Leicester City’s extraordinarily triumphant march to the pinnacle of English football caused enormous ructions throughout the world of football and beyond as, whether it be Seria A, La Liga, the Bundesliga, the MSL, or the Midlands Combination, this story has never been matched and, for any time soon, won’t be repeated.
The Foxes, who narrowly escaped relegation last season, captured the imaginations of so many football fans - as well as headline writers across the globe even had many of the UK’s ‘high-browed’ broadsheets, as well as red tops adopting an uncustomary blue look in tribute to them - Their success dominated the front pages of British newspapers in a way that’s never been done before for the game of football.
At the beginning of the season bookies were offering less generous odds on David Cameron taking over as manager of Aston Villa (2,500/1) and Simon Cowell becoming the next Prime Minister. Their Premier League title win, under the canny leadership of the very likable Claudio Ranieri, has seen the East Midlands outfit dubbed ‘The Incredible’ as their story is exactly that – incredible.
Football's 5000-1 fairytale had Gazzetta dello Sport, in Italy, mocked Ranieri up as Julius Caesar and exclaimed: "The world at the feet of Ranieri, Claudio is 'King' of England." French daily L'Equipe went with the simple "So Good!" emblazoned across the top of a picture of players Leicester's players celebrating at Jamie Vardy's house.
It added: "The Foxes and Riyad Mahrez blow a great win of freshness on the whole of the European football business."
In Spain, El Mundo said "Milagro Leicester" - translated as "Leicester miracle" - and added: "The tie between Chelsea and Tottenham gives the title of the premier to the modest Foxes."
America's Wall StreetJournal described how the Champions had completed an ‘implausible run’ to their first ever title. It read: "Back when the English Premier League began, British bookmakers decided Leicester City finishing first was about as likely as San Marino winning the next World Cup.
The principality might want to start mapping parade routes. On Monday night, Leicester City became the most improbable champions in English soccer history." Time Magazine added: "All this has been achieved by a team of cast-offs, misfits and journeymen. No-one else wanted Leicester's players - if they had, these players would not have been at Leicester," and the China Dailyreported celebrations in Asia, saying: "The result provoked an outpouring in the provincial English city and as far away as Thailand and Japan."
In Australia, The Sydney Morning Heraldran several articles on the club's remarkable success. On the night when the title was decided – close rivals, Tottenham Hotspur only managing a point at Chelsea - lifelong City fan and former player, Match Of The Day presenter Gary Linekar posted, on social media; ‘I can't breathe’
He watched the match with three of his sons and told Radio 5 Live that they went “absolutely bonkers” and were “jumping around like lunatics” when it looked as if the team were on the cusp of being crowned champions.
From ‘No-Hopers’ to ‘Non-Chokers,’ theirs is the greatest Premier League story ever to be told.
