Leicester City were the surprise of the season. Following their late escape from relegation in the previous season many pundits had predicted that they would be relegated, and bookmakers gave 5,000–1 odds on them winning the title. After the dismissal of manager
Nigel Pearson, they began the new season with Italian
Claudio Ranieri in charge. Pearson had been known for his short temper with the press, while Ranieri has a reputation for good humour. Despite winning their opening game against
Sunderland and topping the table, they dropped back following a 5–2 home defeat to
Arsenal in September. However, aided by
Jamie Vardy's record feat of scoring in eleven consecutive Premier League games, they then remained unbeaten – and returned to the top of the table – until 26 December, when a 1–0 defeat to
Liverpool dropped them to second place. They returned to the top after a 1–1 draw with
Aston Villa on 16 January, and remained there for the rest of the season. They eventually finished 10th, breaking the record for lowest finish for a Premier League title holder – 7th, held jointly by
Blackburn Rovers in
1995–96 and
Manchester United in
2013–14. This record only stood for one year, as Leicester City finished 12th the
following season. Arsenal, looking for their first title since 2004 and following a poor start, improved and in early January took the top spot from Leicester. However, a poor run of results, including draws with Liverpool,
Stoke City and
Southampton, and a loss to Chelsea saw them drop to fourth by mid-February. They remained in contention, but draws with
West Ham United, Sunderland and Crystal Palace in April saw their title hopes vanish. Meanwhile, Arsenal's London rivals Tottenham Hotspur won six matches in a row, and when Arsenal lost to Manchester United at the end of February, Tottenham leapfrogged them into second place, where they remained until the final weekend of the season. Draws with
West Bromwich Albion and Chelsea—in a game now known as the ‘
Battle of the Bridge’—prevented them from winning their first league title since 1961. After a 2–1 home loss to Southampton and a 5–1 defeat away to
Newcastle United in their final two matches, Tottenham ended the season in third place, one point behind Arsenal.
West Ham United, in their final season at the
Boleyn Ground after 112 years, achieved 62 points, a club record for a Premier League campaign. It was also the first Premier League season where they had finished with a positive goal difference (+14) and West Ham's eight defeats was also a club record for the fewest losses suffered in a Premier League season. Aston Villa, a presence in the Premier League since the league's foundation in 1992 and present in the top division since the 1988–89 season, were the first team to be relegated, after a 1–0 loss at Manchester United on 16 April. On 11 May, Sunderland won 3–0 against
Everton, a result which relegated both Newcastle United and
Norwich City with one game remaining. All the final fixtures of the season were scheduled for 15 May and were to kick off at the same time. However, Manchester United's home game against
Bournemouth was called off after
Old Trafford was evacuated because of the discovery of a suspicious device, which was destroyed in a controlled explosion. It was confirmed to be an accidental leftover from a training exercise. The match was played two days later on 17 May, with United winning 3–1.
Reactions The unlikely nature of Leicester's title led to a flood of coverage from across the globe. Prime Minister
David Cameron tweeted his congratulations, saying it was "An extraordinary, thoroughly deserved, Premier League title". Congratulations were also sent by the Italian Prime Minister
Matteo Renzi, who praised his compatriot Ranieri. Premier League chief executive
Richard Scudamore called it "probably the biggest sporting story ever". Former Leicester manager
Martin O'Neill described it as the "greatest achievement, obviously, of this century".
Gary Lineker, the former Leicester striker who led a consortium that saved the club from administration in 2002, had said he would host the BBC football show
Match of the Day in his underwear if Leicester won the title. After they won the title, he did indeed present the show clad only in boxer shorts. He said: "There were no odds that I would have taken at the start of the season. No odds. You could have given me 10 million to one and I'd have said 'Nah, it's a waste of a quid'".
José Mourinho, manager of 2015 champions Chelsea and Ranieri's replacement at the same team eleven years earlier, sent his congratulations, saying: "I lost my title to Claudio Ranieri and it is with incredible emotion that I live this magic moment in his career." The long odds that bookmakers had given at the start of the season on victory for Leicester led to them incurring losses of up to £25 million, with one punter winning over £100,000, having wagered £20 at the original 5,000–1 odds; the largest payout was £200,000 to an anonymous bettor who wagered £100 on the team in October when the odds had gone down to 2,000–1. Superstitious claims of phenomena helping Leicester win the league include the club's Thai owners engaging Buddhist monks to bless the players, ==Teams==