In the 82nd minute on the final day of the 2015–2016 Premier League season, Danny Drinkwater found the net with a beautiful strike, equalising for Leicester City against Chelsea. His team didn’t need a win that day. The title was already theirs, sealed weeks earlier in one of football’s most impossible fairy tales.
In business, we often assume success belongs to those with the biggest teams or the loudest marketing. But in 2016, a modest football club from England’s Midlands rewrote that story. Leicester City, a team that had narrowly escaped relegation a year earlier, defied 5000–1 odds to win the Premier League. It wasn’t luck. This was strategy.
When Claudio Ranieri arrived, most pundits reacted as if someone had appointed Mr. Bean to run the country. Everyone expected him to fail. But Ranieri didn’t care. He looked at his players, not his critics, and devised a plan to outsmart the giants. In business terms, his approach mirrored companies that focus on what makes them different rather than what makes them big. Think of Nothing making weirdly transparent phones instead of copying Apple like Xiaomi. Strategy isn’t always about doing more. Sometimes it is about doing less, but with ruthless clarity.
Leicester’s recruitment team was a masterclass in strategic scouting. They bought N’Golo Kanté for £5.6 million, Riyad Mahrez for £400,000, and Jamie Vardy from non-league football. Their total player budget was less than what some clubs spent on a single signing. Together, they became the heartbeat of the team and probably the most dangerous trio in England that season. Instead of chasing famous names, Leicester looked for talent and fit. In the corporate world, that’s hiring for business alignment, not just shiny CVs.
Off the pitch, Ranieri had an unusual motivational technique: pizza. Yes, pizza. He promised his players a pizza night every time they kept a clean sheet. It sounds ridiculous and somewhat childish, but it worked. You see, this wasn’t really about the pizza, it was about belonging. While other clubs guarded their superstars like eggs, Leicester built a family. And when people like each other, magic happens. Many companies obsess over their “star performers” while quietly eroding the culture that holds the whole thing together. It’s impossible to reach your goals if your people don’t feel part of the bigger picture.
Ranieri’s greatest strength, though, was psychological. He never let the dream get ahead of the work. He never cared about grand speeches or pointless motivational talks. He was a great leader managing the confidence of his team, giving them enough belief to fuel their ambition. Leicester didn’t think about lifting the trophy until it was already in their hands. Great leadership doesn’t glorify the grind, it gives it direction. It builds toward something real, not something loud.
Leicester City’s story isn’t about football. It’s about strategy. They proved that success doesn’t come from the size of your budget, but from the clarity of your plan.
In business, as in football, the long game isn’t about playing harder. It is about knowing where you are going.
