Leicester. Where’s that? And how do you pronounce it? Is it “Lye-Chest-er” or “Lester”.
This Midlands town is now well-known all round the world after their team, Leicester City became the English football champions. It is a remarkable story of a team that was fighting for survival last year. The team – known locally as The Foxes – were promoted to the Premier League only two years ago.
Last year they faced relegation, spending 140 days at the bottom of the League table. They pulled off a great escape by the skin of their teeth by winning 7 of their last 9 games.
Even at the beginning of this year’s season, the bookies rated their chances of winning at 5,000:1. The leading TV pundit Gary Linneker – born in Leicester and a former Leicester City player – threatened to present Match of the Day in his underwear if they won the League. The Egyptian sports analyst Mido promised to shave his head if they won.
But that’s what they did this week having played consistently good and entertaining football with a group of players who were not big names before this year.
It would be quaint to characterise this victory as the success of a plucky bunch of underdogs fighting off The Big Four of the Premier League (Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United).
And it is important to underline that the squad was not based on a massive investment in buying expensive players. One of their top players, Jamie Vardy was bought 4 years ago from a non-League side for only £1 million. This year he scored in 11 consecutive matches, a new record.
It wasn’t luck or money: their success was built on hard-work, application and smart footwork. Leicester’s scouts have spotted talent and brought them to the club. The club’s academy has helped to bring on good young players. The management has organised, trained and prepared them to play and succeed against the very best.
Leicester’s win highlights the values that underpin the game. The team worked together under strong leadership. The values they displayed can help to inspire young people: how to tackle their problems, block their fears and, through effort and practice, achieve their goals.
These values inspire a passion that makes football the most popular sport in the world. All over the world you can find children – boys and girls – kicking a football around. They sport T-shirts with “Rooney” or “Messi” on their backs. And the names of top teams and stars are often better known than their home-grown politicians.
Football is universal. It needs no common language. Fans all over the world share this common passion. As the former Liverpool manager Bill Shankley said: “Some people think football is a matter of life or death. I assure you, it’s much more important than that.”
Supporting your local club offers fans a common sense of identity and purpose. In some countries, it is almost a form of tribalism: supporters wear the same clothes and follow a common set of rituals in following their clubs around the country. And that loyalty will continue through thick or thin: whether they are winning or not.
The love for the game applies in Libya too. Whether you support Ittihad or Al-Ahli in Tripoli, Al-Nasser or Al-Ahli in Benghazi, they are your teams and part of your identity. The pride and passion shone through when the Libyan national team won the African Nations Championship in 2014.
So warm congratulations to the team, supporters and citizens of Leicester. They can celebrate the success of their team and hope for more success in England and in Europe next year.
And the answer to the question about pronunciation? It’s “Lester”. But as one fan said as the foreign media struggled with the name: “It’s not Lye-Chester. From now on, it’s Champions!”