A That's series where we ask a Shanghai-based somebody to tell us 5 Things specific to his or her life.
It is hard to avoid the Leicester City miracle today. ‘The Foxes’ had never won the league championship, were nearly relegated from the English Premier League last season, and started this season at 5000/1 outsiders to win the trophy. Lifelong Leicester fan Charlie Harris is a student from the University of Leeds spending a year abroad at Jiaotong University, and a rare Shanghai city Fox. We were able to reach out to him to talk about what life is like for a Leicester fan so far from home in such exciting times.
1. An Army of... Two
I know of one other Leicester City fan in Shanghai, Shaun Kastelijn. He is an Australian who plays for my football team, Shanghai Cosmos. As far as I am aware, Shaun and myself are the Shanghai Foxes Supporters Club.
2. “Leicester... who?”
Many people have never heard of Leicester in China. However, those who follow football have obviously now heard of them, and were rooting for the Foxes to win the league.
3. Watching Games at the Camel
Me, Shaun and some of the other Cosmos players go to The Camel every weekend religiously to watch the Leicester games. My flatmates also come to the games, although James is a dirty Tottenham fan (hard luck mate) and Jack has been converted from Newcastle to Leicester this season. (I never thought Leicester would have glory supporters!)
4. Highs and Lows, But Mostly Highs
For me personally, the entire season has been amazing. I think the best time was generally after Christmas, when people went from saying "Leicester are still top of the league!" to "Okay, Leicester are actually title contenders now." The last few weeks have been especially exciting, battling against Tottenham at the top of the league. The worst moments are difficult. We have only lost 3 games this season, but I was very worried last week when we drew to West Ham 2-2, as the title race was really on then.
5. Help me see us lift the trophy?
I just can't believe it. It is still settling in that Leicester City have actually won the league. I’d love to be back for the celebrations, but being a student there’s no way I can afford a return flight home, so I've launched a campaign: Send Charlie Home to Leicester!
I hope I can make it in time to see us lift the trophy. But the main thing is I'm just so happy we won!
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