Former Premier League champions Leicester were relegated to the third tier for only the second time in their history after a 2-2 draw against Hull on Tuesday.
Gary Rowett’s side needed a victory at the King Power Stadium to keep alive their slender hopes of avoiding relegation.
But the Foxes were denied by Oli McBurnie’s second-half equaliser, which condemned them to League One just 10 years after they were crowned English champions in a fairytale triumph.
Liam Millar put Hull ahead in the 18th minute before Leicester equalised through James Justin’s 52nd-minute penalty.
Luke Thomas put Leicester ahead two minutes later, but McBurnie extinguished their dreams of a great escape with his 63rd-minute leveller.
Second-bottom Leicester are seven points from safety with just two games left.
Leicester will play in the third tier for the first time since 2008-09 following an astonishing decline over the last five years.
“We have to learn. I think the club have to accept this is the horrible part of the journey of a football club,” Rowett said.
“This club won the Premier League not too many moons ago. That was an incredible high at the time for the fans, for everyone associated with the club.
“I think everyone saw that as an amazing achievement. I think we can be equally as disappointed with how poor this moment is.”
It is a third relegation in four seasons for Leicester, who dropped out of the Premier League in 2023 and 2025.
After Jamie Vardy, Riyad Mahrez, N’Golo Kante and company defied 5,000-1 odds by winning the Premier League in 2016, Leicester reached the Champions League quarter-finals the next season and won the FA Cup in 2021.
But Leicester’s golden era is a distant memory as they face the unpalatable prospect of playing the likes of Bromley, Mansfield and Wycombe next season.
“The bigger picture is you don’t get relegated over three or four games, you get relegated over a season,” Rowett said.
“The club has to rise again but it has to learn its lessons because it’s certainly been a season of an awful lot of regret.”
Crashing out of the Premier League in limp fashion three years ago should have been a wake-up call for Leicester’s Thai owner Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha and much-maligned sporting director Jon Rudkin.
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