Claudio Ranieri, manager
I remember in January or February of that season, Riyad Mahrez asked me, “What do you think we can achieve?” I just laughed and didn’t say anything. Then Riyad said, “You know. You know.” I’m a very practical person… I knew we could do something special, but I never thought we’d win the Premier League. Now people everywhere recognize me – from the US, Canada, and Asia, they ask for photos and say, “Leicester! The legend!” It’s unbelievable. That story meant something special to the whole world.
At the start of the season, I told the players our target was 40 points. The chairman, Vichai [Srivaddhanaprabha], told me it was important to stay in the league. When we reached 40 points, I said to the players, “Try to get into Europe – it would be a great experience.” When we qualified for the Europa League, I said, “OK, now aim for the Champions League.” When we made it to the Champions League, I said, “Alright, it’s now or never – this is our year,” and we went out and won the title. It’s a miracle because we were a small team, but our effort and mentality were strong.
On the day Tottenham played at Chelsea (a game Spurs drew 2-2 when they needed to win, which gave Leicester the title), I flew to Rome to have lunch with my mother. My flight back would have arrived too late for the match, but I thought the pilot would tell me the result. When Vichai found out, he arranged another flight. I got to my house in Leicester just in time for kick-off.
Before Easter, Andrea Bocelli called and said, “I have to come to Leicester because you’re doing something special.” I replied, “OK, I’ll put my secretary in touch with yours, and you can pick a date to perform at the stadium.” The date he chose was the day we lifted the title, against Everton. Nobody imagined we would win the league when he picked that date, but he felt something. Now when I watch the footage of Andrea singing, it’s amazing – the crowd going crazy, so happy.
It changed everyone’s lives. For my players, they can say, “I won the Premier League.” I’m a very shy person, so I don’t go around saying, “I won the title!” But I’m very proud. In Leicester, there’s a big Indian community, and some Indian people told me, “Thank you, Claudio, because now we feel more connected to the people of Leicester, the English people. When we go to the stadium, we cheer together.” And that is very, very special to me. It’s bigger than football.
Christian Fuchs, defender
We didn’t feel any pressure – the people who least expected it were ourselves. We worked hard, but we didn’t take ourselves too seriously, and that was a big part of why the players felt comfortable, happy, and had fun. It also had a lot to do with the club’s culture. Vichai and Top [Aiyawatt] were owners you could actually talk to. They were around all the time, you could chat with them, even dance with them. In Thai tradition, it’s very important that everyone comes together like a family.
Everyone was genuinely happy for each other’s success. One of the biggest moments was when Vardy scored in 11 straight Premier League games – everyone was so happy for him to set that record.
After our first clean sheet, Claudio took us out for pizza as a reward. It ended up more like a pizza fight than actually eating the pizza. But that also summed up the group – we were just a bunch of misfits who wanted to shake things up and have fun along the way.Our WhatsApp group chat is still going strong – it’s something that keeps us connected. We did the impossible.
Claudio was introduced to the team during our pre-season training camp in Austria. For the first week, he kept his distance because he wanted to observe: “It looks good. I’m not going to change anything.” He made a few adjustments, but for a manager to step back and let things happen naturally showed real strength and turned out to be a great decision.
The best part was that our last game was at Stamford Bridge, and Chelsea, who were champions the previous season, formed a guard of honour for us. It still makes me smile. For those legends to stand there and applaud us was the ultimate recognition.
[Image: 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 Images]
Serge Pizzorno, Kasabian and lifelong Leicester fan
Claudio mentioned the band on Match of the Day after the first game. The club was playing “Fire” after our goals, and he wanted to know the story behind it. Getting a shoutout from him was incredible. When we played at 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, and did things the right way, blending in with the local culture.
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No matter where we played – Europe, Japan, America – Leicester was everyone’s second team. Everyone was rooting for it to happen. In the last five or six weeks, the whole city came together – at the school gates, the post office, the pubs, on the street – everyone was on this journey together. It was such a special place to be: why can’t it always be like this? It was a pure fairytale.
The whole 5,000-1 thing… Before every season, my wife’s uncle is one of about 20 old guys who go to Skeggy, the nearest beach, and they always put £20 on Leicester winning the league. He won £80,000 – a lot of his friends cashed out, but he stayed strong. Ten years on, what a ride: winning the league, playing in the Champions League, winning the FA Cup, a couple of top-five finishes, a promotion, and three relegations.
