Leicester City's Patson Daka react after defeat and resulting relegation following the Sky Bet Championship match and at the King Power Stadium, Leicester. Picture date: Tuesday April 21, 2026. (Photo by Jacob King/PA Images via Getty Images)

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Two patronizing narratives emerged after Leicester City’s relegation.

​First is the narrative painting relegation as the tragic end to the Foxes’ fairy tale rise from obscurity.

The second, fueled by Gary Lineker and others, suggests Leicester’s recent successes outweigh their relegation pain.

The suggestion that Foxes supporters should be appreciative of past achievements is not new.

Ever since Leicester City won the Premier League title against all odds in 2015, there has been a steady flow of criticism for fans who dared to think that poor performances weren’t acceptable.

As the club suffered relegation from the Premier League last year, former Foxes midfielder Robbie Savage made a similar point.

“If you ask any Leicester fan, I know there's frustration now, but if you'd have said to any Leicester fan 10 years ago, there'd be ups and downs, but you'll win the Premier League and FA Cup.”

His co-host on the BBC that night, Darren Fletcher, interrupted, adding: “And play in the Champions League and reach the quarter-finals against Atletico Madrid.”

Yet this argument misses a crucial, often-ignored point.

The brick wall the club hit as it tried to break into the elite.

Between 2019 and 2021, the club finished fifth twice and then eighth. Often in those three seasons, they were in the box seat to qualify for the Champions League but fell away at the last.

The financial disruption caused by COVID-19 affected both the wealthy owners and the club’s financial footing, and the club never really recovered from the setback.

But the real winner from Leicester City’s demise—a club outside English soccer’s traditional elite—are the established clubs like Manchester United or Tottenham Hotspur, who can now rest a little easier knowing that the Foxes, who recently outperformed them, will likely return to being less of a threat.

The uncertainty the East Midlands side generated unsettled these giants, or at least the risk of it did enough for them to propose a European Super League when the pandemic wrought havoc with soccer’s revenue streams.

The ESL project promoted by English soccer’s big six: Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur, may have ultimately failed. But for a moment, the mask had slipped; clubs like Leicester City realised what they were truly up against.

Leicester City manager at the time, Brendan Rodgers, summed up the feelings towards those who sought to undermine the meritocracy that allowed teams like his to dream.

"My job when I came to here was to disrupt the market. I wanted to know what defined the top six, clearly it’s money," he said.

“What we all have to do is protect the game, it’s about competing, and progressing, on merit.”

Despite the ESL project’s failure, stricter investment rules and more Champions League games are entrenching the dominance of bigger sides, pushing teams like Leicester even further to the periphery.

As sides, like Newcastle United and Aston Villa, who successfully managed to break into Europe’s elite competition for a season, have shown, the deck is stacked against any newcomers seeking to disrupt.

The difference between those two clubs and Leicester City is that their infrastructure and history are considerably greater.

This suggests a more concerning message: English soccer’s competitiveness may be declining.

Now, previously ‘entitled’ Leicester fans lower their expectations. They just want stable, mid-table Premier League ownership, not glory.

As Jordan Halford from the Big Strong Leicester Boys podcast told Sky Sports when relegation was confirmed.

"This wouldn’t have happened if he [former owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha] was still there,” he said

“But unfortunately, his son is not quite the businessman or the football club owner that he was. Top [Aiyawatt "Top" Srivaddhanaprabha] is never even at the club himself.

"He did an interview with Sky earlier this year, where he looked so out of touch, saying that we’re going for promotion. Everyone could see that we were going to struggle to stay up, let alone go for promotion.

"Leicester fans get a lot of criticism for being entitled. We’re not asking to be challenging for trophies like we were under Vichai; we're just asking to be sustainably run like Brentford and Bournemouth and Brighton. No disrespect, but we're bigger clubs than all of them.”

It is notable that, in these remarks, Halford both critiques attitudes toward Leicester supporters and expresses a similar sentiment.

This may reflect a tendency, especially during challenging periods, to reference club status as a means of distinction.

Really, everyone needs to accept the bitter and unfair reality that all the clubs Halford mentions are that their ability to dream is being stunted.

The demise of Leicester City is a tragedy for all, a reminder that the biggest teams aren’t just closing the gate on the competition, they’re bolting it shut.