Black Country influence on Leicester City

But two Black Country heroes have been quiet constants behind the scenes during both regimes.

Former Walsall and Albion midfielder Craig Shakespeare left his coaching role at the Baggies in 2008, having just won promotion to the Premier League.

He joined League One Leicester as Pearson's assistant and, apart from a season with Hull five years ago, he's been there ever since.

Long-time Wolves keeper Mike Stowell has been at the Foxes since 2007, initially as a goalkeeping coach but now as first-team coach, too.

Both men enjoy a good rapport with the players which has built up over time, and both played an integral role last summer in the transition from Pearson to Ranieri.

The Italian initially brought in a new goalkeeping coach but he didn't last long. Keeping the existing staff turned out to be one of the former Chelsea manager's most astute decisions.

Heaping praise on the players – who will now go down in football folklore – Stowell thinks Leicester's historic title win will inspire other clubs to set their sights that little bit higher.

The 51-year-old, who made 448 appearances in goal for Wolves, said: "They don't ever surprise me this lot, they're so good to work with.

"Hopefully, this has set out what everybody can achieve through hard work and through good scouting.

"They don't get ahead of themselves. In Wes Morgan as a captain, what a man he is, he's so level-headed and so quiet.

"Every one of the players to a man are proper men. It's been a privilege to be at this club."

Shakespeare admits it was a gamble to leave Albion for Leicester eight years ago, but it's one that's now paid off handsomely.

The midfielder made more than 350 appearances for the Saddlers and played over 100 games for Albion, but he's never seen a team as committed to each other as the new champions of England.

The 52-year-old said: "They have a real togetherness, but they demand high standards of each other in training and games.

"I've seen that team spirit bonding over the last 18 months. I know we've got some who haven't been there a long time, but we see them buy into the formula quickly.

"They're all individuals but collectively it makes for a good team group, they're very big on the high standards their togetherness demands."

In March, Shakespeare signed a new and improved contract, keeping him at the King Power Stadium until at least June 2018.

He explained: "When Claudio was appointed I was open minded, I knew I had a contract for 18 months and was quite prepared to honour that if Claudio wanted me to still work here.

"The relationship has grown, he's given me more scope as we've got to know each other. Whatever we're doing, it's working, and long may it continue."

Although Ranieri admitted that this season was probably a one-off, he wants to stay at Leicester and build a steady top 10 team for the future capable of fighting regularly for European football.

It's a project that will include Shakespeare and Stowell, the two Black Country greats who, against all the odds, won the Premier League.