Leicester City: Relegated EPL team delights fans on Asia tour

For astir a 4th of a period Indonesian shot instrumentality Bagas Wira Paksi has watched the fortunes of his favourite nine wax and wane from thousands of kilometres away.

But this weekend, helium hopes to yet cheer his squad connected successful idiosyncratic erstwhile Leicester City play Liverpool successful Singapore.

"I've supported Leicester from 1999 during the Martin O'Neill era," Mr Bagas tells the BBC.

"When we won [the Premier League] successful 2016 determination was rather a big, increasing fanbase. So galore started to enactment them but close present it's not truthful big," helium adds.

Tours of the portion are a modular off-season diagnostic for top-flight teams.

Along with Leicester and Liverpool, the Singapore Festival of Football volition big Tottenham Hotspur and Germany's Bayern Munich.

However Leicester's archetypal game, owed to instrumentality spot past Saturday successful Bangkok, was cancelled owed to dense rain.

This somewhat inauspicious commencement to the travel comes astatine a challenging clip for the East Midlands club.

In mid-May, erstwhile they announced plans to sojourn the region, they inactive had a spot astatine the apical array of English football, and the income that comes with it.

But little than a fortnight aboriginal they had dramatically dropped retired of the English Premier League (EPL) and into the Championship.

Next season, the nine volition beryllium heading to the likes of Birmingham City and West Bromwich Albion arsenic they look up to beingness successful English football's 2nd tier.

It is simply a achy modulation for the club's fans and its equilibrium sheet, with lucrative TV gross gone and lone the alleged parachute payments to soften the blow.

"You're efficaciously looking astatine a £60m ($77m) simplification successful gross overnight", explains Dan Plumley, a elder lecturer successful athletics concern astatine Sheffield Hallam University.

The club's relegation comes aft a singular 13-year play nether the ownership of Thai work escaped elephantine King Power.

Leicester made past successful 2016 erstwhile they pulled disconnected 1 of the top shocks successful shot past by winning the EPL.

But they suffered calamity conscionable 2 years aboriginal erstwhile nine president Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha was killed successful a chopper crash.

"We are truthful thankful for what the Thai owners did due to the fact that of the presumption we were successful erstwhile they took implicit - we were inactive successful the Championship," Mr Bagas says.

"They came successful with debased expectations from us, but it turned retired to beryllium the champion years for america fans."

Leicester came nether Thai ownership successful 2010, erstwhile it was bought by King Power for £39m from American businessman Milan Mandarić.

"If you look astatine Leicester's presumption astatine that clip you tin spot they were good positioned for immoderate investment", Mr Plumley says.

"Milan Mandarić had got a estimation for gathering up shot clubs and moving them precise sustainably, not throwing tons of wealth astatine them and making them a bully accidental for a takeover," helium adds.

The emergence of the squad nether the precocious Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha began with important investment.

The caller owners cleared the nine of £103m of indebtedness successful 2013 and besides upgraded its ground, renaming it King Power Stadium.

A bid of shrewd transfers helped Leicester, ranked 5000-1 outsiders, to stun the satellite of shot by winning the Premier League.

That rubric secured introduction to the Champions League, and with it €49.1m (£42m; $54m) successful TV rights unsocial for their European campaign. The nine earnt a full of €81.7m erstwhile prize wealth and bonuses were included.

European shot helped Leicester to station pre-tax profits of £92.5m for the fiscal twelvemonth up to the extremity of May 2017.

But successful 2018, the decease of Srivaddhanaprabha devastated the club. His lad Aiyawatt, formerly the club's vice-chairman, took power of Leicester.

"You volition people spot a alteration successful the mode the nine operates. Because adjacent successful a household situation, nary 2 radical successful the household are the aforesaid and run successful the aforesaid way.

"I deliberation that was ever going to person an impact, but it's unfair to suggest that's the wide occupation here", Mr Plumley says.

In 2020, football, on with overmuch of the world, came to a standstill arsenic the coronavirus pandemic struck.

"Covid deed the owners hard. Their work escaped concern was brought to a halt, truthful the purse strings astatine the nine had to beryllium tightened," explains BBC Sport shot newsman Shamoon Hafez.

Leicester reported a pre-tax nonaccomplishment of £67.3m for the fiscal twelvemonth up to the extremity of May 2020, arsenic the interaction of Covid began to bite.

"Leicester's wages to turnover ratio has been averaging 85 to 90 percent implicit the past mates of seasons and that's a informing motion consecutive away, due to the fact that that's beauteous overmuch each of your income going connected wages," Mr Plumley says.

Despite the challenges of the pandemic, occurrence continued for Leicester arsenic they claimed the FA Cup for the archetypal clip ever successful 2021.

But the club's antecedently palmy transportation enactment began to unravel the pursuing summer.

"They splurged connected caller signings including Patson Daka, Boubakary Soumare and Jannik Vestergaard, with each 3 struggling for a regular spot successful the archetypal team," says Mr Hafez.

On the pitch, Leicester continued to find form, with an eighth spot decorativeness successful the Premier League and a tally to the semi-finals of the Europa Conference League successful 2022. But conscionable 12 months later, they were relegated.

"Problems were brewing successful pre-season erstwhile manager Brendan Rodgers was not fixed the funds to motion caller players," Mr Hafez says.

Leicester fans person besides questioned the committedness of their players past season, galore of whom were successful the last twelvemonth of their contract.

"Last twelvemonth we felt the players mislaid immoderate motivation. They've already won everything but a European cup", says Mr Bagas.

King Power declined remark erstwhile approached by the BBC.

Following Leicester's relegation, its president released a connection pledging that the nine "will travel unneurotic and combat to instrumentality to the Premier League".

In February this year, helium besides cleared different £194m of Leicester's debt.

However, arsenic fans of galore relegated teams know, securing promotion backmost into the Premier League is nary casual task.

Mr Bagas though remains upbeat astir Leicester's aboriginal and believes that the club's Thai owners tin steer them backmost to the apical tier of English football.

"We are inactive assured that we tin bounce backmost to the Premier league this season.

"The involvement from the proprietor is inactive there, however they talk, however they header with the unit and however they header with the fans. It's conscionable a blip".