Yesterday fans lined the streets of Leicester to celebrate Leicester City’s promotion into the Barclays Premier League and their clinching of the SkyBet Championship Trophy. The celebrations revolved around an open-top bus parade in which the players, club staff and coaching team, including manager Nigel Pearson, were cheered as they made their way through the city from High Street, along the Gallowtree Gate and past the Clock Tower. The crowds were 35,000-strong and jubilantly rejoiced in the promotion after a decade in the Championship.
This comes following a record-breaking season, which saw the club go unbeaten for 21 games. They rose to victory and were guaranteed the cup a few weeks ago when rivals for the title QPR failed to beat Bournemouth on 5 April. This feels like a long time coming for many of their loyal fans and yesterday’s atmosphere was suffused with pride and joy.
The players received a hero’s welcome from Foxes fans who came out in force in a sea of blue and the celebrations came to a climax when players took to the stage in Town Hall Square. They were greeted with deafening cheers, and the supporters were clearly overjoyed when Nigel Pearson and captain Wes Morgan raised the trophy in front of the thousands who came out in support on Bank Holiday Monday. The Club’s Chairman and Vice-Chairman, Vichai and Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha also graced the stage to the sound of applause, with the fans clearly appreciating their part in the road to victory.
X Factor winner Sam Bailey helped to mark the occasion, and she aptly belted out a rendition of the famous Queen ballad ‘We are the Champions’ while Leicester born singer-songwriter Jersey Budd and Club legends like Steve Walsh both helped to get the crowds warmed up.