When the title season is documented, you can hear our music in the background, so in a small way, we’re 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 – they were drinking Peroni on the side of the stage, and then you remember they’re just young lads.
[Image: Sergio Pizzorno (right) poses with fellow Leicester fan, and bandmate, Tom Meighan after Kasabian finished their set at Victoria Park, Leicester during the Foxes’ winners’ bus parade in May 2016. Photograph: Plumb Images/Leicester City FC/Getty Images]
Mike Stowell, first-team and goalkeeper coach
Claudio did a couple of genius things: he switched to a back four the week before the season, from a back five, which was the foundation for the “great escape” (avoiding relegation in 2015). The rest of us thought, “We have quite an old back four, I’m not sure about this,” but Claudio was confident. For him, the full-backs were there to defend the width of the box, so everyone else had to track back. We were great without the ball – not so good with it – but when we counterattacked: wow!
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The other thing was that Claudio gave the lads a week off after we lost to Arsenal in February. Danny [Simpson] was sent off, and Danny Welbeck scored a winner with the last kick. Arsenal did a lap of honour. All we could hear was them celebrating in their dressing room. One of our players showed the staff a picture on Instagram of Arsenal’s players celebrating. Claudio said, “Listen, think about that, and I’ll see you a week on Monday.”I remember Vards saying, “Did he just say a week Monday?” I wasn’t sure, so I said I’d check. “No, don’t,” he replied, “because if that’s the case, we’re off.” And they all flew off to Dubai. When they came back, we went on a real winning streak. It was the worst thing Arsenal could have done. It was like poking the bear—we thought, “We’re not losing this now.”
The players loved a good social event at the right time. Once a month, on a Tuesday, they’d go out as a group. Wes was a great captain and leader, but we had leaders throughout the team. Vardy, Schmeichel. Robert Huth was more English than German—he brought everyone together. After every training session, Huthy would want me to kick about 40 crosses for him to head and clear out of touch because he just loved it. No nonsense, just defending the box.
It helped that we got knocked out of the FA Cup and League Cup early, and we weren’t playing in Europe. People say Manchester City, Liverpool, and Manchester United dropped off, but we only lost three times—twice to Arsenal and once to Liverpool. If a team has that record, they win the league.
Danny Simpson, defender
We captured the imagination of everyone, everywhere. Every day, things were sent to us: packets of Vardy Salted Walkers Crisps; I’ve still got the board game Guess Who? with my face on the front of the box, Leicester City edition; Monopoly. We were gifted bottles of Captain Morgan spiced rum with Wes Morgan on the front. It was just insane. You never wanted the bubble to burst.
We didn’t have a bonus in our contracts for winning the league. Why would we, after just avoiding relegation? The chairman recognized that and bought us BMW i8s—I think Andy King still has his. I’ve still got the picture on my phone of all the cars lined up outside the stadium. The chairman also gave each of us a little replica Premier League trophy. During the season, Claudio gave all the players bells related to his “dilly-ding, dilly-dong” saying.
The 3-1 win at Manchester City confirmed we were a really good team, but it was after the West Ham game, when we had four games left, that I thought we could win the league. We went 2-1 down at home, Vardy got sent off, but we scored a penalty in stoppage time to draw. It felt like we’d won. Psychologically, it was a massive boost and probably a killer for Tottenham.
We spent a lot of time together. We’d go for dinners, and the chairman would take us to London. For our Christmas party, we were running around Copenhagen dressed as turtles and superheroes. Claudio recognized the importance of balance and let us run with it. There was more pressure in the final 10 games of the previous season, when we were at risk of relegation—staff could lose their jobs. The only pressure now was: “We’re never going to have this chance again.”
View image in fullscreen: Danny Simpson (left) celebrates with teammates after Leonardo Ulloa (centre) scored Leicester’s stoppage-time equaliser against West Ham from the penalty spot. Photograph: Rui Vieira/AP
Ken Way, psychologist
The foundations were created by Nigel Pearson, who I first met at Southampton and who took me to Leicester, Hull, and then back to Leicester. As much as I appreciate the job Claudio did, I believe Leicester would have won the league under Nigel. The momentum came from Nigel that previous season. He has wonderful man-management skills—and a lot of credit should also go to Craig Shakespeare.
