LEICESTER CITY PROMOTION COMPLETES TALE OF CRISP MAKERS COME GOOD

On Saturday the 5^th of April 2014, Leicester City were promoted to the Premier League under the guidance of manager Nigel Pearson.

Whilst the club celebrated this, it was also a time for reflection as they looked back on their remarkable rise from humble crisp makers, to English football’s elite.

Remarkable indeed, it was as recently as 2011 that the club’s best known features were cheese and onion, salt and vinegar and ready salted, not David Nugent and Kasper Schmeichel.

Formed in 2002, Leicester City produced crisps of the highest standard, under the supervision of English crisp aficionado Gary Lineker whilst at the weekends, an offshoot football team was formed by the workforce to mild success.

The moderate success of the football team saw The Foxes (so named for how they monopolised the English crisp market by out-foxing the competition) build a stadium in the city for the team to play at and this investment saw the footballing side of the club grow in popularity.

The house that King Power I of Kuwait built.

It was though, in 2011 that the potential of Leicester as a football club was truly unlocked. The modern trend of rich Middle Eastern owners found Leicester too as royalty set its sights on the club and it was bought by the King of Kuwait, Power I.

Power’s assets and influence saw ambitions of reaching the English top-flight and despite protestations from the board that they should be focusing on the crisp manufacturing industry, investment was made in the football team and their star truly began to rise, with King Power allowing the team to play in his personal stadium and culminating in this season’s championship winning effort.

Even manager Nigel Pearson has his own rags to riches tale to complement his team’s. In 2008 he was cleaning boots at then-lowly Southampton before being sacked for doing a good job and replaced by a Dutchman.

Pearson though believes it was a blessing in disguise as he relocated to Leicester and began work in the crisp factories, taking over control of the burgeoning workforce football team and just under six years later, he has guided them to a medium level of English football glory.

A story to warm the cockles of your heart.

Packet of Ready Salted? Coming right up.