Foxed By the Numbers - The Stats Behind Leicester City’s Shock League One Relegation

The Stats That Display How Grim Leicester's Relegation is

It's over, it's finished. Exactly a decade on from delivering arguably the biggest sporting shock in the global history of all sports, Leicester City have slumped down to England's third tier. The Foxes were relegated on Tuesday night following a draw with Hull City, meaning they will spend the 2026/27 campaign as a League One club for the first time since 2009.

In an eery similarity to their Premier League relegation in 2023, Leicester City never quite saw the trap door coming. Having bounced straight back into the top-flight in 2024 under Enzo Maresca, Leicester fans would be forgiven, when looking at their squad this term, for expecting another immediate return to the top seats in the country.

However, a horrid cocktail of financial issues, friction between all parties involved with the club and dreadful performances on the field have left Leicester reeling in the wake of the ultimate embarrassment - back to back relegations.

Some of the stats surrounding Leicester's second drop-on-the-spin are alarming, and further compound the misery for the East Midlands outfit.

The Journeys of Their Competition

To look at just how dreary this landslide has been over at the King Power Stadium, one can simply look at the meteoric rise of other clubs in and around the EFL and below. Stark, gut-wrenching contrasts can be found between a side that won the hearts of the world as they lived the dream a decade ago, and those who have built slowly in the shadows over those years.

Lincoln City are the first example of such. The Imps have earned their first-ever promotion to the Championship this season, winning the League One title at a near-canter thanks to their intrinsic blend of data-led recruitment, savvy spending against one of the league's smaller budgets and collective effort on and off the field.

Following confirmation of Leicester City’s relegation to League One, Chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha has issued the following statement:

To our fans,

Relegation to League One is now confirmed. As Chairman, that responsibility sits with me. There are no excuses.

We have… pic.twitter.com/rKzmniJ34G

— Leicester City (@LCFC) April 21, 2026

Those exact parameters would have been a similar echo befitting that of Leicester City a decade ago in England's top flight.

The Foxes pulled off the 'great escape' back in 2015, getting themselves away from a relegation zone they sat in across March and into a safe position, holding the second-best form in the entire Premier League during that time.

They rebuilt smartly the following season, bringing in veteran defender Robert Huth from Stoke City and little-known midfield workhorse N'Golo Kante from Ligue 1 side Caen. They took stock of their squad, identified smart signings against a smaller budget and bolstered a team ready to deliver a shock nobody was quite prepared for. After the appointment of legendary Italian manager Claudio Ranieri, Leicester City defied 5000/1 odds to win the Premier League title in 2016, the season after they were battling against relegation.

Lincoln City, meanwhile, were plying their trade in the National League at the time, and had just finished in the bottom half of England's fifth-tier for the fifth consecutive season. Now, in 2026, the Imps will be a step higher in the pyramid than their fellow East Midlands residents, a startling contrast in the fortunes of both clubs in recent years.

Another club in this metric would be Bromley. That same year that Leicester were crowned champions of the country, the London-based side had just finished in 15th in the National League alongside Lincoln as well. Now, Leicester vs Bromley will be a domestic league fixture you can expect to see on the League One calendar for next term.

The Foxy Finances

One of the biggest storm clouds gathering over the King Power Stadium over recent times has been their troubles at the bank.

When Leicester City achieved a first-time promotion back into the Premier League in 2024, they did so with a wage bill of over £100m.

When they came back down last year, they did so with the largest wage bill in the history of the Championship, and made a loss of around £375m - this led the club to being slapped with a six-point deduction from the EFL. Leicester would be sat four points clear of the drop zone at time of writing with two games left to play, had that not been the case.

There will now be massive concerns over Leicester City's ability to manage their operating costs, with several big-earners still on the books such as the unpopular Harry Winks, and with just £2m of broadcasting money coming into the club next season.

Furthermore, the club are also set to miss out on a parachute payment given to them after their drop from the Premier League last term. The payment, designed to assist clubs survive the sizeable downturn in broadcasting money received after dropping out of the top-flight, was cashed in by Leicester in January as they borrowed from a bank against the future income. This will lead to them receiving a pitiful sum as a League One club next term.

Whilst Leicester in theory have £35m of parachute payments next season, they cashed these in January by borrowing from Macquarie Bank secured against the future money from the Premier League. This means they will only earn £2m cash in broadcast money next season from the EFL pic.twitter.com/mQifYItw5I

— Kieran Maguire (@KieranMaguire) April 22, 2026

They already hold a record wage bill in the Championship, let alone for League One, so cutting their high-earners out from the squad will be a top priority for the club if they wish to get back into the second tier. However, finding suitors for a squad of players almost entirely un-interested in saving Leicester from their plight may be a taller order than expected.

Football finance expert Kieran Maguire stated that the Foxes had borrowed a net total of £85m in the last two seasons.

The hope for Leicester is that they will immediately bounce back from League One with promotion, as they did from their Premier League relegation the season-before-last and hoped to do this season. However, given their serious financial problems and their catastrophic performances this term, as well as their horrid relationship between fans and club officials, this is certainly not a guarantee.