One of the things that created the team spirit was Shakey’s humour—the guy could have been a stand-up comedian. He had a lovely way of cracking a joke about the situation if things seemed to get a bit tricky. I remember telling him: “Shakey, you are the glue that holds this team together.” He understood the dynamics and the mood. Boy, is he missed.
Jamie Vardy led the camaraderie. Not only was he an incredible goalscorer, but he also set the tone for the fun. He was 110% full-on every waking moment. Once, I saw Christian and Robert Huth disappear after training, and they were just taking turns kickingThey threw the ball as hard as they could at each other’s backsides.
Steve Walsh, assistant manager and head of recruitment
We played 4-4-2, but I always said we had three in midfield: N’Golo Kanté on either side of Danny Drinkwater. People used to joke that three-quarters of the Earth is covered in water, and the rest is covered by Kanté. Marseille wanted him, and he wanted to stay in France, but they hesitated because of the fee for a second-division player from Caen. So we brought him to Leicester and basically kept him there until he signed a contract. I think other clubs dismissed him because of his size. We bought him for £5.6 million and sold him for £32 million, and he went on to win the Premier League again with Chelsea and the World Cup.
[Image: N’Golo Kanté’s energy was a big part of Leicester’s success: ‘Three-quarters of the Earth is covered in water, and the rest is covered by Kanté.’ Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian]
Shinji Okazaki, who came from Mainz, was also a real spark. His work rate was incredible; we basically got a striker and a midfielder in one. If he wasn’t supporting Jamie, he’d be defending, and we defended as a team of eleven. Riyad Mahrez, who we signed for £450,000 from Le Havre the year before, had the best first touch I think I’ve ever seen. He could stop a ball dead even if it came from 50 or 60 yards away.
Shakey and Mike ran training in pre-season in Austria after Nigel Pearson left, and I sat in a small stand with Claudio, giving him a running commentary on each player so he could get up to speed quickly. When we got to Riyad, he asked, “What does he do?” I said, “He’s a genius.” N’Golo and Riyad became very close friends, but there was a bit of rivalry in training. I used to tell Riyad, “You’ll never get past Kanté.” He’d always give me a sly smile if he did.
The culture and atmosphere were so good, everything just clicked into place—and that includes the people off the pitch, like Dave Rennie [physio], Andrew Neville [operations director], and Matty Reeves [head of fitness and conditioning], who are still there. And Macca [Paul McAndrew], the kit man. I always tell him, “If Carlsberg made kit men… you’d be the best in the world.”
[Image: Walkers released Vardy Salted crisps in honor of Jamie Vardy’s record-breaking 11-game scoring run. Photograph: Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images]
Frequently Asked Questions
Here is a list of FAQs about Leicester Citys historic 201516 Premier League title win ten years later featuring reflections from Claudio Ranieri and the squad
BeginnerLevel Questions
1 Why was Leicester City winning the Premier League such a big deal
It was a 5000to1 underdog story The club had nearly been relegated the year before and no one expected a team that spent very little money to beat the richest clubs in the world
2 Who was the manager at the time
Claudio Ranieri an Italian manager who had previously coached big clubs like Chelsea and Juventus He was famously called a tinkerman but kept the same lineup most of that season
3 What does Claudio Ranieri say was the secret to that season
He says it was the team spirit a solid defense and the incredible speed of Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez on the counterattack
4 Who were the key players for Leicester that year
Jamie Vardy Riyad Mahrez NGolo Kanté and Kasper Schmeichel
Advanced Questions
5 Ten years on do the players still feel like they havent been given enough credit
Most say they feel immense pride but some admit they felt the media and football world treated it as a fluke They believe the discipline and tactical intelligence required to win is often overlooked
6 What was the turning point of the season according to the squad
Many point to the 10 win against Crystal Palace in March 2016 Leicester had lost momentum and were 10 down but they equalized in the last minute That match convinced them they had destiny on their side
7 How did Ranieri keep the players motivated when they were expected to collapse
He used a one game at a time mantra and set small targets He also banned the players from talking about winning the title until the very last month
8 Did the players have any superstitions or rituals during that run
Yes
