Leicester City Premier League triumph sees William Hill facing historical payout

Leicester City's incredible run to Premier League glory sent shockwaves through world football but left one of Britain's biggest bookmakers nursing its wounds.

William Hill lost £2.2m as it paid out the biggest ever odds on the Premier League market, after Chelsea's 2-2 draw against Tottenham Hotspur on Monday night (2 May) mathematically confirmed Claudio Ranieri's men as this season's Premier League winners.

The bookmaker said the loss was ten times worse than the previous worst result and that was despite taking only 25 bets on Leicester to win the league at the start of the season, when the odds on Jamie Vardy and co achieving what appeared an impossible dream were as long as 5,000/1.

Among the 25 brave punters, 13 of whom placed their bets in a shop, the largest stake bet was a £20 stake placed from a retail customer in Manchester, while the smallest bet was a mere 5p bet placed by a punter in Edinburgh.

"These are quite simply the biggest odds we have ever paid out on and we have lost £2.2 million on the Premier League market," said William Hill's spokesman Ciaran O'Brien.

"That said we are happy to celebrate along with the 25 customers who took William Hill's odds of 5,000/1 on Leicester at the start of the season as there is nothing like an upset to encourage loyal fans everywhere to back their team next season. We have also benefited from the shock results week after week in what has been an enthralling Premier League season."

According to William Hill's estimates, the bookmaking industry has paid out £15m with over £10m worth of losses after Leicester's extraordinary run. Leigh Herbert, a life-long Leicester fan, became popular earlier this season after revealing he had cashed out part of his £5 bet on the Foxes to win the league.

Herbert stuck £5 on Leicester at 5,000/1 early in August 2015 and has since cashed out for a tidy £5,680 return, while he also stands to win a further £15,000 from the remaining £3 stake that was left running on his original bet.

Leicester will lift the title at the King Power Stadium on Saturday but, inevitably, attention will soon turn to next season. Ranieri said his side's achievement will not be repeated and while Leicester are 25/1 to defend their crown, the odds on them to be relegated are even shorter at 16/1.

Perhaps, however, it would be worth following the example of a punter from Balham, South London, who stuck £1 on each of the bottom ten teams in the Premiership betting to lift the title and won £5,000 on Leicester.