"Everything that was there 10 years ago when we won the Premier League — heart, determination, the underdog story — that's gone, completely flipped, and now we've got overpaid players who don't seem very bothered." That's Phil Holloway, editor of Leicester Fan TV. Hard to argue with it.
A decade on from the most unlikely title in English football history — 5,000-to-1, still the number that defines the whole era — Leicester City are second-bottom in the Championship with eight games left. League One is a genuine possibility, not a doomsday hypothetical.
How bad has it actually gotten?
Consider the timeline. Relegated from the Premier League in 2022-23. Promoted straight back up. Relegated again last season, which Jamie Vardy himself called a "total embarrassment." Then Vardy left for Italy. Then manager Marti Cifuentes was sacked in late January. Then three straight defeats under caretaker Andy King. Then a six-point deduction for breaching spending rules in 2023-24 — points they absolutely cannot afford to lose right now.
New manager Gary Rowett has taken six points from six games, which looked like a corner being turned until last weekend's 3-1 home loss to Queens Park Rangers. Leicester led. They gave it away with what Rowett described as "three really poor goals." The kind of game that defines a relegation season.
Saturday brings a trip to Watford, who are pushing for the playoffs. Leicester haven't won any of their last nine away league games. That's not a run of bad luck — that's a structural problem, and the Championship table doesn't offer second chances.
The financial stakes are enormous
This isn't just a sporting embarrassment. The financial drop from Championship to League One is severe. Championship clubs averaged around £36 million in revenue in 2023-24. League One clubs averaged £9.1 million. That's not a dip — that's a cliff. For a club carrying overpaid contracts and already under points deduction for financial rule breaches, landing in the third tier could trigger consequences that take years to unpick.
Jordan James, a 21-year-old Wales midfielder on loan from Rennes, leads the team with 10 league goals. He's been the one bright spot. The fact that a loan player is carrying a club that once reached the Champions League quarterfinals tells you everything about where Leicester are right now.
Rowett insists he believes in the group. "I do believe we are close to being a very good team," he said Thursday. "It's just those little moments are costing us." In a relegation battle, little moments are the whole game.
Leicester have spent just one season in League One in their 142-year history. They won that division in 2008-09 and came straight back up. That precedent will offer some comfort to fans. The finances back then were nothing like the obligations the club carries now. "Sadly, we're staring at going to League One, which could mean absolute catastrophe financially," Holloway said. He's not being dramatic.
