Gary Rowett: Leicester City coach is not distracted by what relegation will cost him from the Foxes

Leicester City manager Gary Rowett says he will not let the potential cost of relegation distract him from trying to guide the Foxes to safety.

The East Midlands club is second from bottom in the Championship with eight games remaining as it tries to avoid relegation for the second time in as many years.

Relegation from the Premier League to League One within 12 months would come with significant financial implications.

Broadcasting and central commercial payments will fall by around £115m from the £116.9m they received when they were in the top tier in 2024-25., external While the club’s match-day income will also take a huge hit, instead of hosting some of the world’s most famous clubs in the richest competitions, they will be left with relatively small clubs playing in the third tier.

A final parachute payment of around £40m from the Premier League would soften the blow, but they will go down as a team with one of the biggest wage bills in the Championship who will also have some of their highest earners still under contract.

Rowett sat down with BBC East Midlands today to reflect on his first month in charge of the club, and was asked about the enormity of the rescue mission and the “financial implications” of the job he is doing at Leicester.

“I probably don’t try to think about that aspect of it too much, because then that might start to influence your decision-making and maybe be influenced by making certain decisions about that,” Rowett said.

“You can look at the ramifications externally about not achieving your goal, but I think for me it’s just about doing what we have to do.

“Winning a football game is no different than whether you’re seventh in the league trying to get to the playoffs, or whether you’re 19th in the league trying to stay in a division.

“For me it’s the same process. There might be a slightly different way of approaching it mentally and psychologically, but it’s the same. I’ll always try to simplify the game that way rather than really think about the bigger picture.”