World’s press flock to cover Leicester City’s title show
london — A sweep of the press room before Leicester City’s recent victory over Swansea City confirmed the extent to which their pursuit of Premier League glory has captivated global audiences.
Journalists from as far afield as Finland, Turkey, South Korea and Australia mingled in the queue for a pre-match meal, while a 10-strong Japanese contingent sat around a table discussing how Shinji Okazaki would fare in the absence of his suspended strike partner Jamie Vardy.
The team that narrowly avoided relegation last season are now just three points from the league title and their Cinderella story has won them admirers in the most unlikely locations. “Last season, no-one really wrote about Leicester in the US and no-one really talked about them,” says Joe Prince-Wright, the lead soccer writer for American broadcasting giant NBC. “This season it’s been incredible — people like (New England Patriots quarterback) Tom Brady and NFL players have been sending them messages.
“All of a sudden there’s this clamour to latch onto the underdog story. The American public love an underdog story. “Most people haven’t got a team (to support) yet, but we get pictures from people on a tractor in some small town in the middle of the US and they’ve got a Leicester shirt or a Leicester scarf and they’re following the Foxes.”
One tellingly titled recent video on the NBC Sports website was called: “What You Need To Know To Jump On The Leicester City Bandwagon”. ESPN, meanwhile, has sent its acclaimed sportswriter Wright Thompson to Leicester for the season’s final weeks to capture the Foxes’ story. “I’m here for the duration!” he told AFP during the 4-0 victory over Swansea last Sunday.
A modest club from a humdrum city in England’s east Midlands, Leicester’s previous highest finish was a runner-up spot in 1929 and in times past the only newspaper they could rely upon for regular coverage was local daily the Leicester Mercury. This season’s fairytale campaign has seen them featured in such bastions of American journalism as the New York Times, Sports Illustrated Wall Street Journal. Daily Telegraph
and the As Peter Soulsby, Leicester’s mayor, told the earlier this month: “A provincial English city doesn’t get on the front of the WSJ unless it’s doing something amazing.” The multinational make-up of the King Power Stadium press pack reflects the league of nations that is the Leicester squad, which includes players from 14 different countries.—