Leicester's Impossible Dream

For those of us born and raised here,

Leicester will forever hold a special place in our hearts.

It's the city that nurtured me, shaped me and provided me

with both purpose and a platform to launch myself into a wider world.

Comes to Lineker.

That's good play.

But it's never been seen as a fashionable place -

a provincial frump restricted to the shadows of the national agenda,

a place that inspires footnotes rather than headlines.

The same could be said of its football team,

which has spent much of its 132-year history outside of the top tier

as it has tackling England's elite.

Even the city's motto

seems tailored to Leicester's unremarkable nature -

"Semper eadem", "Always the same."

But every now and again in life,

the unremarkable gives rise to the highly improbable.

One of the biggest

archaeological discoveries of recent times.

The bones of Richard III are discovered in Leicester.

The confirmation that remains discovered in a council car park

in September 2012 were those of a late 15th century king of England

drew Leicester out of those shadows and into the spotlight.

The fate of Richard III captured the imagination of the entire city,

and made waves across the world.

Two and a half years later, when the last of the Plantagenet dynasty

was finally laid to rest at Leicester Cathedral,

the city's football team were rock-bottom of the Premier League,

doomed to relegation after less than a year back in the top flight.

But, then, as if inspired by its people's mass show of respect

for a long-dead king,

another remarkable thing happened to this unremarkable city.

It's on target! It's in!

Terrific from Leicester City!

This has to be the greatest escape from relegation

that the Premier League has ever known.

An incredible sequence of seven wins from their last nine matches

saw Leicester retain their Premier League status -

and what had looked like the end proved to be just the beginning.

For, barely 12 months later,

England would boast its newest and most unlikely ruler.

Oh, what a screamer!

The achievement of the century.

..which lifted everybody -

even people that weren't heavily into football.

This is the greatest sporting story of all.

He has done it!

It's unbelievable, G. It's unbelievable.

This is the story of not only the most incredible

Premier League season ever,

but perhaps the biggest shock in the history of team sport,

and how Leicester's winter of discontent became glorious summer.

The architect of Leicester's survival

had been manager Nigel Pearson.

But one too many off-field dramas would see him depart,

as the Foxes sought a fresh blueprint for the new season.

Enter stage right - Claudio Ranieri.

The appointment of the 63-year-old former Chelsea boss was unexpected,

and, on the face of it, underwhelming.

His most recent assignment, managing the Greek national side,

ended badly, with a defeat to the Faroe Islands.

It was hardly inspiring.

MESSAGE ALERT CHIMES

Look, I wanted to come back in Premier League.

For me, it's not important, the-the...the name of the...

Leicester is a very old club, good club.

It's not so big like Manchester, er...Liverpool,

but it's a very, very good history, and that is important.

It's here. 24th season of the Premier League.

The start of another huge, and hopefully exciting

and interesting season in English league football.

It's important to entertain our fans, no?

The fans paid the ticket, and they want to see some good football.

We try to do this.

A new season, and a new era in the technical area of the KP.

The enigmatic Claudio Ranieri replacing the prickly

but, let's face it, successful Nigel Pearson.

REF BLOWS WHISTLE

Flicked on, and Morgan - we're nearly there!

And the ball is there,

and Jamie Vardy celebrates the first goal at the KP Stadium this season.

Albrighton's cross.

And it's 2-0, Mahrez!

What a start to the new season for Leicester.

Little drop for Schlupp.

Early cross will reach Albrighton...

and a deflection takes it home.

And with a new man at the helm, they've made a fantastic start.

I tell to my players, "Hey, you go in the stadium,"

the first match, with the Kasabian song,

"You are the warriors, you are to do the best for them."

Are you a fan of Kasabian yourself?

No, not a fan - but I know them, I know it's good rock,

and I love rock.

You know, we've paid our dues!

We... Yeah. You know, we've... We've been there, haven't we?

Through some real times.

David Pleat, I started going down - same as you. That's right.

