IT’S important to strike a balance between work and pleasure.
And that applies to successful teams in the Premier League.
For 5000-1 title outsiders Leicester, fun on and off the pitch went hand in hand.
In December, 2015, the East Midlanders had just beaten Swansea away 3-0, with striker Jamie Vardy equalling Ruud van Nistelrooy’s record of scoring in 11 straight Premier League games – a record he would later break.
That win put the Foxes top of the Premier League, with a huge game against champions Chelsea next up.
However, Claudio Ranieri was happy to allow his stars to fly straight from Wales to a Christmas party in Copenhagen, following their astonishing start to the season.
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In charge of planning the party was native Dane Kasper Schmeichel.
He told BBC: “I was one of the first to arrive at the airport so I saw everyone coming down the stairs in their fancy dress costumes.
“There were people getting out of the lift with Pacman, who was Wes Morgan.
“It was brilliant because it was so big he could store his beer in the costume and he didn’t have to carry it.
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“Danny Drinkwater, Ben Hamer, Matty James and Andy King were dressed as Ninja Turtles and I was Mr Incredible.”
Later in the evening, the stars would party until 5am and rack up a £150,000 bill at a swanky Danish nightclub.
But first came a trip to the world’s oldest theme park, Tivoli Gardens, where some local children had no idea they were in the company of future title winners and thought Schmeichel and co were the entertainment.
The goalkeeper said: “Everyone thought we were part of the attractions so kids were stopping us and wanting pictures with the Ninja Turtles.
“With Copenhagen being such a small city, if something like that happens, the papers are going to find out very quickly so we had some great photos.
“There is one of Robert Huth dressed as the best Batman ever. We were sat at dinner and Huthy is sat there looking for trouble that he is going to sort out.
“If we are doing something we are going to do it properly.”
If anything though, the Danish booze-up would only serve to make the Foxes’ form on the pitch even better.
The following weekend, they beat Chelsea 2-1 – a result which brought about Jose Mourinho’s sacking as Blues boss.
And in May, Leicester would celebrate the most unlikely title in football history as Chelsea held Spurs, who were second, to a 2-2 draw.
On that evening, the Foxes players were watching the game at Vardy’s house and went as wild as expected after the final whistle.
Captain Wes Morgan, who had dressed as Pacman five months earlier, said: “The party at Vardy’s amazing. Everyone saw the celebrations, they went on into the night.
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“I think a lot of people did enjoy that little moment. [Midfielder Marcin] Wasilewski is the one to blame for that.
“Everyone lost their minds. We’d done it, so we went crazy. You can’t blame us for that.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
