Leicester City 2-2 Hull City: Foxes relegated to League One

The departure of striker Jamie Vardy – a player lauded as the club’s greatest of all time – and the Foxes’ failure to find a replacement remotely capable of matching the former England international’s dynamism and gift for goals has hurt Leicester this season.

Two years ago, at the age of 37, Vardy was Leicester’s top scorer with 18 goals as they won promotion from the Championship as title winners. He even topped their scoring charts in the Premier League when they came down last season.

This term, loanee midfielder James – who was this week named as the Championship’s young player of the season – has been the Foxes’ most prolific with 11 goals.

Ghana striker Jordan Ayew and Zambia forward Daka have spearheaded Leicester’s attack at different times and managed just 11 league goals between them.

When Leicester went up in 2024, they scored 89 goals and conceded just 41. This time they have netted only 56 so far, while letting in 67.

Numerous players who shone for Leicester when they were last in the second tier remain part of this team, but the shortcomings of those who were among the Foxes’ best then – including Harry Winks, Stephy Mavididi, Jannik Vestergaard and Hamza Choudhury – have made them targets of particularly visceral criticism.

Former England international Winks reacted to some of that attention following Saturday’s defeat at Portsmouth by shouting obscenities back at one fan, external when he boarded the team bus to return home.

It was an exchange that went viral on social media and highlighted how the club, that was once the darling of the daring and who upset the established order of English football by winning the Premier League, has joined Swindon, Wolves, Sunderland and Luton in suffering back-to-back relegations from it.