A Global Phenomenon

Algeria

Leicester City's Premier League title success has been celebrated in Algeria because of one man - Riyad Mahrez. Not many had heard of the Foxes from Leicester before the start of the season, the only Foxes that were known in Algeria were the Desert Foxes, which is the nickname of the Algerian national team. But now, Leicester City shirts are sold in markets across the country and, of course, most of the shirts have Mahrez written on the back. The number of Leicester shirts is now rivalling Barcelona and Real Madrid shirts on the streets of Algiers. The President of Algeria, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, spoke on national television about Mahrez's success. He thanked Mahrez for inspiring millions of children in Algeria and making them proud.

"You deserve our congratulations for filling Algeria, the Arab world and Africa with pride."  Abdelaziz Bouteflika, President of Algeria.

Austria

The captain of Austria, Christian Fuchs, signed for Leicester on a free transfer at the beginning of the season and the right-back has played a huge part in the team's success. He is seen as the joker in the dressing room and has his own online video series. In one of the videos, Fuchs and his Leicester teammate, Robert Huth, play a game where they have to hit the ball as hard as they can at each other's backsides. In another game, Fuchs and Jamie Vardy play a game called Russian Egg Roulette, where they smash eggs on each other's head! But, Fuchs is not the only Austrian connection. At the beginning of the season, Leicester had their pre-season tour in Austria, in a small town called Bad Radkersburg. Well, it certainly wasn't a bad place for this Leicester journey to begin!

"Leicester are everyone's second favourite team, if not their favourite team. It is something different, something people are getting excited about, not just in England but around the world."  Christian Fuchs, Leicester City and captain of Austria.

Japan

In Japan, Shinji Okazaki's arrival at Leicester City was big news and the Japanese media stayed with the Leicester story all season. Leicester City became more and more famous in Japan as the season progressed. It became a common sight to see Japanese fans at the King Power Stadium (Leicester's home ground) supporting Okazaki and the Foxes. The interest only grew in Okazaki's home country when the Japanese striker scored a fantastic overhead kick to win a match against Newcastle (1-0) in March. All Leicester City matches have been broadcast live by Japanese television and the Foxes popularity is starting to rival that of Manchester Utd and Arsenal. 

"Goals such as Okazaki's exquisite overhead kick in March helped Leicester keep up a momentum they never lost." NHK - Japanese TV broadcaster.

Italy

Italy is a proud football country with huge teams such as Juventus, Roma and the two Milan clubs, but even here there has been a lot of news about Leicester City's amazing story and how their Italian manager, Claudio Ranieri, took the Foxes to the Premier League title. Ranieri had never won a league title in his career, the closest he had come were second place finishes in Italy (twice), England and France, but this season that all changed. On the day Leicester City celebrated their title victory with a win against Everton (3-1), over a thousand Claudio Ranieri fans arrived in Leicester to celebrate. More than five hundred of them arrived in organised coaches and a further five hundred in private cars from all over Italy. Later that week, the Italian Football Federation awarded Ranieri with the award of Italian Coach of the Year. 

"Honestly, I still haven't realised what we've done. We started off just trying to avoid relegation and you saw what happened."  Claudio Ranieri, speaking after collecting the Enzo Bearzot Award for Italian Coach of the Year.

Ghana

It may have gone slightly unnoticed but Leicester's title success means Ghana now has three Premier League title winners. Before this season, the only Premier League winner from Ghana was Michael Essien, who won the Premier League twice with Chelsea. But now, Leicester's Jeffrey Schlupp and Daniel Amartey are also Ghanaian Premier League winners and interest in Ghana is also growing. Schlupp has played a big part in Leicester's success, making 23 appearances for the Champions, while Amartey arrived in the January transfer window to provide backup for N'Golo Kante and Danny Drinkwater in midfield. Support for Leicester is already growing in the Black Star state and with two Ghanaians in the squad, expect support to grow when they take their place in the Champions League next season. 

"I believe Jeffrey Schlupp is one of the key members for the Leicester team."  Stephen Appiah, ex-captain of Ghana.

Thailand

Leicester City is big news news in Thailand. This is largely thanks to Leicester's owner, Thai businnessman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, who owns King Power. King Power is a business that runs airport shops all over Thailand and also sponsors Leicester City's shirts. If you visit an airport in Thailand, you will see pictures of Jamie Vardy everywhere. But, last year it was a different story. This time last year, there was little interest in Leicester and the club shop in Bangkok was empty most of the tme. This year, however, the shop has sold out of Leicester shirts and has had to import more from the UK. Interest in the Premier League is massive in Thailand and Leicester, because it is a Thai-owned club, are winning new fans and even Manchester Utd and Liverpool fans have adopted Leicester as their second team and are cheering for them. When Leicester played Everton recently there were 1,500 Leicester supporters outside the King Power offices in Bangkok. They had a banner which read 'Leicester City - Thailand's Team'.

"I feel very happy that Thais can create something great and that Leicester can make people more familiar with Thais."  Leicester fan in Thailand.