Former Premier League champion Leicester will be playing in the third tier of English soccer next season.

Leicester, which sealed the unlikeliest title win of the Premier League era in 2016, with odds of 5,000-1, needed a victory Tuesday to maintain any hope of avoiding relegation, but drew 2-2 with Hull.

The Midlands club, which also won the FA Cup in 2021 and played in England's top flight last season, is second to last in the second-tier Championship.

In a statement to fans, Leicester chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha, said responsibility sat with him.

"There are no excuses," he said."We have experienced the highest highs and, now, the lowest lows, and the pain is shared by all of us. I am truly sorry for the disappointment we have caused."

Relegation comes after Leicester was docked six points in February for breaching the English Football League's financial rules when it earned promotion in the 2023-24 season. Earlier this month, it lost its bid to overturn that punishment, leaving it mired in the relegation zone.

It is a dramatic fall after Leicester's fairytale-like title triumph 10 years ago.

The Tigers had spent the 2014-15 season battling relegation from the top flight and only an unlikely winning run in the final weeks of that campaign saved them.

What followed was a remarkable title charge that saw Leicester finish 10 points clear of Arsenal at the top of the standings.

In 142 years of existence, Leicester has played just one season in the third tier of English soccer. It won the League One title in 2008-09 and was promoted back to the Championship.

Slipping down English soccer's pyramid is costly, mainly because of the decrease in broadcasting revenues.

In the 2023-24 season, League One clubs' average total revenue was $12.2 million, which was about one-quarter of Championship clubs' average revenue, according to Deloitte. The average revenue for Premier League clubs that season was $422 million.

Agencies via Xinhua