The 2002–08: Championship Climb

Lore & Background

There is a particular ache to this era for Leicester supporters. The club had been a Premier League side for much of the 1990s and early 2000s, and the 2001–02 relegation felt like a loss of status rather than a sporting setback. The 2002–03 Championship title, won with a sense of relief rather than celebration, was immediately overshadowed by the 2003–04 relegation that followed. The yo-yo became the defining narrative: up, down, up, down. Fans who had grown up at Filbert Street watched their club play in a new, larger stadium and still fail to hold its place in the top flight.

Yet beneath the frustration, something was being built. The squad that cycled through the Championship in 2004–06 developed a working-class, physical identity that resonated with the city. Players like Jermaine Jenas, Gary Rowett, and Darren Bent became local figures, and the club's culture of direct, committed football was refined in the Championship's more physical environment. The 2006–07 season, finishing second and earning promotion through the playoffs, felt like the first genuine step forward in years.

The 2007–08 Premier League campaign, ending in another relegation, was bitter but not without silver lining. The club had survived, it had a modern stadium, a growing fanbase, and a clearer sense of what it wanted to be. The Championship Climb era, for all its pain, was the crucible in which Leicester City's modern identity was tempered.

In Their Own Story

The floodlights at King Power hummed to life on a cold February evening in 2006. The away end was thin, the home crowd a sea of blue and white scarves, their breath visible in the air. A corner came in, the ball swung toward the near post, and a header — not the most elegant, not the most powerful, but the most determined — thudded over the line. The away manager stood with his hands on his hips, watching the home supporters pour onto the touchline. A young player, still in his first season at the club, jogged back to the centre circle with his head down, not yet understanding that this was the season the city would remember. Above him, the new stadium's roof caught the light and, for a moment, the whole ground looked like it was holding its breath, waiting to see if this time would be different. It wasn't. But it was close enough to matter.

Reader's Guide

The era opens in the shadow of the 2001–02 Premier League relegation, which ended a run of top-flight seasons and left the club searching for direction. The immediate priority was survival and rebuilding, and the 2002–03 Championship campaign delivered exactly that: Leicester stormed to the title and a place back in the Premier League.

The 2003–04 season, however, was a return to the familiar pain. The Foxes could not adapt to the pace of the top flight and were relegated again, resuming their Championship existence. The 2004–05 and 2005–06 seasons were spent as a solid but unspectacular mid-table side, developing a physical, direct style that suited the second tier's demands.

The turning point came in 2006–07, when Leicester finished second in the Championship and secured promotion through the playoffs. It was the first time in this cycle the club felt it was climbing rather than merely surviving. The 2007–08 Premier League season that followed was another brief, frustrating interlude, ending in relegation and closing the chapter.

Throughout, the club's identity shifted from a struggling ex-Premier League side to a Championship institution with a modern stadium and a clear, if unglamorous, footballing philosophy. The era's legacy is one of resilience: Leicester did not win anything spectacular, but it stopped falling apart.

Did You Know?

• Leicester City's King Power Stadium opened in 2002, replacing Filbert Street after more than a century of use, and the club's first competitive match there was played in the 2002–03 season.
• The 2002–03 Championship title was Leicester's first top-division or second-division league title in over a decade, ending a long wait for a major trophy.
• During this era, Leicester's home ground capacity roughly tripled with the move to King Power Stadium, transforming the matchday atmosphere from a small, intimate ground to a modern 32,000+ capacity venue.
• The club's repeated Premier League relegations in 2002, 2004, and 2008 made this the most turbulent six-year stretch in the modern era of the top flight for Leicester.