But just a decade after Claudio Ranieri’s men made history and Andrea Bocelli performed “Nessun Dorma” as they lifted an unlikely title, the Foxes will find themselves playing League One next season after their relegation from the Championship was confirmed.
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Leicester had to beat promotion-chasing Hull City on Tuesday to keep their slim survival chances alive, but a 2-2 draw at the King Power Stadium means they will be relegated to the third tier for the second time in their 121-year league history.
It confirms a notable fall from grace for the 2015-16 Premier League champions, who were punished with a six-point deduction earlier this season for breaching financial rules. The club had attempted to overturn the sanction, but an independent appeals board upheld it.
Leicester are the first former English champions to be relegated to the third tier since Blackburn Rovers were relegated to League One in 2017. The Foxes were relegated from the Premier League for the second time in three years last season, but this has been a troubled campaign with just one win in their last 18 Championship games.
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Leicester had more success after winning the Premier League title and reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League the following season. Under Brendan Rodgers, Leicester won the FA Cup for the first time in 2021 when they defeated Chelsea at Wembley, and came close to returning to the Champions League, finishing fifth two years in a row.
They paid the price for a dismal 2022-23 season and were relegated to the Championship, seven years after lifting the title, with Everton ahead of them on the final day. They bounced back immediately and won the championship under Enzo Maresca, but were relegated again last season, with Ruud van Nistelrooy unable to arrest their slide.
They appointed QPR boss Martà Cifuentes before the start of the season but he was sacked in January and their form has not improved under his replacement, Gary Rowett. Even without the six-point deduction, Leicester would still be in a survival fight with Blackburn and would be two points away from safety with two games remaining.