Leicester City’s participation in the Champions League and the Premiership should bring in £22m to the city in terms of the money spent by visiting fans on accommodation and food. Foreign visitors doing a Premier League tour will be keen to add the King Power stadium to the venues they visit, alongside more familliar destinations such as the Emirates and Old Trafford.
Leicester City’s participation in the Champions League and the Premiership should bring in £22m to the city in terms of the money spent by visiting fans on accommodation and food. Foreign visitors doing a Premier League tour will be keen to add the King Power stadium to the venues they visit, alongside more familliar destinations such as the Emirates and Old Trafford.
Leicester as a city has been on the up. Once it found prosperity under the ‘Leicester clothes the world’ slogan. In 1936 it was named as the second richest city in Europe. The traditional industries went into decline in the face of international competition and there was a painful rebuilding process.
However, it paid dividends. Leicester has the fastest business growth rate outside London, and its gross value added as a measure of economic output rose 22 per cent between 2009 and 2014. Between 2001 and 2011, its population grew by 17 per cent, the fourth highest rate in the country. Winning the Premier League title will give the city added profile, but building on an already successful story.
Newly promoted Middlesbrough face a more difficult economic environment. Teesside has been through some very challenging times. However, Redcar MP Anna Turley says, ‘With a Premier League team, we can be a recognised brand and this can attract investment, create jobs and help our regeneration.’
The challenge is a bigger one than at Leicester in a town much further from London. Can success on the pitch translate into economic regeneration?