A secret invite and other 'pinch-me' moments before Leicester woke up
Get the Sports newsletter
Daily sports — scores, transfers, the storylines from the leagues you actually follow. Free.
- Leicester City prepare for League One under new manager Russell Martin a decade after their 5,000-1 Premier League title, following back-to-back relegations since lifting the FA Cup in 2021.
- Claudio Ranieri gave a secret 45-minute audience to just eight handpicked British journalists at Belvoir Drive the day after the title was clinched, after they slipped out of the packed press room at King Power Stadium.
- Ranieri considered double training sessions but abandoned the idea with help from assistant Craig Shakespeare, instead taking the squad out for pizza after their first clean sheet against Crystal Palace in October 2015 to build rapport away from the training ground.
- Nathan Dyer missed the title-clinching party because he was in hospital with wife Laura after the birth of their second child — having arrived on loan from Swansea on deadline day via the late owner Khun Vichai's helicopter.
- Local butcher Sean Jeynes created the 'Ranieri' sausage from Packington free-range pork, fennel, garlic and chilli, winning a Great Taste award and shifting 12kg a day at peak; Ranieri subsequently declared himself 'the sausageman' when Jeynes brought a plate to a news conference.
- Foxes Trust co-chair Lynn Wyeth placed a £2 bet at 5,000-1 odds, won £10,000, and retired at 55 instead of 67 — though her betting account was temporarily flagged for money laundering before she could access the winnings.
Why it matters: Leicester's fall from 5,000-1 Premier League champions to League One puts every warm retelling in sharper context, and leaves new manager Russell Martin under immediate pressure to deliver a Championship return at the first attempt — a task framed as far easier than the original miracle yet the only measure that matters now.
