will it take now to consider returning to the Championship first? When they return, will there still be supporters at this time?
