This Soccer Team's Unbelievable Run Could Be Thanks To King Richard III

Up until April 18, 2015, Leicester City FC was rooted to the bottom of the English Premier League table. This Sunday, with a victory over Arsenal FC, the Foxes will have a chance to be seven points ahead at the top of that table.

The burning question on everyone's mind is, how the hell did this happen?

How did a small-time club in the age of modern, mega-bucks soccer manage to pass Manchester City FC, Chelsea FC, Arsenal and all the rest?

How, indeed.

I could sit here and wax poetic about the sensational attacking tandem of Riyad Mahrez and Jamie Vardy or go on endlessly about the brilliant acquisitions of Christian Fuchs and N'Golo Kanté, but analysts have done so ad nauseam.

And how about the fact Leicester City is managed by Claudio Ranieri, a man who was fired from Chelsea at the end of the 2003-2004 season when Chelsea's Russian billionaire owner, Roman Abramovich, kicked him to the curb in favor of José Mourinho, who was also fired after Leicester beat Chelsea earlier this season.

Fun fact: Leicester plays at Chelsea on the last day of the season, and Ranieri could be presented with the Premier League trophy in Abramovich's front yard.

Talk about coming full circle.

Combine those tidbits with the fact seemingly every Leicester City player is playing the best soccer of his career, and you may think you have an explanation as to how this club literally went from worst to first in less than a year.

But, there's more to the Foxes' fairytale.

According to reports, there are many in Leicester, England who believe their team's unbelievable fortune is owed to the former King of England, Richard III.

Seriously.

Richard became King of England in 1483 and died just two years later in a battle near Leicester. Last year, his body was discovered buried under a Leicester parking lot and was then entombed in Leicester Cathedral on March 26, 2015.

According to Sports Illustrated, this date can be pointed to as the exact moment Leicester City began to turn things around on the field.

Naturally, the citizens of Leicester ran with this theory.

You don't have to believe it, but how else would you explain the ridiculous run of wins, the absence of injury and the fact Leicester City is marching toward their first Premier League title in club history?

Citations: Logical and supernatural: Trying to explain Leicester's title chase (Sports Illustrated)