Leicester City Will Play in League One for the First Time Since 2008

Leicester City have been relegated to League One, sealed by a 2-2 draw with Hull City that leaves them seven points adrift of safety with two games left to play.

The drop comes almost exactly a decade after Leicester won the Premier League at odds of 5,000/1 under Claudio Ranieri.

It is the club’s second consecutive relegation and only the second time in their history they have dropped to English football’s third tier.

What happened on the night

Hull City took the lead through Liam Millar after an error from Asmir Begovic. Leicester hit back through Jordan James and Luke Thomas to lead 2-1, before Oli McBurnie equalized midway through the second half to confirm the result.

Supporters inside the King Power Stadium booed players off the pitch. Chants of “Get Out of Our Club” were directed at chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha throughout the match and after the final whistle, with fans staying behind to protest outside the ground. Midfielder Harry Winks received particular criticism from the crowd.

Three seasons, six managers

• Brendan Rodgers — sacked April 2023
• Enzo Maresca — won the Championship title in 2023/24 with a 97-point total, then left for Chelsea
• Steve Cooper — sacked November 2024 after a poor start to the Premier League return
• Ruud van Nistelrooy — could not prevent relegation from the Premier League in 2024/25
• Marti Cifuentes — took over in summer 2025, won three of his first four league games, then collected just two wins in the next 20
• Gary Rowett — appointed February 2026, oversaw the final slide to League One

Leicester also lost Jamie Vardy this season. He left after his contract expired, having scored 200 goals in 500 games across 13 seasons — the first campaign since 2011/12 without him in the squad.

The points deduction

Leicester were deducted six points on 5 February 2026 for breaching Profit and Sustainability Rules covering the 2023/24 financial reporting period. Their appeal was dismissed on 8 April 2026. The deduction left them on 32 points at the time, surviving only on goal difference.

It is the third time Leicester have been docked points for financial breaches across recent seasons, following an earlier 2023 deduction tied to the same rules.

Rowett’s assessment

“It’s probably been the most frustrating period I’ve had in management because I believe our performances have been good enough to earn more points,” Rowett said. “We’ve created a lot of chances but have been really wasteful. There have been matches where we’ve let it go after conceding when it was still there to fight for.”

“The bigger picture is that you don’t get relegated over three or four games, but over a season,” he added. “This club won the Premier League not too many moons ago. The club has to rise again, but it has to learn its lessons.”

The financial reality

Leicester will keep their Premier League parachute payments despite the second relegation. Clubs dropping from the top flight receive roughly 55% of their Premier League entitlement in year one, 45% in year two, and 20% in year three.

That payment will fall by around £10 million for next season regardless of the second demotion. Leicester’s wage bill is expected to need a 30-40% reduction, partly through relegation clauses already built into player contracts.

Where this ranks historically

Leicester become the fifth club to suffer back-to-back relegations into League One in recent seasons.

The closest comparison for a title-winner’s collapse: Blackburn Rovers won the league in 1995 and were in League One by 2017 — a 22-year fall. Portsmouth won the old First Division in 1950 and dropped to the Third Division by 1961. Leeds United won the title in 1992 and had fallen two divisions by 2007.

Leicester’s fall from champions to League One has taken ten years.

What happens next depends on whether the post-mortem Rowett described, six managers, repeated financial breaches, a squad stripped of its title-winning core, actually produces a plan, or whether League One becomes a longer stay than anyone at the club expects.