Jamie Vardy forced two ex-Leicester City stars to make a major detour amid their wild celebrations after winning the Premier League title.
The Foxes overcame famous odds of 5,000/1 to finish top of the pile in the 2015/16 season in what is one of the greatest sporting stories ever.
What made the feat even more impressive was that Leicester were crowned champions with two games to spare.
Tottenham, who had pushed Leicester throughout the campaign, had to win all three of their remaining games and hope the Foxes dropped points somewhere along the way to spoil the fairytale.
However, Tottenham’s third-last game was against Chelsea, who were not in the title race but remained a dangerous opponent.
Knowing anything other than a Tottenham win would guarantee their crowning moment, Leicester’s players organised different viewing parties in anticipation of what was to come.
According to former Foxes winger Marc Albrighton, who played in every game of that famous season, some stars had events at their own homes while half of the squad rocked up to Vardy’s place.
Albrighton was one who opted to host a small event at his house and invited his mates and family around.
Tottenham blew a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2 against Chelsea, ensuring Leicester accomplished a feat many felt was impossible.
Upon learning of the scenes at Vardy’s place, Albrighton immediately directed his parents to drive him to the striker’s party.
Yet he had to take quite the detour to get there.
“I’m on the way there, I’m texting Vards to send me the address, he sends me the address,” Albrighton told the Under The Cosh podcast.
“But he’s phoned me and he’s gone, ‘Right, don’t come to my house. There a police station about a mile away, go to the police station. You won’t get anywhere near the house.'”
It could have easily been a wind up, but Albrighton took Vardy’s word and got his parents to divert their route to the police station.
As Albrighton walked into the reception of the station, he quickly spotted a familiar face.
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“Ben Chilwell is sat there with his dad,” Albrighton said.
“He’s gone, ‘You’ve been told to come here as well?'”
After saying goodbye to his parents, Albrighton and Chilwell were then given a police escort to Vardy’s house.
It didn’t take long for Albrighton to realise why Vardy told him to hitch a ride with the police.
“Thousands of fans have found out where he lives and they’re all up his street, climbing on his gates, trying to peer over to see everyone,” Albrighton said.
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“As we’re driving in, the fans are banging on the windows, cheering. All the scarves, flags, everything.”
Albrighton eventually made it through the front door of Vardy’s residence, but after a brief eruption of joy, the atmosphere quickly fell flat.
“It died because you’ve got a million messages on your phone,” Albrighton said.
“So all the lads have had that joy of cheering when they won it to then replying to all the messages or getting in touch with your kids or your family.”
However, the intensity of celebrations quickly rose as former Foxes goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel had his driver pick up some of the players and take them into the city centre.
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Having seen the celebratory scenes at the King Power Stadium plastered all over social media, a detour past their home ground was on the cards.
For Albrighton, it was certainly worth it.
“We’ve gone past and I’ve never seen anything like it,” Albrighton said.
“All the flares, flags all over the place, scarves, just people dancing, everybody steaming. It was the best thing I’d seen.”
The title celebrations then moved to a nightclub, where the players had a roped-off area on the upper floor.
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Some nightclubs across England will enforce a strict dress code, but for one night in Leicester, one venue tossed those rules out the window.
“We’re looking down on the dancefloor,” Albrighton said.
“Again, Leicester shirts, Leicester flags, Leicester scarves. Everyone just on top of the world. Obviously everyone spotted us and they’re singing Leicester songs towards us. It was amazing.”
Leicester still had two games remaining, including a home fixture against Everton just five days after they were crowned league champions.
Despite the boozy midweek celebrations, the Foxes beat the Toffees 3-1 as they lifted the Premier League trophy in front of their own fans at the King Power Stadium.
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Blind Italian opera singer Andrea Bocelli was also involved in the pre-match trophy ceremony as he serenaded the crowd and Leicester’s players after the game.
The Premier League title triumph remains the best moment in Albrighton’s career, although he also earned an FA Cup winner’s medal in 2021 when the Foxes beat Chelsea in the final.
He ultimately spent ten seasons on Leicester’s books, with one of those on loan at West Brom.
Albrighton called time on his career in August at age 34 having made over 300 Premier League appearances, 224 of which were with Leicester.
