What Leicester City achieved in 2016 will likely never be repeated again, so it’s only right that once-in-a-lifetime celebrations followed it.
They started the season as 5000/1 outsiders in the 2015/16 season, but somehow ended up 10 points clear of second-placed Arsenal, becoming only the sixth club at the time to lift the Premier League since its 1992 revamp.
Claudio Ranieri reveals what Sir Alex Ferguson said to him after 2016 title win
Claudio Ranieri was the man who oversaw the ultimate underdog tale, and while he left the bulk of the celebrating to the players, he enjoyed it in his own way.
One of the most special moments for the Italian manager was a call from one of the Premier League’s best, Sir Alex Ferguson.
Peter Drury narrating Leicester City’s Premier league title lift will never get old 🦊Claudio Ranieri has announced his retirement from the game, but we’ll have this memory of an incredible achievement FOREVER. pic.twitter.com/yVAREdeTVPMay 22, 2024
“I remember that the week after we won the title, Sir Alex Ferguson called me,” Ranieri tells FourFourTwo now, almost a decade on. “He said, ‘Well done, Claudio, the most important thing you did was never let the team feel the burden of responsibility – I watched you in interviews, you were always calm, always smiling.’
“Hearing those words from somebody like Sir Alex meant an enormous amount to me.”
Another of the former Foxes man’s favourite memories is of Andrea Bocelli singing at the King Power Stadium on the day the club were presented with the Premier League trophy.
“If I think about the fact that a week later [after winning the title, Andrea Bocelli came to sing for us the day the trophy was presented at the stadium, I realise that the planets truly aligned that year,” Ranieri said. “Around Easter, Andrea had called completely out of the blue, telling me we were doing something extraordinary and that he’d love to sing for us.
“It felt like a circle closing, something magical that was meant to happen.”
Perhaps less magical was the site of Gary Lineker, in his underwear, hosting Match of the Day on the first day of the next season, as part of a promise he made on air during his boyhood club’s incredible campaign.
“Gary is a fantastic person and it was hilarious for everyone,” Ranieri said. “He said in good humour and honoured it in the same spirit.
“It was an unforgettable period, but would you believe that I’ve never seen the footage of what we did again? I keep that in my heart, just like the day at the stadium with Andrea.
“Many books have been written about our miracle, but I’ve never felt the need to relive it in detail. I’ll read those books when I finally stop working.”
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