The Queen of England, Elizabeth who became the longest reigning monarch of the United Kingdom on 9 September 2015, had her 90th birthday last month. She has had a fairly peaceful tenure as the head of the most prestigious monarchy in the world but it’s hard to imagine that in times past, there were a series for battles for the right to the throne of England.
This succession of battles referred to as the “Wars of the Roses” was fought by two rival houses laying claim to the throne of England which was eventually won by the House of Tudor. These wars took place between AD 1455 and 1487 with history being unearthed due to a poignant discovery relating to one of the belligerents.
Richard III was the King of England from 1483 until his death, aged 32, in the Battle of Bosworth field which was the last decisive battle for the control of the throne of England. Following his death in battle, this fairly loved King was given a quiet burial in the city of Leicester. There has been a bit of postulation on where his remains were buried until an archaeological commission by the University of Leicester identified a skeleton beneath a council city car park which used to be the site of a local church. Kind Richard III’s was finally given the burial he deserved at the Leicester Cathedral on the 26th of March, 2015. The ghost of the past had been buried and it seemed that a revival had begun in this quiet city in the midlands, none the more so than its beloved football club Leicester City FC.
Leicester City FC made a return to the Premier League in the 2014/15 season after a 10 year stint outside the top flight and was set for an immediate return back to the 2nd tier at the time of Richard III’s reburial. However, a remarkable run of 7 wins in their final 9 top flight games after the reburial of the beloved king marked a change in fortune and another chance at top flight football. Even the bookmakers couldn’t have possibly imagined how the forthcoming season was going to turn out with payouts for winners of sporting odds capping £25m, the largest in British sporting history.
What are the lessons that can be learned from Leicester City’s sporting triumph, there have been many adduced and many more to come but these are the personal nuggets I can pick from this fairy tale story:
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it
Claudio Ranieri’s appointment was greeted with a mix of displeasure and surprise following his not too impressive stint as the manager of the Greek national team. Some coyly dubbed it a Greek gift and joked that Leicester were going to the relegation route this season. Ranieri was wise enough to appreciate the significance of their relegation run the previous season and not tinker (he was known as the tinkerman while at Chelsea) with the team but maintain the core that Nigel Pearson built the team on with a sprinkling of 2 to 3 quality players as a the final pieces in the puzzle. The harmony in the team was clear for all to see as they rode on to the title with 2 games to spare.
Started from the bottom now we’re here
You don’t need to have the most auspicious of starts to make an impact in your chosen profession. Jamie Vardy was the prime evidence as 5 short years ago, he was plying his Trade in non-league football while working in a factory to augment his income. Players like Andy King, Daniel Drinkwater and Wes Morgan who were rejected by bigger teams earlier in the careers and made their way up from the lower leagues to form the fulcrum of the premier league champion. Not to mention, the PFA team of the year’s members, Riyad Mahrez and N’golo Kante who were plucked out of French football obscurity. As they say “Hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard”.
A little generosity goes a long way
Leicester’s City’s affable Italian manager, at a press conference, made known his promise to his players of a pizza treat if they kept a first clean sheet of the season at a game against Crystal palace in early October. He kept good to his promise after the game where Jamie Vardy scored the only goal of the game but this subconsciously triggered something in the minds of the players; “we can keep clean sheets”. This was even the more evident towards the run-in towards the season end where they kept successive clean sheets grinding out one-nil wins along the way while other title considers faltered. Their clean sheets and pizza party’s made their dramatic title charge even the more tasty. A little generosity indeed goes a long way.
You’ll have your day in the sun
Claudio Ranieri was a considered a nearly-man in football, doing pretty well at the clubs he coached but never winning the big prize of a league title. He even got a jibe from former Chelsea coach who joked of him not winning anything or even learning how to speak English fluently in his Chelsea stint. Claudio kept at it, doing his job and making at impact that even clubs like Chelsea crediting their commencement to the summit of English football with Ranieri’s joining of the club in the year 2000. He finally got the big prize, made even the more remarkable being achieved with a modest club. Keep at it and sooner than later, you’ll get the recognition and the reward you deserve.
He sets a table before you…
It was an emotional scene witnessing the Chelsea team mount a guard of honour for the recently crowned league champions as they walked out of the tunnel on the last match-day of the season. It was definitely overwhelming for their manager, Claudio Ranieri, who really did not get the credit he deserved while manager at Chelsea. It was fitting that he finally got the respect he deserved at the ground he was rejected many years ago. Ranieri got some stick for not been a hard man while he was Chelsea boss but he’s now been vindicated. Ex-Chelsea owner Ken Bates was quoted as saying that Ranieri’s win with Leicester “proves the good guy can win”.
Have faith
We know the story of the reburial of Richard III sparking a sort of revival in Leicester, there were also pictures of circulating on social media of the Leicester players being prayed for by some Buddhist monks, what was clear, however, was the belief in the team. Ranieri mentioned “faith and believe” a couple of times in his press conferences and four games to the end of the season, he uttered the words “And now we go straight to away to win the title”. Even the lack of faith of former club Legend, Gary Lineker who promised to host his first BBC match-day show in his underwear if Leicester City won the title did not shake the faith of Ranieri and his band of merry-men.
Family matters
With one hand on the title after a well deserved draw with Manchester United, Ranieri was asked at the post match interview if he was going to be watch the Chelsea v Tottenham game the following day and his response was No. The reporter asked again as seemed not too sure that Ranieri understood his question. Claudio responded affirmatively that he needed to travel to Rome to see his 96 year-old mother and would be in transit at that time. It was as if he was saying “the Chelsea-Tottenham is important but seeing my mama at this time is of utmost importance”. Of course, the title crowning day was a family celebration with history repeating itself with Danish goalkeeper and Manchester United legend, Peter Schmeichel watching his son Kasper lift the premier league trophy at same he did 23 years ago.
Guest
Adefemi Ogundele (FCA) is Head, Financial Markets Finance, Nigeria at Standard Chartered Bank
