deepnews
Europe · 24 September 2026 to 24 September 2026 · 1 headlines · BBC Sport Football

A secret invite and other 'pinch-me' moments before Leicester woke up

Ten years after Leicester City's 5,000-1 Premier League title win, the club now face League One after back-to-back relegations, with new manager Russell Martin tasked with an immediate promotion back to the Championship. BBC Sport gathered previously unshared "pinch-me" recollections from journalists who covered the 2016 triumph, including how only eight reporters who regularly covered the club received a secret invitation back to Belvoir Drive training ground the day after the title was confirmed, where manager Claudio Ranieri gave them a 45-minute audience and received a standing ovation. The piece also recounts the media scramble that day, including a cameraman filming from a neighbour's bathroom window, and touches on Ranieri's unconventional early methods as an unexpected managerial appointment that season.

As it ran

24 September 2026