Fantasy story was truly out of this world
LEICESTER’S other-worldly Premier League triumph was being celebrated beyond Earth yesterday – well, at the National Space Centre anyway.
As the attraction happens to be situated in the city that houses the champions of England, there was every excuse for the sign which proudly congratulated the Foxes on the completion of their successful and fantastical mission.
The odds on Claudio Ranieri’s side winning the Premier League this season were officially longer than on finding sentient alien beings, and in Leicester yesterday the scale of the achievement was just dawning.
“It’s the equivalent of the Soviet Union and America going head-to-head and the Isle of Man reaching the moon first,” reflected the centre’s chief executive Chas Bishop, under the thruster of an American rocket.
“The feeling is one of utter incredulity because these things don’t happen. Even when they were top halfway through the season you just assumed they’d run out of steam.
“It is just extraordinary from a football point of view; from a community point of view it’s really exciting for a city that has been evolving over the past 15 years.”
A city that is today the surprise capital of the sporting universe. The children on their school trip to the centre yesterday could have been forgiven for drifting off-task when asked to complete their educational questionnaire.
First man into space? Vardy, as a rule. Onto a Mahrez through ball.
Alongside the football team, Leicester’s spoiled youth also has a world snooker champion to celebrate in Mark Selby, national basketball league winners, Premiership rugby semi-finalists and a cricket team that is winning county championship matches again. On top of which Leicester City’s women’s team have just had the perfect season by clinching Midlands Division One with a 100 per cent record.
So what is it about this unassuming East Midlands city, once famous for crisps, but now a mecca for sporting excellence?
“There’s nothing else to do in Leicester, is there?” laughed the Tigers’ director of rugby Richard Cockerill, below, at their Oval Park training ground in the suburb of Oadby.
“The only distraction is the train to London; it’s only 55 minutes. We don’t pretend to the players that you come here for anything other than rugby. You don’t say, ‘Oh it’s a really nice city’. You come here for the opportunity. Jamie Vardy came here for the opportunity. You only come here to play sport.”
For all the Space Centre’s futuristic gherkin look, the city would not win many architectural awards but Marcos Ayerza, Leicester’s Argentinian prop, came a decade ago and is still around. He feels a special aura about the place. “I guess there’s something in the air in this city that is making sports people do well,” said Ayerza. “It’s amazing how passionate all the clubs across the different sports are towards their identity.
“Nowadays nations lose their identity, people lose their identity, so to feel attached to your club, to your place, is very unique.
“A lot of Leicester teams feel very attached to their colours, club and history.”
Five minutes’ walk away from the Tigers’ training ground, Joe O’Connor was knocking balls in at the First Break Snooker Club.
On Monday at the club where Selby made himself into a champion, the TV was being flicked between The Crucible coverage and the Chelsea-Tottenham match.
At 20, O’Connor has his sights set on emulating Selby. He said: “It shows what is possible if you work hard. It’s inspiring but it just doesn’t sound right,” he said. “Leicester City, champions? It’s not real. It’s just incredible.”