Partying, training, then more celebrating for Foxes

Leicester fans outside the King Power Stadium. (Photo: AFP)

There are certain pitfalls to being a club’s first title-winning side. Leicester City’s once-unheralded players discovered on Tuesday that going for a pizza is no longer so easy once you’re a Premier League champion.

Once word spread the squad were celebrating at an Italian restaurant, hundreds of fans crowded into the central shopping district to provide a hero’s welcome for English soccer’s most improbable champions.

Leaving the San Carlo restaurant was even harder as the entrance was besieged by supporters desperate to catch a glimpse of the team who defied football logic by accomplishing one of the greatest turnarounds in sport history.

The Foxes had just survived the serious threat of relegation last year when they were made 5,000-1 outsiders for the title in August. Nine months later, British bookmakers are making multi-million pound payouts to those Leicester fans who bet on their team out of loyalty rather than expectation of glory. “It is safe to say I never thought I would be in this position now,” captain Wes Morgan said. “The journey we’ve been on is fantastic. It’s an achievement that might not be achieved again.”

No wonder the 32-year-old Morgan and his teammates are savouring every minute of it. Few players would be happy trudging into training after delivering a title for a manager who expected to be in a relegation battle, but the groggy-eyed squad reported for duty as expected on Tuesday.

The players had been apart for only a few hours after watching together at top-scorer Jamie Vardy’s house as the title was clinched by second-place Tottenham’s challenge ending with a draw at Chelsea. The training session ended only after the club’s Thai owners landed by helicopter at the facility, which is surrounded by tightly packed rows of houses, to greet the players. They will all surely never get tired of having to pose with “Champions” banners and sing “Champione.”