Leicester’s 2015 Journey: From Bottom to Top

In the beginning of 2015, no one would have thought that Leicester City could challenge the biggest clubs in England for the Premier League title. Leicester have provided one of the biggest shocks of the 2015 calendar year by doing exactly that. Leicester have ended the calendar year tied for first with Arsenal and are only in second place by goal differential. Leicester’s rise to the top was anything but easy. It has been an incredible journey in 2015 as Leicester climbed from the bottom of the table to the top.

Leicester City started the 2015 calendar year in last place in the Premier League. It looked as though they were going to get relegated as they only picked up 17 points from their first 21 games last season. After their next five games at the end of February they still were at rock bottom, picking up only one point from these five games and were looking more likely to get relegated every week. Leicester City had an uphill battle ahead of them. After another five games they were still in last place and again picked up only one point from these games.

It was not until April that Leicester City snapped their ten game winless streak in 2015 when they won four games in a row and climbed out of the relegation zone into 17^th position. They continued their unbelievable run of form into May and won three games out of four, climbing all the way to 14^th position in the table at the end of the 2014/15 season. This was an incredible end to a crazy season for Leicester City, but they still had a lot of work to do if they were to avoid relegation again next season.

Leicester began the 2015/16 season by carrying their momentum from last season and winning 4-2 against Sunderland. Riyad Mahrez and Jamie Vardy played a big part in this win, providing three of the four goals. This was the perfect start to the new season as Leicester City were on top of the Premier League. Leicester City proved that this first game was not just a fluke as they went unbeaten in August and were third in the table at the end of the month.

In September, The Foxes began to lose their run of good form as they picked up only four points that month and dropped down to 8^th in the table. Leicester showed brilliant character as they fought back in October and went unbeaten throughout the entire month. They rose to third place in the table at the end of the month and a huge reason for their success was due to Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez.

At the end of November, Leicester continued on their march to the top and were tied with Manchester City for first place. Leicester City’s Jamie Vardy broke the Premier League scoring record of most consecutive games with a goal, scoring in 11 straight games for The Foxes. Leicester City were on the top of the Premier League table for much of December and ended the year tied for first place with Arsenal. This wrapped up a miraculous comeback for Leicester City as they began 2015 on the bottom of the table, but ended the year on top.