# The Impossible Dream: Leicester City’s Premier League Win Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/it-was-what-it-was-the-football-history-podcast-6903590/the-impossible-dream-leicester-city-s-premier-league-win Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/it-was-what-it-was-the-football-history-podcast-6903590/the-impossible-dream-leicester-city-s-premier-league-win.md Podcast: [It Was What It Was : The Football History Podcast](https://stenobird.com/podcast/it-was-what-it-was-the-football-history-podcast-6903590) Published: 2026-04-28T04:00:00+00:00 Episode link: https://shows.acast.com/it-was-what-it-was/episodes/the-impossible-dream-leicester-citys-premier-league-win Audio file: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/6633aa7d28201200122f5638/e/69ea428507ecece42a9927d5/media.mp3 Processing state: not_requested JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/it-was-what-it-was-the-football-history-podcast-6903590/episodes/the-impossible-dream-leicester-city-s-premier-league-win Duration seconds: 3925 ## Resource Welcome back to It Was What It Was, the football history podcast. In this week’s episode, co-hosts Jonthan Wilson and Rob Draper are joined by Sports Journalist and author Jonathan Northcroft to take a look 10 years on from that extraordinary and famous Premier League win! They frame the story around key pivot points, including the Valentine’s Day defeat at Arsenal and the self-belief it sparked, plus Ranieri’s unexpected decision to still grant the squad a holiday. Northcroft traces the longer build-up through the 2013 Watford play-off heartbreak, Nigel Pearson’s cross-department reset, the 2014 Championship-winning platform (and the later FFP breach), and the club’s smart recruitment and early data use that delivered players like Kanté, Mahrez and Okazaki. They cover Pearson’s departure after off-field incidents, the scepticism around Ranieri’s appointment, his “dilly ding” media touch, rivals’ crises, standout wins over Liverpool and Manchester City, Spurs’ chase, and the city’s all-in celebrations as the miracle became real. 06:35 Origins of the Build 10:39 FFP and the Promotion Debate 11:35 Recruitment and Data Edge 17:36 Kante and Mahrez Backstories 22:22 Pearson Great Escape and Exit 26:10 Ranieri Arrives Against the Odds 27:46 Dilly Ding and Pizza Psychology 35:24 Chelsea Chaos Unravels 41:42 Big Clubs in Crisis 45:02 Vardy Volley and City Statement 47:37 Leicester Media Frenzy 53:30 Spurs Pressure and Title Night 59:19 Leicester Celebrates as One 01:04:30 Bonkers Finale Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. ## Actions - request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/it-was-what-it-was-the-football-history-podcast-6903590/episodes/the-impossible-dream-leicester-city-s-premier-league-win/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode. - read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/it-was-what-it-was-the-football-history-podcast-6903590/the-impossible-dream-leicester-city-s-premier-league-win.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource. A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed. ## Transcript Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.