Leicester players rejoice after  a goal

Betting organisations in the United Kingdom say they stand to lose over $14 million  the minute Leicester City are declared the new kings of English football.

A team that were deemed outsiders  in the race for the English Premier League are sitting atop the table, seven points clear from second placed Tottenham Hotspur, while Arsenal are third, although both teams have  one extra match to play as the Leagues goes on the home stretch.

The miracle of Leicester has put the city  of 330,000 people on the world map. And it has also brought some measure of riches to punters who reposed some confidence in the team at the start of the league last year August.

Claudio Ranieri

This week a punter  picked up 57,000 U.S.dollars for a stake of just 28 U.S.dollars, at odds of 2,000-1.

Leicester team are known as the Foxes, and true to their name they’ve out-foxed the biggest names in English football.

The Premiership is one of the world’s greatest leagues with teams such as Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool household names on every continent.

The big question being asked today among global fans is, Leicester? Where’s Leicester?

Leicester City, the team from the Midlands region of England, is on target to scoop the greatest prize in football as champions of the league.

A year ago the Foxes were at the bottom of the table, stirring relegation in the face. They survived to start the current season under Italian Claudio Ranieri, sacked months earlier after just four months in charge of the Greek national team.

Under the 64 years old Roman, the team is like an unstoppable runaway train, heading the table seven points ahead of its nearest rival Tottenham Hotspur, and leaving big-shot clubs like Arsenal, Chelsea and the two Manchester clubs trailing way behind.

Leicester is eyeing a place in the European Champions League, in what is being described as the biggest shock in footballing history.

The fame and riches success at the 32,200-Seater King Power Stadium will bring to the city of Leicester could even exceed Leicester’s latest claim to fame as the burial place of England’s famous monarch, King Richard III.

City government officials recently announced that an extra 28 million U.S.dollars was earned for Leicester’s tourism economy last year, thanks to the ill-fated king, slain in a battle written about by William Shakespeare.

Leicester’s Mayor, Sir Peter Soulsby, told Xinhua today: “It’s fair to say the global media coverage given to the Foxes this season has raised the city’s profile around the world.

“Leicester is already enjoying the boost triggered by the discovery of the remains of King Richard III. Since his reinterment in Leicester Cathedral last year, there has been a steady growth in visitor numbers to the city, with more than 250,000 people visiting the tomb in the cathedral, at least 10 percent of these visitors coming from overseas.

“While King Richard III was a massive story for Leicester, the success of Leicester City Football Club is proving to be an equally huge story, and it’s a story that’s uniting the whole city behind our football team.” The mayor is a big fan of the Foxes.

Leicester, with a population of 330,000, is one of the oldest cities in England, with a history going back 2,000 years.

It still retains links to the days when Roman conquerors had a military outpost in the city with ancient Roman pavements and a Roman baths.

The miracle of Leicester players  has put the city  firmly on the world map.