Leicester relegated to League One after draw with Hull

LONDON: Former Premier League champions Leicester City were relegated to England's third tier on Tuesday after drawing 2-2 with Hull, a result that ended their fading hopes of survival.

Gary Rowett's team needed all three points at the King Power Stadium to keep their slim chance of staying up alive. Instead, Oli McBurnie's second-half equaliser ensured Leicester will drop into League One, 10 years after their remarkable Premier League title triumph.

Hull went in front in the 18th minute through Liam Millar. Leicester responded after the break when James Justin converted a penalty in the 52nd minute. Luke Thomas then put the home side ahead two minutes later, but McBurnie struck in the 63rd minute to leave Leicester facing relegation.

Leicester, who are second from bottom, are seven points adrift of safety with only two matches remaining. The club will play in the third tier for the first time since the 2008-09 season and only the second time in their history.

Rowett said the club now had to confront the scale of the setback and learn from it. He said, "We have to learn. I think the club have to accept this is the horrible part of the journey of a football club." He added, "This club won the Premier League not too many moons ago. That was an incredible high at the time for the fans, for everyone associated with the club." Rowett also said, "I think everyone saw that as an amazing achievement. I think we can be equally as disappointed with how poor this moment is."

The relegation marks Leicester's third drop in four seasons. The club were relegated from the Premier League in 2023 and 2025. Their fall has been especially stark given the heights they reached after winning the Premier League in 2016 against 5,000-1 odds with a side featuring Jamie Vardy, Riyad Mahrez and N'Golo Kante. Leicester then reached the Champions League quarter-finals the following season and lifted the FA Cup in 2021.

That period of success has now given way to a sharp decline, with Leicester set to face clubs such as Bromley, Mansfield and Wycombe next season. Rowett said, "The bigger picture is you don't get relegated over three or four games, you get relegated over a season." He added, "The club has to rise again but it has to learn its lessons because it's certainly been a season of an awful lot of regret."

Leicester's problems have extended beyond results on the pitch. The club were handed a six-point deduction this season for breaching spending rules, while financial difficulties also hurt their campaign. Jamie Vardy's exit at the end of last season ended the final link to the title-winning squad.

Marti Cifuentes, who had been appointed to lead a push for promotion, struggled with an unbalanced and inexperienced squad before being dismissed in January. Interim manager Andy King could not reverse the slide, and concerns deepened after Leicester squandered a 3-0 half-time lead in a 4-3 defeat to Southampton. By the time Rowett was appointed in February, Leicester were two points from safety, but the former Leicester defender has managed only one win in 12 matches.

Decisions in the boardroom have played a major role in the club's decline. Claudio Ranieri, who led Leicester to the Premier League title, was removed only months after that success. Craig Shakespeare and Claude Puel followed, while Brendan Rodgers, who guided the club to the FA Cup and two fifth-place Premier League finishes, was sacked as relegation loomed in 2023.

Elsewhere in the Championship on Tuesday, Coventry secured the title with a 5-1 win over Portsmouth. Frank Lampard's side had already sealed promotion to the top flight after a 25-year absence with a draw at Blackburn on Friday. Millwall moved up to second with a 3-1 victory at Stoke, while fourth-placed Southampton saw their automatic promotion hopes hit by a 2-2 draw against Bristol City.