Leicester City beat 5,000-to-1 preseason odds to lift the English Premier League championship trophy after a 3-1 win Saturday against Everton at the soccer club's King Power Stadium home.
It took Jaime Vardy just five minutes to open the scoring. Leicester stalwart Andy King made it 2-0 in the 33rd minute, and Vardy scored his second and Leicester's third from the penalty spot in the 65th minute.
Fireworks erupted and yellow and blue streamers cascaded from the roof as the Foxes locked up their first title in the club's 132-year history.
Lifelong Foxes fan Steve Worthy had the honor of handing the trophy to captain Wes Morgan at the end of the game.
He won a competition organized by league sponsors Barclays and said he would dedicate the experience to his 97-year-old grandmother, Gladys Knight, who had to forfeit her season ticket this season because of ill health.
The 25-kilogram trophy was decorated with ribbons of blue, for Leicester, and yellow, representing the royal house of Thailand, home country of club owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha.
Leicester's fans, who saw their team narrowly avoid demotion to a lower division last season, burst into a chorus of "Leicester Till I Die!"
It was followed by "Barcelona, we're coming for you!" — a nod to next season's hotly anticipated Champions League campaign.
In one of the most improbable turnarounds by a sports team, Leicester embarrassed big-spending clubs like Manchester United and Chelsea by winning the world's richest soccer league with a squad largely made up of bargain buys and players cast off by bigger clubs.
