Leicester City relegated: Foxes fans lament 'dire' season

Seven years on from their triumphant Premier League title win, Leicester City's supporters are preparing to watch second tier football come the beginning of August.

The Foxes beat West Ham at the King Power on the final day, but Everton's victory against Bournemouth confirmed their dreaded relegation to the EFL Championship.

It signals the end to a miserable campaign for Leicester that saw the 2021 FA Cup winners win just nine of their 38 league matches.

Foxes fans are now anticipating a summer rebuild as they attempt a return to the top flight at the first time of asking.

Here is what they had to say on their side's first relegation since dropping down to League One in 2008.

Phil Holloway said he thought the Foxes had the quality in the side to stay in the division.

But he called the season a "massive disappointment" - insisting next year will be just as difficult as Leicester attempt to fight back.

He said: "I thought with winning the league, the FA Cup and playing in Europe, we had established ourselves as a club set to play in the top flight for 20 or 30 years .

"To think we were playing Roma in a European cup a couple of years ago and in six weeks' time we'll be at Rotherham away - it feels like the dream is over and we're very much back to reality."

Despite the relegation, the marketing agency director and Leicester Fan TV editor believes Dean Smith should be given the chance to take the club into its next chapter.

"I think many many players will go in the summer; we would assume that maybe 14 or 15 may depart," he said.

"For me I would stick with Dean Smith - we've seen just about enough from him, plus he's in the club already and understands what players are there."

For software engineer Tom Foyster, Leicester's success over the past few years and beyond makes relegation "hurt even more".

However, the season ticket holder said he and other supporters had seen their relegation coming since before Christmas.

"Most of our supporters were resigned to the fact we were going down weeks ago," he said.

"But after drawing to Newcastle and then beating West Ham, it's that glimmer of hope that kills you ultimately.

"The buck must stop with the board - they've let £100m worth of players leave for nothing and have players on big money contracts who never get a game.

"The hardest thing for me is how quickly we've fallen apart - it makes relegation hurt even more. So much went into putting us into an amazing position and 18 months later it's all gone."

While Tom does not feel Dean Smith should be blamed for the Foxes' relegation, he wants a different manager to take his team forward.

"We need to get a young promising manager in and have a quick clear out of our players - we can't have them hanging around until July," he added.

"There are some elements of going down which are exciting from a fans point of view - there will be no VAR and a few more games to watch - but the whole thing definitely still feels sore."

Given the accolades Leicester have achieved during their Premier League reign, Ian Bason says it makes their fall from grace feel all the more significant.

But he insists supporting the Foxes through plenty of ups and downs over the decades helps to soften the blow.

"I'm obviously very disappointed," said the salesman. "But you've got to start thinking positively and look back over the previous nine years and acknowledge how much pleasure we've got from it.

"Now we must rebuild and go again."

Ian, who is chairman of the Foxes Trust, says he was disappointed to see several fights break out between fellow supporters after full-time.

He added: "The reaction was very mixed at the final whistle. I came away with the ground disappointed with how some fans acted.

"Quite a few fights broke out during the game and afterwards too. I found that was quite a sour end to an already disappointing day."

Joe Freer partly blames the Foxes' defensive displays for the side's demise, insisting poor recruitment in those areas has subsequently led to the club's relegation.

"It's sad to see our decline," said the psychotherapist. "All in all it has been a dire season and I think we deserved to go down.

"We should not be going down with the amount of goals that we have scored, but we have been shocking defensively."

Joe, from Leicester, says the club would not have found themselves in such a position had they recruited better in past transfer windows.

He added: "Poor recruitment over the last few years is definitely to blame. I think we needed a better centre back and defensive midfielder bringing in, but a lack of funds it seems prevented that.

"There will be a huge clear-out this summer and the club needs to sign players that can get us straight back into the Premier League at the first time of asking. I'm not hopeful though."

Di Statham says she hopes Leicester can replicate Burnley's season and achieve promotion back to the Premier League in a single attempt.

The Foxes fan of 53 years believes the board was right to axe Brendan Rodgers, but they should have sacked him sooner.

"I do feel very disappointed," she said. "But I've been following them for 50 years so I've been used to plenty of ups and downs over the years.

"I think there's going to be a big overhaul in the summer. We need to bring in some fresh faces and players who are up for the fight.

"Let's hope we can turn it around like Burnley have done."

Di, a retired British Gas worker, says the game on the final day was "very nerve-wracking" as false rumours that Bournemouth had scored - taking Leicester out of the bottom three - spread around the King Power on numerous occasions.

She adds that she "would not have a problem" if Smith was given the opportunity to manage Leicester for the start of the Championship campaign.

"Dean knows the players now. If they said we're going to keep him on, I would not have a problem with that," she said.

"You know that he has got experience in the Championship and it is a different world down there.

"If he's given the chance I hope he can turn things around for us."

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