Peter Woodentop, Wiki Commons
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In the 2014/15 Premier League campaign, Leicester City narrowly avoided relegation thanks to a run of form at the tail end of the season.
It was their first season back in the top flight having been in the Championship since 2004, and even dipping down to League 1 for one season.
They had been in the relegation zone for 20 weeks running, having lost 18 games out of 29 and only managing 4 wins, but 7 wins from the last 9 games of the season saw them climb out of danger and ultimately finish in 14th place.
It’s understandable then, that for the next season, the bookies had them at odds of 5,000/1 to win the Premier League.
Remarkably, a number of people took this bet, and they will have been very happy that they did; because not only did Leicester win the league, but they finished 10 points clear of Liverpool in second, and only lost 3 games all season.
It was one of the biggest upsets in footballing history, and one of the most remarkable underdog stories professional football had ever seen – and it cost the bookies an estimated £50 million.
They called it the worst day since Frankie Dettori rode all 7 winners at Ascot in 1996, and you can understand why – just a tenner at those odds would have returned £50k.
The 2015/16 Premier League Season Overview
It was only Leicester’s second season back in the top flight after more than a decade’s absence, but it couldn’t have gone much better for them.
A confident start with wins against Sunderland and West Ham put he Foxes in 1st place straight away, but they only managed 1 win from their next 5 games, losing 5-2 at home to Arsenal and drawing the rest.
They remained unbeaten for the next 10 games though, and sat happily at the top of the table before a 1-0 loss away at Liverpool triggered a bit of a goal drought resulting in a number of 0-0 draws.
They only dipped into 2nd place though, and a few important wins away from home against Manchester City and Tottenham put them back in the top spot.
Despite suffering their 3rd and final defeat of the season again against Arsenal, Leicester remained in 1st place from week 22 onwards, stunning the footballing world and delighting their fans.
Their manager, Claudio Ranieri, won manager of the month 3 times as well as being voted manager of the season, while Jamie Vardy won player of the season and scored 24 goals, missing out on the Golden Boot by a single goal. He and Riyad Mahrez managed 42 goals between them that season, while Kasper Schmeichel kept 16 clean sheets.
Their crazy form was not something they would carry into their next season, being lucky to finish 12th in 2016/17 after a difficult season, but their achievement will forever be remembered as one of the greatest coups in English football.