As thousands across the country celebrated Leicester’s unlikely win of the Premier League, four Oxford students forfeited their bop to head to Leicester at midnight and join in the celebrations.
The students at Pembroke College decided to make the trip up to the East Midlands after learning that the underdogs had won the title, despite having started the season with 5000-1 odds of lifting the Premier League trophy.
Their victory was announced after Tottenham Hotspurs failed to beat Chelsea, awarding Leicester their first league title win in 132 years.
At least a thousand fans gathered at King Power stadium to watch the Spurs Chelsea game, with many more descending on the streets of Leicester after the result.
After Pembroke’s annual sports dinner, the quartet suggested joining the thousand strong crowds celebrating in Leicester and by midnight they were in a taxi on their way to the city.
They arrived at Jamie Vardy’s House only 15 minutes after Vardy’s party had come to end, instead having to settle with a selfie taken by his front door.
After trips to King Power Stadium, a nightclub and Leicester Cathedral to visit Richard III, the students returned to Pembroke at 8:15 the next morning, with one even heading straight to lectures upon his return.
None of the students is a Leicester fan, but they have all been following the club’s title bid from November.
Jack Harrison, one of the second year students who made the trip, commented, “One of the best decisions I’ve ever made. I’ve never experienced human joy to the extent I did in the club in Leicester.
“Sports runs the continuum of existence and our second year will always be synonymous with Leicester’s bid for the title. We have followed right from start and we have been on such a journey with Leicester we wanted to follow it through to the end.
“We backed Vardy early doors, ever since their 3-0 win over Newcastle. I thought that they would probably win the title once Spurs drew with Liverpool.”
Pembroke undergraduate Nathan Wragg told Cherwell, “It was one of the best nights of my life. It really was a once in a lifetime opportunity and I am so happy we made the spontaneous decision to go. It is a trip I will not be forgetting any time soon.”
The Oxford students also met with another group of boys, none of which were life-long Leicester City fans prior to this season, but had made the trip down to Leicester from Leeds University.
They featured on BBC news for their endeavours the next morning, still out and going strong at 7am the next morning.
