Inside Leicester's miracle season: A local journalist writes

In my seven seasons covering Leicester City I have seen grown men weep – regularly. Sometimes they have been tears of joy, like when the club ended its 10-year exile from the Premier League by winning the Championship title, but mostly it has been tears of sorrow and devastation.

The thing about City is there isn’t a rich history of success. Just three League Cups in the club’s proud 132-year history. No FA Cups, and until this season no top-flight title – nothing.

There used to be a joke that burglaries had raided the trophy room at the old ground Filbert Street and had removed all the contents. Police were looking for two men carrying a royal blue carpet.

There had been a few golden eras when the club had been moderately successful, most notably under Martin O’Neill in the late 1990s and at the turn of this century when two of those League Cups were won; and there have been a couple of Championship play-off magic moments; but in general the negatives outweighed the positives.

Remarkably, it was only 15 years ago when City almost ceased to exist. Riddled with debt, the club plunged into administration and was only saved by the efforts of the supporters, and then a consortium led by one of Leicester’s most famous sons, Gary Lineker.

It was only eight years ago that City were relegated from the Championship to the third tier of English football for the first time in the club’s history.

Even when there has been relative success, the gloom has invariably followed. Take last season: City were bottom of the table for over 140 days, and were seven points adrift of safety with just nine games to go. They then won seven of those games to pull off the greatest-ever Premier League great escape, only for the achievement to be swiftly followed by scandal and the departure of manager Nigel Pearson. It felt like it was back to square one.

When genial Italian Claudio Ranieri came in during the summer it was fair to say his appointment produced a mixed reaction amongst City fans. While he had managed some of the biggest clubs in Europe in the past, his last job had been a disastrous four-game spell in charge of the Greek national team, even losing to the Faroe Islands.

He hadn’t managed in England for over a decade and he was dubbed ‘the Tinkerman’ and ‘Clownio’ by the media during his spell in charge of Chelsea before his sacking in 2004.

City were one of the big favourites for relegation before a City team under Ranieri’s management had even kicked a ball. As for the title, you could get odds of 5000-1 on City becoming champions. That was how ridiculous the concept was.

Some members of the Blue Army, as they are known, did take the bet. Their unwavering devotion to City, despite year after year of disappointment, persuaded them that no matter how long the odds there was still scope to dream.

Even in this cynical world where reality bites and innocence is lost at an early age, City have shown their supporters, and the watching world, that dreams can come true.

Leicester had never seen the like of this season. Only twice before in their history had they ever been in a position to challenge for the title. In 1929 they finished second but never sat top of the table at any stage; while in 1963 the ‘Ice Kings’, as they were known for their ability to keep playing (and winning) during a crippling winter, fell away once the weather got better, eventually finishing fourth... and losing the FA Cup final into the bargain.

Now Ranieri’s men have created history, becoming immortals in the eyes of City fans.

The story of City’s incredible transformation has captured the imagination of the world. Media crews working in television, radio and print across the world have descended on Leicester in recent months. At the start of the media storm that engulfed the city they didn’t know where Leicester was (was it just outside London?) or even how to pronounce the name (it is Less-ter, not Lei-ces-ter).

They all came to try to discover how it was possible that a team that was so unfancied, that was tipped for relegation, could take on the Premier League heavyweights and beat them.

There appeared to be no logical answer, so much so that some have even looked for supernatural explanations, pointing out that City’s upsurge in form had begun shortly after the skeletal remains of Richard III, discovered under a car park in the city, had been reburied in March 2015. Since then Leicester have lost just four league matches from 44 games.

The city of Leicester has known sporting success in the past. The Tigers rugby union team have won English and European titles, the basketball team have been English champions and the county cricket club have won trophies and titles.

In Leicester they call the city the sporting capital of the country. That may be a bold claim, but now City have completed their astonishing title bid it is a boast that has merit.

Now the tears are really starting to flow, along with the champagne.