Leicester City have been condemned to League One just 10 years on from their Premier League title win, with back-to-back relegations for the Foxes confirmed after they drew with promotion-chasing Hull City on a gloomy night at King Power Stadium.

Dropping into the third tier for just the second time in their 142-year history completes an unwanted full-circle for the East Midlands club, as their 5,000-1 success of 2016 came just seven years after they ended a one-year stay in League One.

Leicester needed to beat Hull to give themselves any chance of survival but, rather than rattle the Tigers in the first half, they gifted the visitors the opener - with a misplaced pass from goalkeeper Asmir Begovic finding Liam Millar - who kept his cool to finish.

A second-half Jordan James penalty, after Abdul Fatawu was brought down by Lewis Koumas, restored a sense of belief for the Foxes before Luke Thomas' close-range volley had the previously dispirited crowd in raptures.

Those feelings of hope were dealt an ultimately shattering blow when Oli McBurnie slammed home the Tigers' leveller, although Leicester pressed on in search of late salvation with Patson Daka hitting the woodwork, Aaron Ramsey squandering chances and Thomas having a stoppage-time effort blocked by Semi Ajayi.

Hull pushed for a winner themselves but had to settle for a draw that means they drop out of the play-off places on goal difference.

When the Foxes were relegated from the Premier League for the second time in three seasons last year, Hull were hit with a transfer embargo after narrowly avoiding dropping out of the Championship.

Relying on free agents and loan recruits, head coach Sergej Jakirovic has got the Tigers pushing hard to end their nine-year Premier League absence - one which also took them all the way down to League One in 2020.

Leicester have had to deal with a more severe punishment this season, having been docked six points for historical spending breaches, but not even a full complement of points would get them out of the drop zone at this stage.

There were jeers around the ground when relegation was confirmed at full-time, when 10 years ago it was Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli that provided the iconic soundtrack to Leicester City's previously unfathomable Premier League title win as he sang Nessun dorma and Time to Say Goodbye during the club's trophy celebrations.

The King Power Stadium has been the site of incredible highs, with the Premier League trophy hoisted here in May 2016, and true human tragedy, as chairman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha and four others died in a helicopter crash outside the ground a little over two years later.

Those moments put this relegation into stark and sobering context.

There is a statue of Khun Vichai outside the ground that stands as a tribute to the man who played the biggest role in transforming Leicester into one of the sport's most unlikely success stories.

His son and successor as chairman Khun Aiyawatt 'Top' Srivaddhanaprabha took personal blame for the club's decline and has insisted in the past that he will not sell the club, despite growing calls from fans for him to offload the Foxes.

The 40-year-old has so far stood firm on his commitment to a club that lost more than £272m between the 2021-2022 season, when they reached their first European semi-final – where they were beaten by Roma in the Europa Conference League – and 2024-25, when they dropped out of the Premier League for the second time in three years.

The levels of spending had the club tied up in legal battles over profit and sustainability rules for a number of years and, while they wrangled themselves out of punishments in the past, they were finally hit with a six-point deduction this season.

Leicester's director of football Jon Rudkin, previously seen as an integral figure in the club's success, has been another focal point of fan anger for assembling a high-priced squad that has underachieved to such an extent that it is one of the worst performing sides in the club's history.

The departure of striker Jamie Vardy - a player lauded as the club's greatest of all time - and the Foxes' failure to find a replacement remotely capable of matching the former England international's dynamism and gift for goals has hurt Leicester this season.

Two years ago, at the age of 37, Vardy was Leicester's top scorer with 18 goals as they won promotion from the Championship as title winners. He even topped their scoring charts in the Premier League when they came down last season.

This term, loanee midfielder James – who was this week named as the Championship's young player of the season - has been the Foxes' most prolific with 11 goals.

Ghana striker Jordan Ayew and Zambia forward Daka have spearheaded Leicester's attack at different times and managed just 11 league goals between them.

When Leicester went up in 2024, they scored 89 goals and conceded just 41. This time they have netted only 56 so far, while letting in 67.

Numerous players who shone for Leicester when they were last in the second tier remain part of this team, but the shortcomings of those who were among the Foxes' best then – including Harry Winks, Stephy Mavididi, Jannik Vestergaard and Hamza Choudhury – have made them targets of particularly visceral criticism.

Former England international Winks reacted to some of that attention following Saturday's defeat at Portsmouth by shouting obscenities back at one fan, external when he boarded the team bus to return home.

It was an exchange that went viral on social media and highlighted how the club, that was once the darling of the daring and who upset the established order of English football by winning the Premier League, has joined Swindon, Wolves, Sunderland and Luton in suffering back-to-back relegations from it.

Leicester City manager Gary Rowett told BBC Radio Leicester:

"I'm incredibly frustrated. In the first half, our energy and drive didn't match the importance of the game.

"We still created some good moments and chances, but the fact that 18-year-old Divine Mukasa was trying to do everything himself showed that some of the others needed to step up a little bit more.

"Second half was much better and if we had that same drive and energy and passion in some of the other games, maybe things would be different.

"We should have won the game - we created lots of good chances. The game was symptomatic of a lot of games: We created a lot of chances and we don't take them and give away silly goals at the other end to give the opposition a lift.

"We are all disappointed and the fans, who have paid their hard earned money, will be incredibly disappointed to see their football club that 10 years ago won the Premier League [get relegated].

"I know it's a rollercoaster being a fan at times, but I probably wouldn't expect that rollercoaster to be quite so extreme."

Hull City assistant head coach Dean Holden speaking in the post-match press conference:

"Disappointing thing for us is that we got ourselves into a leading position again. Four games out of five since the break and we've not been able to see it through.

"The message at half-time was to try and get on the front foot. We knew they were going to come at us and take even more risks.

"We concede the penalty, I've genuinely not seen it back so I can't really comment, but I believe it's a disappointing one.

"We were giving everything as were they. I'm sure it was an entertaining game because it was end-to-end, it was like a game of basketball at times, but that became dangerous for us because they've got such good players in those one-on-one duels.

"Ultimately we've got to take the point, as disappointing as it is, and move forwards as quick as we can."