Pleat out! Pleat out - and then Gordon Lee, Brian Little,

and then Mark McGhee come in, and then Martin O'Neill,

and then we chopped and changed, and went up and went down,

got relegated - I were there, crying, with my long hair down here!

I know when we score a goal, Kasabian start the song,

that's good, because I want the warriors, and Kasabian can recharge.

Albrighton. Purposeful. Little late...

Back - Mahrez - 2-0!

Leicester City make it six points out of six in the Premier League.

Still, the goal really, is just to stay in the Premier League -

not Champions League, or Europa League? No!

HE CHUCKLES

Oh, thank you, Gary, but it's not possible now.

Slowly, slowly.

We've seen it, when we interviewed him.

He's something special inside - and he got all his plan in his head.

The new boss has come in, he's tweaked a few things,

what he wanted to. He said he didn't want to change too much,

and it's working wonders for us.

Those changes that he has made, the small changes,

have proved to sort of be a little bit of magic.

Very communicative, he talks to all the players,

we're having fun with each other, you know?

But, at the same time, he can switch around, you know,

and be very focused, be very concentrated on what we need to do.

Hey, you are sleeping. BELL RINGS

Come on!

He has taken everything in his stride,

and the biggest thing of all -

he's dealt with the players magnificently.

I think he brings good tactics.

A lot of work defensively,

and a lot of...

Me, for example, if I don't work, I don't play.

I think Mr Ranieri thinks about it tactically a bit differently.

I mean, he'll probably look all the way down

to the opposition's laundry lady

to see if he can find a weakness that we can exploit.

He's like a grandad to football - you want to give him a hug.

It's the calmness, as well, he brings with it. Didn't he? Mm.

Everyone stay calm, you know? Stay focused and calm.

Hey, diddly-dee, diddly-dong, wake up!

His press conferences, do you know what I mean?

He's got them eating out of his hands.

He has actually developed an image,

which I've never known in any manager

in my time covering the Premier...

Well, or even the old First Division.

There are some men who are in trouble

when they must change something.

No, no, no, no. I am like Christopher Columbus -

I want to go, I want to go, I want to know.

It was a distinctly less relaxed mood in the Chelsea dugout,

with Jose Mourinho at the centre of a medical emergency.

Why?! Why?! Is he dying?!

The doctor was out, and the champions and their manager

would struggle to overcome the effects

of this self-inflicted wound.

By contrast, Manchester City were in fine fettle -

their attacking prowess boosted by a summer spending spree.

Navas. Great ball.

De Bruyne! It is four.

Neighbours United had also splashed the cash,

and manager Louis van Gaal was winning over the fans.

According to him, anyway.

The fans are shouting every week, "Louis van Gaal's army!

"Louis van Gaal's army!"

In North London, Arsenal recovered

from a chastening opening day defeat,

and, by the start of October,

were living up to the preseason hype.

3-0!

Devastating finish from Alexis Sanchez!

Harry Kane endured a frustrating start to his sophomore season,

but he and Spurs soon started to turn things around.

Off the mark at last!

At Liverpool, manager Brendan Rodgers

paid the price for a string of tepid performances -

the Reds turning to Germany to find his successor.

I'm the normal one, maybe. If you want this.

LAUGHTER

Whilst Liverpool made their continental selection,

winless Sunderland opted for the full English -

Sam Allardyce returning to the north-east

following Dick Advocaat's decision to quit.

Six straight defeats meant that Tim Sherwood

wasn't afforded the same luxury by Aston Villa.

It might have been all change elsewhere,

but the wins kept coming for free-scoring Leicester.

Now all they needed to do was tighten up at the back.

My players doesn't want pizza - maybe don't love pizza,

because I said, "When we make clean sheet, I pay to everybody a pizza."

Sako...

Needed to be punched away by Schmeichel.

Played through to Vardy.

Vardy's chance.

Hennessey can't stop him...

Nobody can stop Jamie Vardy right now!

They've beaten Crystal Palace.

And it is a first clean sheet of the season for the Foxes, too.

Now Claudio Ranieri will have to keep good on his promise.

This is going to be expensive for you.