THE reverberations of Leicester City’s inconceivable ascension from no-hopers to English Premier League champions have been felt around the world.
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You do not have to be a follower of soccer – or even a rabid sports fan – to be stirred by one of the greatest underdog stories in history.
For decades, the winner of this prestigious and adored competition has come from a handful of clubs with endless reserves of treasure to buy titles.
Chelsea, Manchester United, Manchester City and Arsenal have shared the past 20 EPL titles.
In comparison, 11 teams have hoisted the premiership cup over the same period in the salary-capped AFL.
But in 2015-16, along came Leicester – 5000-1 outsiders at the start of the season – to breathe new life not just into the EPL, but world sport.
This was not the equivalent of last years’ AFL wooden spooners, Carlton, climbing the ladder to win the premiership.
Rather, so improbable was Leicester’s victory, it is more akin to Castlemaine under 18s prevailing on the MCG on the last Saturday in September.
The change from amateur to professional sport has undoubtedly enriched the sporting landscape.
Competitors are faster, stronger and producing feats of such sublime skill that it genuinely boggles the mind.
But hand-in-hand with the advent of the full-time professional athlete came money. Mountains of money.
Somewhere along the line sport became not a pastime, but a business, and some of the romance was lost.
Players ceased being people and became brands. Loyalties rested not with the club that had given the player his or her chance, but the ones willing to pay the most.
In hindsight, with the stakes so high, it became inevitable that some would try to gain an unfair advantage.
Be it through performance enhancing drugs, the cheating of salary caps or a myriad of other nefarious means, many competitors and administrators sought any edge they could over their rivals.
But Leicester City, following a script only a Hollywood writer could dream up, have restored the faith of even the most cynical among us.
Sport is great, again.
- Ross Tyson, deputy editor