Jamie Vardy scored twice to secure the Championship title for Leicester City as they easily defeated Preston North End, following their recent promotion.
The 37-year-old former England forward, renowned for his crucial role in Leicester’s Premier League and FA Cup triumphs, continued to enhance his legendary status with the club by scoring once in each half, bringing his total for the season to 20 goals in all competitions.
Kasey McAteer added a third goal with a close-range header, underlining Leicester’s complete dominance. Leicester has now joined Burnley, Fulham, and Norwich as the fourth team in consecutive years to win the Championship title and secure an immediate return to the Premier League following relegation.
On the final day of the season, when they play Blackburn, Leicester has the opportunity to match a 104-year-old record set by Tottenham in the 1919-20 season, which saw them achieve 32 wins in the second division.
The Foxes’ current tally of 31 wins ties the club record set by the team that achieved promotion a decade earlier.
A victory in their last match would also make Leicester the first club to achieve promotion to the top flight with 100 points or more on two occasions.
Preston, who are tenth in the standings and saw their play-off hopes dashed by QPR nine days earlier, put up a tough fight to limit Leicester’s chances in the first half, hoping to prevent the Championship trophy celebration at Deepdale.
Preston’s goalkeeper, Freddie Woodman, aggressively came off his line to block Vardy, and made another great save shortly after to stop McAteer, who then missed a significant headed opportunity just before the half-hour mark.
Leicester’s top scorer, Vardy, managed to give the visitors a well-earned lead with a deftly scuffed first-time finish as he turned onto a Yunus Akgun cut-back to slot the ball into the bottom corner.
Vardy doubled his tally early in the second half, driving home a rebound after Wout Faes hit the post, sparking jubilant celebrations among the visiting fans.
Now in his 12th year at Leicester, Vardy has accumulated 190 goals in 463 appearances. He was a key figure in their last promotion and championship title win ten years ago and, having epitomized the club’s subsequent success, once again played a crucial role as Leicester returned to the second tier.
Vardy’s powerful impact and scoring have been essential in bringing Premier League football back to the King Power Stadium. However, with his contract expiring in the summer, the importance of his continued presence will be a topic of emotional discussion in the weeks ahead.
Although Woodman thwarted Vardy’s chance for a hat-trick with a sharp save, McAteer eventually extended the lead to 3-0 with a header from an unmarked position, thanks to a pass from Abdul Fatawu—who also hit the woodwork later in the game.