Leicester City completed their improbable run to the Premier League title this week, a run that started before the season as 5,000-1 long shots. One of the reasons Leicester was such an underdog is because teams like them almost never win league cup in England’s highest level of football.
Since the Premier League was formed in 1992, there have been 24 championships. Of those, 22 were won by one of the so-called “Big 5,” Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea, and Arsenal. Leicester City is just the second club outside the Big 5 to win the league.
One of the great things about English soccer is that the more than 7,000 clubs that make up the hierarchical pyramid of English football can dream of someday reaching the top flight and winning it all. But for most of the Premier League’s history reality meant just being happy to join the highest level. Leicester City has now changed the game.
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