Leicester's 5,000-1 title: the biggest upset in history

Leicester's 5,000-1 title in 2015/16 is the greatest upset in the history of English football, the only time the Premier League has been won by a club priced at 5,000-1 before the season, the same odds bookmakers gave on Elvis Presley being found alive. Leicester finished on 81 points, ten clear of second-placed Arsenal, one year after spending most of the previous campaign at the bottom of the table. No first-time champion had emerged since Nottingham Forest in 1977/78, and no upset this large has come close since.

How Leicester's 5,000-1 title happened

The story starts with the worst season in the club's recent history. In 2014/15 Leicester sat bottom of the table with nine games remaining, and only a furious run of seven wins from their last nine matches, under Nigel Pearson, kept them up in 14th place on 41 points. Pearson was sacked anyway that summer, and the club's owners replaced him with Claudio Ranieri, a 64-year-old who had just been fired as Greece manager after losing to the Faroe Islands. His appointment was greeted with indifference, and bookmakers priced Leicester at 5,000-1 for the title before the season began.

What followed broke every assumption in the sport. Leicester's entire squad had been assembled for around 79.5 million dollars in transfer fees, roughly half a billion dollars less than the squads at the top of the table. Jamie Vardy, who would score 24 league goals, was playing fifth-tier football four years before the title, and had cost about 2.5 million dollars when he joined from Fleetwood in 2012. Riyad Mahrez, the league's player of the year, cost around 600,000 dollars from Le Havre in January 2014. N'Golo Kante arrived from Caen for 5.6 million pounds and proceeded to lead the league in both tackles and interceptions.

The team did not win by outplaying anyone. Their average possession of 42.43 per cent is the lowest ever recorded by a Premier League champion since data collection began in 2003/04. They absorbed pressure, broke quickly, and defended set pieces with the same fury that kept them up the year before. Ranieri made just 27 changes to his lineup across the entire season, the fewest of any club, when even the next most settled side made 50. The season produced one of the biggest points jumps in Premier League history, from 41 points to 81, a 40-point leap that ranks second all-time.

The three defeats and the title run-in

Leicester lost only three league games all season, all before mid-February: 5-2 at home to Arsenal in September, 1-0 at Liverpool on Boxing Day, and 2-1 at Arsenal in February, when Danny Welbeck scored in injury time. From that point they went unbeaten for the rest of the season, losing once in their final 18 games while winning 11. They never dropped below sixth place all season, and after moving back to the top with a 1-0 win at Tottenham on 11 January, on a Robert Huth header, they never relinquished first place again.

The run-in became a test of nerve for everyone else. Tottenham, the only side still within reach, led 2-0 at Chelsea with minutes to play on 2 May, which would have kept the title race alive. Eden Hazard equalised in the 83rd minute, Chelsea fans celebrated the goal that ended the race, and Leicester were champions with two games to spare. The final table read Leicester 81, Arsenal 71, Tottenham 70, Manchester City 66, Manchester United 66. Leicester's 81 points was the second-lowest winning total among 38-game Premier League seasons, behind only Manchester United's 75 in 1996/97, and the title was Leicester's first in 132 years of history, worth an estimated 150 million pounds in additional revenue, and 5,000-1 winners pay out exactly as the odds say.

The players who made Leicester's 5,000-1 title possible

The individual stories are the part that still reads like fiction. Vardy scored in eleven consecutive league games, breaking Ruud van Nistelrooy's Premier League record, and finished second in the scoring charts with 24 goals. Mahrez scored 17 and assisted 11, was the only player in the division to score a hat-trick that season, and became the first African player to win the PFA Player of the Year award. Kante, at 5.6 million pounds the cheapest of the three, was the engine, breaking up play and starting attacks in a way the league had never seen. The entire defensive unit, built around captain Wes Morgan, kept 15 clean sheets and conceded just 36 goals. Vardy, Mahrez, Kante and Morgan all made the PFA Team of the Season.

What happened after the fairytale

The title was Ranieri's first league championship in a 28-year managerial career, and it took nine months for the story to turn. He was sacked on 23 February 2017, a day after a 2-1 defeat at Sevilla in the Champions League, with Leicester having won just five league games all season and sitting one point above the relegation zone. The sacking looked reckless, then Leicester won the second leg 2-0 at home, overturning the tie 3-2 on aggregate, and reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League in their first attempt. They had already won their group with a game to spare. The great escape of 2015 and the title of 2016 were followed by a European run that no one had scripted either.

The longer arc is less kind. Leicester were relegated from the Premier League in 2022/23, won the Championship at the first attempt, then were relegated again in 2024/25, as you can trace in our guide to every club relegated from the Premier League. The 5,000-1 title now sits inside a club that has spent more seasons in the Championship since winning it than winning the league took years to achieve. That fragility is exactly why the title matters. Leicester's 5,000-1 title was not a dynasty beginning, it was a single season where a club with no money, no possession and no pedigree beat the richest league in the world, and the odds were right the first time. They were never going to be right twice.

FAQ

How many games did Leicester lose in their title season?

Three. They lost 5-2 at home to Arsenal in September, 1-0 at Liverpool on Boxing Day, and 2-1 at Arsenal in February when Danny Welbeck scored in injury time, and did not lose again all season.

When did Leicester win the 2015/16 Premier League title?

They were confirmed champions on 2 May 2016, with two games to spare, when Tottenham could only draw 2-2 at Chelsea after Eden Hazard's 83rd-minute equaliser. Leicester had been top since 11 January.

How much did Leicester's title-winning squad cost?

Around 79.5 million dollars in total transfer fees, roughly half a billion dollars less than the squads of their rivals. Vardy cost about 2.5 million dollars in 2012, Mahrez around 600,000 dollars in 2014, and Kante 5.6 million pounds in 2015.

Did Leicester get relegated after winning the title?

Not immediately. They were relegated in 2022/23, won the Championship at the first attempt, and were relegated again in 2024/25. They also reached the Champions League quarter-finals in 2016/17, the season after the title.

Key takeaways

• Leicester's 5,000-1 title in 2015/16 is the biggest upset in English football history and the only Premier League title won by a club priced at 5,000-1 before the season.
• Leicester finished on 81 points, ten clear of Arsenal, with the lowest winning total of any 38-game Premier League season and the lowest average possession of any champion on record, at 42.43 per cent.
• They lost only three games all season, never dropped below sixth, and went top for good with a 1-0 win at Tottenham on 11 January 2016.
• Vardy broke the consecutive-games scoring record, Mahrez became the first African PFA Player of the Year, and the whole squad cost roughly 79.5 million dollars in transfer fees.
• Ranieri was sacked nine months after the title, and Leicester were relegated in 2022/23 and again in 2024/25, which is why the single fairytale season remains the story.