[12] The appointment was met with scepticism by pundits, including Leicester fan and former player Gary Lineker, as Ranieri had recently been sacked from his previous post as manager of the Greece national team after suffering a humiliating defeat to the Faroe Islands in his last game in charge.

[14] However, aided by Jamie Vardy's record feat of scoring in eleven consecutive Premier League games,[1] 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.

[14] Following a 2–2 draw between Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur at Stamford Bridge on 2 May 2016, and having two more games to play, Leicester City were confirmed champions, their first title in the top flight of English football, eclipsing the runners-up spot they reached in 1929.

[11] Defending champions Chelsea sacked manager José Mourinho in December while in 16th place and eventually failed to qualify for European football for the first time in two decades.

However, a poor run of results, including draws with Liverpool,[17] Stoke City[18] and Southampton,[19] and a loss to Chelsea[20] saw them drop to fourth by mid-February.

Tottenham's title challenge came to an end after their 2–2 draw at Chelsea on 2 May, with many altercations between players and benches on and off the field, especially after Eden Hazard scored the equalizing and final goal.

[26] Mark Clattenburg, who refereed the game, subsequently stated that he could have "sent three players off from Tottenham" but chose instead to allow them to play on, giving the team a total of nine yellow cards (a league record), so as to allow them to "self destruct" and have no one else to blame but themselves.

[27][28] 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.

[29] 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.

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.

[40] Superstitious claims of phenomena helping Leicester win the league include the club's Thai owners engaging Buddhist monks to bless the players,[33] and the reburial of King Richard III in the city's cathedral in March 2015.