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Leicesters fairytale year continued after it was ranked as the UKs Greatest Sporting City for 2016, according to research from ESPN and the University of Bath.Propelled by a historic Premier League title for Leicester City FC, the city beat the likes of London and Manchester to the award after it scored highly in the most of the 12 factors fans were asked to identify as key to a great sporting city.The city climbed 17 places from 18th last year and earned a maximum score in five factors -- success, matchday atmosphere, local talent, community and social.Leicester City captain Wes Morgan said: Its hard to explain exactly what impact last season had on this city but just by walking around the streets you can see theres blue in almost every shop window, which just goes to show the support the people of Leicester have given to us.To see 250,000 people turn out for our Premier League trophy parade was a moment I and every person there will never forget and I know the pride the people of Leicester showed at our title win extends across the citys rugby, cricket and basketball teams too.Here at the football club, I know there are lads who regularly attend Tigers games and we often see players from the Foxes and Riders at King Power Stadium, which shows what a brilliant sporting city this is.Im involved in a tattoo shop in the city centre and since we won the league Id say around 70 per cent of the tattoos we do are LCFC-themed. That underlines just how much the people of Leicester love sport and their teams, so its great to see the city recognised for that.Leicester is followed in the rankings by 2015s top two -- Manchester dropping from first to second and London from second to third. Liverpool in fourth and Leeds in fifth rounds out the top five.At the other end of the table, Blackpool ranked bottom for the second year in a row, behind York in 48th, Luton in 47th and Bournemouth in 46th. Full results for the research, conducted in collaboration with the University Bath, are available here.Leicesters City mayor Sir Peter Soulsby said: Leicester Citys success last season has given the whole city a huge boost, and that positivity is clearly reflected in this research. Were obviously enormously proud of our football club, but Leicester is also home to one of Englands most successful rugby clubs, the countrys oldest basketball club, an ambitious cricket club, and a very successful womens hockey club.I think its fair to say that, when it comes to sport, Leicester -- a city of just 330,000 people -- enjoys punching above its weight. Being recognised as the best place in the country to be a fan is a huge accolade, so I am delighted that ESPNs research has confirmed Leicester as the UKs Greatest Sporting City.This year, ESPN also divided the research into individual sports to reveal the best places to be a fan of football, cricket, rugby union and rugby league. On the back of Leicester Citys historic title-winning season, Leicester received the accolade of the best city to be a football fan. Leeds ranked as the best city for both cricket and rugby league fans, while Cardiff is the top town for rugby union lovers.Leicester Tigers director of rugby Richard Cockerill said: This has always been a sporting city, with great local support for all of our teams and sportspeople, and it is good to see that status earning recognition from a wider audience.Our neighbours at Leicester City have obviously enjoyed a memorable year and all of the citys sports have been extremely proud of each others achievements in representing this part of the country in major competitions in the UK and further afield.At Tigers, we have enjoyed consistent success over very many years backed by a very committed and loyal support. It is always our ambition to be at the forefront of our sport while also recognising and cheering the successes for our teams and sportspeople across the county.Wasim Khan, CEO, Leicestershire County Cricket Club, added: The recent successes of Leicester City FC, coupled with the significant progress made by Leicester Tigers and the Cricket Club, further illustrates the heritage and pedigree of sport in the city. The sporting family in Leicester has some of the most passionate and loyal collective fans in the country and this recognition is for them as much as the clubs themselves.As part of the research, ESPN asked fans to rank 12 factors that help make up a great sporting city, in order to provide weightings for each citys results. This year, fans ranked Value for Money as the most important factor, as it received 19% of the vote. A citys Matchday Atmosphere was ranked by 17% of fans as the most important, while Club Success for a citys professional teams received 15% of the votes.Commenting on the research, Professor Thomas Curran, University of Bath, said: It is not easy to earn the accolade of ESPNs Greatest Sporting City, so the city of Leicester deserves all the congratulations it receives. To rank highly, a city must perform well in a variety of key factors which rely on a combination of fan opinion and third party data. To score top marks in five factors is a great achievement.Steven Saunders, Senior Editor of ESPN.co.uk, said: Leicester topping the rankings as ESPNs Greatest Sporting City 2016 is another amazing achievement for the city, especially considering the traditional sporting powerhouses such as London and Manchester that it has beaten to the top spot. Scarpe Nmd Outlet . -- Derrick Rose shook off poor shooting early to hit clutch shots late and Carlos Boozer had 20 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Chicago Bulls to a 104-95 preseason victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night. Nmd Uomo Ingrosso . It is a cliché dragged out by fans and pundits regularly when discussions take place around which teams are better than others. http://www.scarpenmdscontate.it/scarpe-yeezy-350-outlet.html . Just not the game. Kyle Palmieri scored two straight goals in the third period to rally the Anaheim Ducks past the Philadelphia Flyers 3-2 on Tuesday night. Scarpe Nmd Italia . Malkin got tangled up with Detroits Luke Glendening early in the third period and his left skate took the brunt of collision with the boards behind Pittsburghs net. Scarpe Stan Smith Ingrosso .C. -- Rodney Hood connected from all over the court while freshman Jabari Parker was busy swatting shots and scoring in transition.SEATTLE -- For the past few seasons playing in England, even as he participated in a Europa League final with Fulham and was on the cusp of a Champions League berth at Tottenham Hotspur, Clint Dempsey felt the pull to come back to America grow stronger. He didnt want to be an aging player on the back side of his career when he finally made the decision to return to Major League Soccer. "I was already starting to get the itch to be honest with you, to come back to the States. I just missed being in America. I wanted to help continue the growth of the game here. You cant help the growth of the game if you come back and you dont perform," Dempsey said Monday after he was formally introduced as the newest designated player for the Seattle Sounders. "I understand there is a lot of pressure on me to succeed, a lot of expectations that others have on me, but also the expectations I put on myself and when I decided to come back to this league, I want to make an impact. I want to do a good job. I dont want to come and be passive and not be able to make a difference in games. I want to win things." That pull was at the heart of Dempseys decision to have his representatives reach out to MLS in late July and start the process that was finalized over the weekend when Dempsey signed with the Sounders, bringing back arguably the best American player currently to play for his domestic league. Even though theyre not currently in the playoffs, it also makes Seattle an instant contender for the MLS Cup. Less than 48 hours after he was greeted with a huge ovation from the nearly 40,000 fans in attendance Saturday night at Seattles game against FC Dallas, Dempsey was finally able to fully explain the reasons behind his surprising move. While giving up the chance to stay in the Premier League was difficult, Dempsey felt it was the right time to come back to MLS, where his career began with the New England Revolution. "Ive been in Europe for 6 1/2 years and I just wanted to come home. Each year was getting more difficult to go back and I think everything just has to do with timing," Dempsey said. "The Seattle Sounders moved mountains to get me here. It was an opportunity to come back when I was in my prime and continue growth in the league and its a challenge." The 30-year-old Dempsey played for the New England Revolution from 2004-06 before joining Fulham in 2007. He moved to Tottenham last summer and scored 12 goals in 43 games, but wasnt a regular starter for tthe Spurs while being used in rotation with other attacking players.dddddddddddd Dempsey had two years remaining on his contract at Tottenham. Dempsey said he has yet to talk with U.S. national team coach Jurgen Klinsmann about the move and a step back in competition level from what he would get staying in the Premier League. "I look back with no regrets. I thought my time over there, if you want to crunch numbers, I was successful. I want to continue to do the same here," he said. The process for getting Dempsey to Seattle didnt take long but was filled with potential stumbles. MLS first informed Seattle general manager and co-owner Adrian Hanauer and fellow Seattle owner Joe Roth of Dempseys interest in late July. For the past two years, Hanauer and Roth had Dempsey at the top of their wish list and suddenly the chance to acquire him was real. While Dempsey was jetting between London and Hong Kong for an Asian tour with Tottenham, his representatives were pulling together a deal with Seattle, plus a transfer fee paid to Tottenham to bring Dempsey back beneath the MLS umbrella. The final stages of the negotiation were set into motion last Thursday when Dempsey was first spotted by fans boarding a flight at Heathrow Airport in London and later making a connection in San Francisco. When he arrived in Seattle, Dempsey was slipped out a back door of the airport and avoided a throng of Sounders fans who had converged for a chance to see if the rumours were true. Dempsey went unnoticed, but Hanauer never exhaled until Friday night when Dempsey finally signed the contract. "There were some anxious moments to some degree in that," Hanauer said. "Again, Im kind of a worrier." The move to get Dempsey, coupled with the acquisition of forward Obafemi Martins earlier this season backed up what Roth had told supporters last off-season after Seattle lost in the Western Conference finals to Los Angeles. Roth promised to pay back fans for the unprecedented support the Sounders have received. While Seattle could see increased interest because of Dempseys acquisition, Hanauer said the team didnt view this as a profitable move. "This is for soccer," Hanauer said. "This is to win a championship, raise the profile domestically, globally, pay our fans back for their support. ... If you do good things as a business, the financial rewards will come down the line, so this feels like were doing the right things by our customers, our fans." ' ' '