How Willie Kirk transformed Leicester City’s fortunes to complete historical great escape

The R-word has clouded Leicester City this season as both the men’s and women’s sides have found themselves battling it out at the wrong end of their respective league tables.

It’s been an extremely difficult few days for the club as the Foxes’ nine-year stint in the Premier League came to a heartbreaking end on Sunday, despite the fact they did all they could and got the result they needed against West Ham. However, just 24 hours earlier, there were far more jubilant scenes as the women’s team clinched WSL safety with a 1-0 win over Brighton in their season finale.

When Willie Kirk took charge in November, moving over from his role of director of football, they hadn’t picked up a single point in their first six league games. They’d just been beaten 2-1 by Reading, their rivals at the bottom of the table, which put them at the forefront of the conversation over who would get relegated.

City ’s position in the WSL was under serious threat and it was going to take a monumental effort to turn things around. It was a challenge Kirk grasped with both hands, despite a difficult first couple of games in the dug out, which involved defeats to Arsenal, West Ham and an 8-0 thumping at home to Chelsea.

The Christmas break proved to be a turning point for the Foxes. The time away from competitive matches allowed work to continue on the training pitch and Kirk has since praised his players for how they bought into the plan.

“I think the player’s open-mindedness to change has probably been the biggest thing for me,” he said on Saturday after the win at Brighton. “We changed so many things.

That opened up space for a few new arrivals, including Australia internationals Courtney Nevin and Remy Siemsen. Ruby Mace also joined on loan from Manchester City and the youngster’s influence in the second half of the season proved to be pivotal.

Yet, arguably the the biggest statement of all, was the loan signing of Bayern Munich goalkeeper Janina Leitzig. It’s hard to think of a player having a greater impact on a team than the German shot-stopper had on City.

The writing was on the wall in their first WSL game of the calendar year. A 3-0 win at home to Brighton, which was their first points of the entire campaign.

Leitzig had played just 90 minutes of football in a Leicester kit – yet she already looked the business. The Brighton performance was followed up by outstanding displays against Manchester City, Liverpool and Everton and she went on to make more saves than any other goalkeeper in the division, despite only playing half the WSL season.

The squad looked stronger, the mentality appeared stronger and performances were getting stronger. Suddenly, by March, the narrative outside the club had started to change.

There were challenges along the way including a last-gasp defeat away at Tottenham and conceding five against both Manchester United and Aston Villa. As well as a 6-0 loss away against eventual champions Chelsea.

City’s meeting with Reading in early April was a six-pointer. If any game was an absolute must-win – it was that.

Sam Tierney had given the Foxes an early lead at the King Power but, as was the case in the previous meeting between the two teams in October, Kelly Chambers’ side were able to fight back.

Charlie Wellings put Reading back on level terms on the brink of half-time and, as the second half wore on, it seemed they were heading for a draw. Carrie Jones, on loan at City from Manchester United, ensured that wasn’t the case.

Six minutes into stoppage time, the 19-year-old fired home one of the most important goals of the season to lift City off the bottom of the table for the first time. When reflecting on moments that defined the season, this is very close to the top of that list.

Also on that list would be the 4-0 win at home to Liverpool a month before the season came to a close. It was a dominant display at the King Power and the moment fans truly started to believe they would stay up.

As they entered the run-in, City’s fate was firmly in their hands. It was probably all Kirk would’ve asked for when he took charge a little over six months prior.

Reading needed a miracle against Chelsea on the final day, but that wouldn’t have mattered anyway as 17-year-old Ava Baker secured City a narrow 1-0 victory away at Brighton to remove any shred of doubt. A seven point deficit had been successfully overturned, something that had never been achieved in the WSL before.

City’s ability to achieve such a feat was aided by everyone at the club buying into the vision, a handful of key signings in January and a stern desire to prove everyone wrong. The sheer belief and resilience needed to maintain faith, despite everyone around them writing them off, cannot be underestimated.

Internally, celebrations will no doubt be short-lived. Preparations for the new season have already begun and Kirk and his staff can operate with a lot more certainty now their top-flight status has been secured.

The task is to ensure they don’t start the next campaign as poorly as they did the last. There’s a sense solid foundations have been laid over the course of an extremely turbulent period and it will be extremely interesting to see how that’s built on over the summer.

“We’ve had some really positive conversations with players, both current and players we’d like to bring in,” Kirk said on Saturday. “We’ll be able to have those conversations with more certainty now and it will be a big summer in terms of recruitment.

“The key (to next season) will be remembering these moments and the rollercoaster we’ve been through and the work we’ve had to do just to be safe. If we can get off to a better start next season, the work we’ve had to do at this stage will see us move up significantly.”