This is rare chance for play-off hopefuls

LEICESTER City won the Premier League in 2015-16 courtesy of shrewd recruitment and throwback tactics.

- Chris Dunlavy

Yet the Foxes were also fortunate that several of the division’s big beasts were in transition at the same time.

Liverpool and Chelsea both sacked managers mid-season. Man City were in a holding pattern, preparing for the arrival of Pep Guardiola. United, squeezed by the Glazers, too reliant on a pensionable Wayne Rooney.

Kudos to Leicester. They seized the opportunity. But the chances of so many rich and powerful teams failing simultaneously are vanishingly rare, as illustrated by the slack-jawed disbelief that greeted Leicester’s victory.

Not since Nottingham Forest in 1978 had the top-flight crowned a first-time champion, which rather puts their achievement in context.

When it comes to success, money talks, reputation matters and the old order will always triumph in the end.

For everyone else there are only fleeting chances, to be grasped or forever lost. This year’s Championship play-offs are exactly that.

Tomorrow, four teams will battle for the two remaining play-off spots. Most of them should be battling relegation.