How Leicester City fans lost faith despite Premier League promotion amid a culture of contempt

Few clubs can compare to the rollercoaster ride that Leicester City have experienced over the past 15 years.

From winning League One in 2009, and then the Championship through two playoff disappointments, with that Troy Deeney Goal – to a great Premier League escape, a 5000/1 miracle, a Champions League quarter-final, an FA Cup triumph, devastating relegation and another Championship title.

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Leicester Fans have truly seen it all. They've grown accustomed to the ups and downs, the peaks and the valleys.

As the club's final chapter moves towards Monday Premier League opener against Tottenham Hotspur, However, there is a persistent feeling that the next downward spiral could take some time to recover from.

A summer to forget

Last season's promotion largely masked Leicester's flaws.

The most expensive team in league history did the right thing and won the league under manager Enzo Maresca, correcting the mistakes of Brendan Rodgers' final spell.

Fast forward a few weeks and Maresca is already sitting on the Chelsea benchhaving signed the Foxes' most valuable player, Local talent Kiernan Dewsbury-Hallwith the.

Add to that the departures of Callum Doyle, Dennis Praet, Marc Albrighton, Yunus Akgün and Kelechi Iheanacho and you have a weaker squad than last season.

The arrivals of Caleb Okoli, Michael Goulding, Bobby Decordova-Reid and Facundo Buonanotte have done little to convince fans that this is a team capable of retaining its Premier League state.

A possible transfer of Matías Soulé never materialized (he eventually left Juventus for Roma) and other strong players Links to people like Wilfried Zaha and Adam Hložek similarly evaporated.

All of this leaves Leicester in a precarious position. New manager Steve Cooper has failed to reassure fans after a dismal pre-season, which culminated in a 3-0 defeat to RC Lens, the third consecutive friendly in which the Foxes failed to score a goal.

“We are all crying out for new blood, especially the players,” Cooper confessed discouraged after the defeat against Lens. “In some areas of the pitch we desperately need it and we have been for a while.”

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Paying the price

“The 2022/23 season has been a huge setback, the consequences of which will be felt for some time to come.”

Those are the sinister ones Words from Leicester Chief Executive Susan Whelanwhen the accounts for that relegation season were first published.

Since then there has been little to no communication from the club, which remains embroiled in a dispute with the Premier League over its punishment for Allegedly violating profitability and sustainability standards rules.

Unlike the cases of Everton either Nottingham Forest – where news of a points deduction sparked cries of war against the Premier League – most Leicester fans have instead pointed the finger firmly at their own club.

A defense for violating the PSR based on “mitigating circumstances” such as an “unforeseen decline” seems as strong as Wout Faes' defense when… He put the ball into his own goal twice at Anfield.

An own goal is perhaps the best metaphor for Leicester's financial downfall: a club that budgeted for regular participation in European football, handing out Massively inflated salaries for mediocre playerswhich ultimately led to them becoming the most expensive team to be relegated in Premier League history.

Getting such players out of the squad has proven to be a thankless task, instead acting as an anchor, bringing the club's lofty ambitions back to stark reality.

Censorship Board

For years, Leicester were seen as the archetypal model of how smaller clubs should operate. Overseen by their late owner, Khun VichaiFoxes fans lived the dream, but since his passing the club's management has been in steady decline.

Vichai's son Top took the reins in 2018, and while his emotional attachment and enthusiasm for Leicester is clear, his competence to lead and manage a Premier League-level football club is not.

However, it is Top's right-hand man, director of football Jon Rudkin, who bears much of the criticism for the club's mismanagement.

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Whether it is about refusing to listen to support groupsthe inability to get rid of unwanted players, charging significant fees for everything from physical season tickets to broadcasts of pre-season games, or the hiring of morally questionable sponsorship dealsThe anger has spread further with each decision made.

The disbelief of many fans at how a board could make such a series of poor decisions has slowly morphed into the grim realisation that the club despises them, seeing them as little more than consumers, there to be ripped off at every opportunity.

Calls to “dismiss the board of directors” or at least for Top to remove Rudkin from power. The rumours are getting louder by the season, and there is a real sense that the 2024/25 campaign may be the one where those toxic undertones within the fanbase finally bubble to the surface.

The above provides the context for what Leicester are about to face come 8pm on Monday night: a depleted squad, a frustrated manager and a looming points deduction, all overseen by a board lacking the necessary depth, and played out in front of a disillusioned and resentful crowd.

Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a long season.