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Comment by enaaem | Hacker News Reader

It's not an illusion. It has happened. Leicester played in the third division in 2008-2009 and won the Premier League 7 years later.

Leipzig used to only play in a regional division 10 years ago and are now in the top of the Bundes Liga and reached the semi-finals of the champions league.

Although rare and improbable it does keep a dream alive for many fans. And dreams are part of the entertainment.

It can also go the other way around. Schalke 04 used to be a top 5 Bundes Liga team and are now relegated. This drama is exactly what makes the football pyramid charming.

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I love those stories and agree they are fun, but aren't they also very money-oriented most of the time?

I know for example Cardiff City's renaissance and brief promotion to the Premier League corresponded with an influx of foreign cash. That's undeniably massive fun for supporters of Cardiff, but decidedly un-fun for teams that did not receive such an infusion of money, and in the end it doesn't make me too jealous of the pyramid model.

Not Leicester, as far as I know.

Leicester was bought by Thai billionaires a few years before winning the league.

That explains the arrival in the Premier League, but not winning it.

After briefly being relegated to the third tier (for just a season, first time ever) for a season, they immediately bounced back up to the second tier in 2009-10 and then they were bought by Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, a Thai travel and retail billionaire and started their rise to the top of the Premier League.

Yes. Leicester's rise through the system was a direct result of money being pumped in by their owner, a foreign billionaire.

They were purchased 5 years prior to winning the Premier League and immediately upgraded their sponsorships, facilities, staff, and players.

Did money make them win the premier league? No, but it couldn't have happened without it and it had nothing to do with meritocracy or the local community.

Leicester barely survived relegation the year before winning the league. There wasn't an influx in cash between those two polar opposites.

There have been amateur teams rising through the ranks to best national leagues.. One example in Denmark was Hobro, and they didn't even have money for a decent stadion to play their games on.

well schalke got relegated because of missmanagement, so yeah it was money oriented. and rb leipzig also got infused with money, but way way less than people think of and they kept their places without additional infusions, so... I guess they earned their placed, because rb leipzig actually put most of the money into infrastructure, which is probably what made the so successful.

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