By Bill Turianski on 6 May 2016; twitter.com/billsportsmaps.
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Leicester City FC – the unlikely champions of England in 2016 (at 5000-to-1 odds)…
Question: where is Leicester? Answer: As you can see in the small map below, Leicester is near the centre of England – in Leicestershire – which is in the East Midlands. Leicester is 144 km (89 mi) NW of London, by road. Leicester’s nearest major city is Nottingham (which is also in the East Midlands)…Leicester is 44 km (27 mi) S of Nottingham, by road. Also, Leicester is nearby another major city – Birmingham (which is in the West Midlands)… Leicester is 53 km (33 mi) ENE of Birmingham, by road. {Source: distancefromto.net.} There is something which makes Leicester stand out from other British cities..”This is the first city in the United Kingdom with less than 50 percent of the population identifying as “white British”…” {quote from We’ve Come to Win the League, by Wright Thompson at espn.go.com}.
With about 755,000 people residing in Greater Leicester, Leicester is the 16th-largest metropolitan-area in the United Kingdom, and the 12th-largest metro-area in England. {Source/2011 figures: List of metropolitan areas in the United Kingdom (en.wikipedia.org).}
Photo and Image credits above -
Aerial view of King Power Stadium (home of Leicester City FC), with the city of Leicester in the background, photo by Plumb Images via gettyimages.in. Leicester City 2015/16 home jersey, photo by blsec.com. Aerial view of Leicester city centre, photo by AeroEngland.co.uk at aeroengland.co.uk/leicester. Blank map of the UK [segment], by Daniel Dalet at d-maps.com/[UK]. Shot of Eden Hazard scoring goal against Tottenham (which evened up the score 2-2 and thus clinched the title for Leicester City), photo by Reuters via dailymail.co.uk. Shot of Leicester City fans who were watching, in a pub, celebrating their club’s title-win, photo by Eddie Keough/Reuters via nytimes.com. The Leicester City Premier League winners bus parade (16 May 2016), photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images Europe via zimbio.com. Title-winners LCFC banner, photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images via gettyimages.com. Bus with Ranieri and squad at victory parade, photo by Paul Ellis/AFP/Getty Images via fansided.com/2016/05/16/enormous-turnout-leicester-city-team-parade.
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-From 2 May 2016, from the New York Times, by Sam Borden, The Remarkable Rise of Leicester City – A year after narrowly avoiding relegation, the Foxes beat 5,000-to-1 odds to win the Premier League title (nytimes.com/sports/soccer).
-From 29 April 2016, from Guardian/football, by Paolo Bandini, Claudio Ranieri: a gentle and principled man on the verge of immortality (theguardian.com/football).
-From 2 May 2016, from Guardian/football-blog, by Barney Ronay, The Leicester Supremacy – a triumph that was never supposed to happen
Champions have vaulted an impassable gulf of finance and privilege in modern‑day Big Football to re‑energise the most inspiring sporting principle of open competition (theguardian.com/football/blog).
-From 4 May 2016, from Sky Sports, by Nick Wright, Leicester’s N’Golo Kante the signing of the season after stellar campaign (skysports.com/football).
-Recommended (cool animation + informative)…From ESPN, with illustrations by Martin Laksman • Animation by Rich Hinchcliff, Leicester’s heroes [animated article profiling Leicester players] (espn.go.com).
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Leicester City FC – the unlikely 2015-16 English champions: chart of primary squad (Best Eleven)
(11 primary starters + 4 other player-options (15 players profiled/with 2015-16 Premier League stats & international stats/ plus, manager Claudio Ranieri, with his CV)…
Photo and Image credits above -
Leicester players (Okazaki, Mahrez, Drinkwater) celebrate Wes Morgan’s goal versus Southampton at King Power Stadium [1-0 final score, on 3 April 2016], photo by Reuters via dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-3522008/Wes-Morgan-admits-quite-ill-just-day-scoring-against-Southampton-boost-Leicester-City-s-title-chances.
Manager, Claudio Ranieri, photo of Ranieri discussing tactics with Morgan, Okazaki, and Vardy during game-break [22 Aug. 2015 vs Spurs], photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images Europe via zimbio.com. Squad listening to Ranieri on touch line, photo by AP via screamer.deadspin.com/leicester-city-cant-really-be-this-good-can-they.
LCFC stats leaders, Vardy, photo by Action Photos via dailymail.co.uk. Mahrez, photo by PA via dailymail.co.uk. Kanté, photo unattributed at sportsmole.co.uk.
Leicester City 2015/16 home jersey, photo by blsec.com.
Player photos,
Goalkeeper, Kasper Schmeichel (GK), photo is a Getty Images photo unattributed at tarringa.net, here, 1.pictures.zimbio.com.
Defenders,
Danny Simpson (RB), photo unattributed at skysports.com/football/leicester-vs-man-city, here. Wes Morgan (CB), photo by Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images Europe via zimbio.com. Robert Huth (CB), photo unattributed at squaka.com. Christian Fuchs (LB/LMF), photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images Europe via zimbio.com.
Midfielders/Wingers…
Riyad Mahrez (RW/LW/AMF), photo by Rex Features via telegraph.co.uk/sport. Danny Drinkwater (CMF/RMF/DMF), photo unattributed at givemesport.com, here. N’Golo Kanté (CMF/DMF), photo unattributed at skysports.com.
Marc Albrighton (MF/MF/CMF), photo by leicestermercury.co.uk.
Forwards…
Shinji Okazaki (FW/LW/RW), photo by Plumb Images via gettyimages.ie. Jamie Vardy (FW/LW/RW), photo by Tony Marshall/Getty Images Europe via zimbio.com.
Other player-options…
Nathan Dyer (RW/LW), photo by Getty Images via sportsmole.co.uk. Andy King (CMF/AMF/DMF), photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images Europe via zimbio.com. Leonardo Ulloa (CF), photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images Europe via zimbio.com. Jeffrey Schlupp (LB/LMF/LW), photo by Ross Kinniard/Getty Images at gettyimages.co.uk.
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Thanks to all contributors at the following sites…
-Wikipedia page of Leicester City FC… Leicester City F.C. (en.wikipedia.org).
-Squad…LEICESTER CITY 2015-16/SQUAD (soccerway.com).
-Squad, with stats, incl. assists… Leicester, Squad [2015-16] (whoscored.com).
-Squad, with stats, incl. player-positions & market value… transfermarkt.com/leicester-city (transfermarkt.com).
Sites where I found stats which I used on the chart,
Interceptions: statspack.squawka.com [2015-16 PL]; whoscored.com/Regions/252/Tournaments/2/England-Premier-League.
Tackles: skysports.com/football/news/11712/10266844/leicesters-ngolo-kante-the-signing-of-the-season-after-stellar-campaign.
Assists, appearances: whoscored.com [2015-16 PL].
Nationalities: transfermarkt.com/premier-league.
