Leicester wins English Premier League title for 1st time in 132-year history

And now Gary Lineker has to present Match Of The Day in his underwear!!

http://www.givemesport.com/726819-gary-lineker-reiterates-underwear-promise-if-leicester-city-win-the-premier-league

Well done Leicester!

The Lineker episode will pull in the viewers for sure.

When I lived in Japan a few years back, any sports news started with reports of any Japanese senshuu playing overseas (Ichiro etc). Has the Japanese media been following Leicester City this season, with their key player Okazaki? Haven't seen much mention of it on JT. Over here, in Blighty, this is the biggest sports story EVER! This is what football is all about. The whole country is going mental (apart from Tottenham). I hope Japan and the rest of the sporting world can take inspiration from this incredible achievement, this triumph of teamwork and determination. Once in a lifetime. Foxes rule OK!

A great day for football. The bookies taking a hit makes it even more satisfying.

Well done boys.

The greatest sports story ever told?

This is such a brilliant, feel-good story.

A few players and supporters just got a lot richer overnight and the thought of bookies having to cough up makes it even sweeter. Not sure we will ever get such odds though, but it's so good they got it wrong for once!

Read Ranieri had a clause in his contract that guaranteed him an extra £100K for every place that his team finish above 18th! Would love for all players to stay at the club and give next year's ucl a good go but I imagine it will be hard to resist top clubs offers.

Well done Leicester, the whole world has been watching you. (now that should boost region's tourism big time!)

Reminds me a bit of Forest but they went on to win 2 European Champions Leagues in row.

First off -Thank you Leicester City for the joy that you have given football fans around the world. As far as the bookies go they'll be laughing all the way to the bank. Something like 128 people laid a bet - mainly very small - on the Foxes winning the EPL. How many millions must they have raked in on bets on the likes of City, Unt, Chelsea and Arsenal? The bookies just love it when an underdog wins.

@SimonB

Not this time. The bookies are facing record losses on Premier League betting.

This from the BBC:

How much the bookies stand to lose: Ladbrokes: £3m Coral: £2m William Hill: £2m Paddy Power: £2m Betfred: £1.1m

My bookie mate in the UK says William Hill's payout is higher than that.

Lovely.

The bookies just love it when an underdog wins.

yeah, when the underdog pays 2.50 or even a tenner, not 5000! Have been reading that it will be bookies biggest ever pay out. Why do you think bookies worldwide have been paying out punters since xmas offering them 30 grand for their 10 or 20 dollars/pounds etc bet at 5000-1? In uk alone I read it will cost bookies up to 25M pounds and bookies say they will never ever put odds in the thousands for epl titles or other comps and sports. This will change the way they determine odds for ever. You need many, many bets on chelsea, arsenal, man u etc to pay the hundreds (thousands? ) of punters who joined the leicester bandwagon during the season. They won't all get a 5000-1 return but they will still make a decent profit. Def not a good day for bookies

“It’s the greatest achievement in the history of English football and it was led by an Italian,” Matteo Renzi, the Italian Prime Minister, tweeted.

What a pathetically parochial comment. It's just amazing how some people gotta hunt around for stories of how their compatriots contributed to some overseas success. It is great what Leicester have done and I am sure that there are people the length and breadth of England and perhaps abroad too who have nothing but praise and respect for the gentleman that is Claudio Ranieri. Good for him. But is it really necessary for Renzi to exhibit such a petty attitude?

Well done Leicester! You guys have proved nothing is impossible. A teamwithheart triumphed over teams loaded with money. The lesson you have taught with last through the ages.

Why can't the Premier League use this season as a blueprint for change? This season has been great. No more fear factor for teams visiting Chelsea, United, and City. If financial fair play was ever implemented properly (so far it hasn't been) then we could see other teams such as Southampton, West ham, and dare I say it, Spurs joining Leicester in challenging for titles. And an important footnote. Previously when unfashionable teams such as Forest and Villa won the English top-flight title, they also went on to become European club champions.

"Well done Leicester! You guys have proved nothing is impossible. A teamwithheart triumphed over teams loaded with money. The lesson you have taught with last through the ages."

Don't forget the talent. They picked up gems on the cheap like Mahrez, Kante and Fuchs. The money clubs tend to throw cash around partly based on who the media is building up. Think of the outrageous money spent on plodding centre-mids spent by City, Man U and Chelsea and take a look at Kante. City spent £15,000,000 on Jack Rodwell in the past and Man U paid more for Schniderlin. You don't win a title just on heart. Plenty of savvy in the transfer market was a big factor which also deserves praise.

At the end of last season in 2015, Leicester City avoided relegation by winning 6 of their last 8 games, picking up 19 points out of 24 on offer, and scoring 14 goals with 6 against. So the character was already there, and the form, and all Ranieri did was to keep that momentum going.

@ No Ginger. Not as much as you'd expect. They show them but I thought it would have been more. It does get on my nerves at times when they focus on what a Japanese player does... especially if it's a small assist which they repeat. I suppose they are just proud. Australian media have made mention that Schwarzer plays for Leicester....? Congratulations to Leicester although I support Spurs. It would be great if Palace win the FA Cup.

Ranieri kept that momentum going, not "....all Ranieri did was to keep that momentum going." That momentum was started by the previous manager Nigel Pearson a few games before the end of the 2014 - 15 season. He was also the manager who brought them up from the Championship the previous year. Brian Clough with Peter Taylor did something amazing with Derby County and Nottingham Forest and went on to do the same in Europe. I hope the momentum and the love that the team has for playing together goes a step further. King Richard III is dead. Long live King Claudio!

Great news for all 'small' teams everywhere. I agree with another comment on the fear factor effect. This season a lot of the 'lesser' teams have got good results against the so-called top four, Chelsea have certainly lost it, Man Utd too. My team got two draws against Chelski and although we didn't beat any of the top 4 in the league, the games were closer than expected-we missed a last minute penalty to have the chance to get a point v Manure for example. After Leicester's fairy tale, any team will fancy their chances against anyone else. It will make for a more competitive league. It also proves that big spending doesn't always work, and that you can't buy team spirit. On paper Citeh had the best squad by far, but haven't even challenged for the title. They might not even make the top 4! Hopefully the bigger clubs will realise that just splashing cash around isn't enough-I doubt it in he case of Citeh and Chelski though(!).

Incredible! J Sports actually broadcast every Leicester match this season so you could have watched the journey. I watched about half