Leicester City relegated to League 1 (Image: Getty)
Leicester City have been relegated to League One for the second time in the club’s history. The Foxes’ fate was sealed on Tuesday night with a 2-2 draw with promotion-chasing Hull City.
Gary Rowett’s side knew they needed to beat the Tigers at the King Power Stadium to maintain any slim hope of survival. However, the East Midlands side failed to win and will now play in the third tier next season. Liam Miller scored the opening goal just 18 minutes into the match. The Canadian ran into the box with the ball and slotted it into the far corner, where Asmir Begovic rushed a clearance.
Jordan James gave Leicester fans a glimmer of hope from the penalty spot early in the second half when Abdul Fattau was brought down by Luis Koumas inside Hull’s box, but Luke Thomas turned the game around minutes later with a free volley in the center of the box.
But as clinical as ever, Oli McBurnie produced a burst of power from close range to equalize for the Tigers in the 63rd minute.
It’s a dramatic fall from glory for the Foxes, who were crowned Premier League champions 10 years ago next week and won the FA Cup five years ago next month. Leicester were still playing Roma in the European semi-finals in 2022.
However, relegation from the Premier League for the 2022/23 season proved to be devastating, with City forced to sell and part with some of their best players, including James Maddison, Harvey Barnes, Caglar Soyuncu and Youri Tielemans.
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Gary Rowett’s Leicester City are relegated (Image: Getty)
The Foxes won the Championship in 2023/24, returning to the top flight at their first attempt, but the long-term damage had already begun and there was still clear dissatisfaction from fans to the board and behind the scenes.
Last season, Leicester endured a nightmare season in the Premier League, becoming the first top team in history to register no goals in nine games at home between December 2024 and May 2025.
After 38 games, they finished the season in 18th place with 25 points, 13 points behind 17th place Tottenham. It was a tough season for the Foxes, who lost 25 league games, a club record.
Leicester are said by some to be one of the favorites for automatic promotion when the 2025/26 season begins, and on paper they have made an excellent start, with City sitting in third place with 12 points from their first seven games.
However, their season started to fall apart in October, when the Foxes went on a five-game winless streak with just three wins in nine games heading into the new year, leaving them firmly in the bottom half of the table.
And in February, Leicester were given a six-point penalty by the EFL for breaching Profitability and Sustainability (PSR) regulations, sparking fears they could be dropped to the Third Division for the first time since 2009.
Gary Rowett was appointed as the club’s manager in mid-February in an attempt to turn the tide following the sacking of Marti Cifuentes, but the former Oxford United and Millwall man has failed to make much of an impact.
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In fact, heading into the match against Hull, the Foxes had won only one of their 10 games under Rowett, including Saturday’s heartbreaking defeat at Portsmouth, and are now guaranteed back-to-back relegation.
This means Leicester must prepare for their first trip to the third tier since the 2008-09 season, when they won the division in the canter under manager Nigel Pearson and chairman Milan Mandaric.
Now with ‘Top’ Ayawat Srivaddhanaprabha in charge, many Leicester supporters fear there will be no repeat of their League One title-winning campaign and instead they will face a long spell in the third tier.
