While Leicester City fans toast the club's Premier League success and pundits up and down the country are forced to eat their words, there is a Chester FC connection for two men who played a key role in the unlikeliest of title triumphs.

Assistant manager Steve Walsh, a man who is credited more than any other individual with shaping Leicester's success, and goalkeeping coach Mike Stowell both spent their formative football years with the Blues.

Walsh, who in his previous role as head of recruitment with Claudio Ranieri's side, was the man who spotted the talents PFA Player's Player of the Year Riyad Mahrez, midfielder N'Golo Kante and prolific striker Jamie Vardy.

Walsh worked towards his coaching badges in the 1970s while working as PE teacher at a comprehensive school in Chorley, his home town.

He took up part-time scouting roles with Bury and Chester City during the 1980s, leaving Sealand Road to take up a role with Chelsea under Ian Porterfield in 1990 after being recommended by then assistant manager Gwyn Williams.

While at Chelsea, a club with whom he remained for 16 years before moving on to Newcastle, Walsh was key in bringing Gianfranco Zola and Didier Drogba to Stamford Bridge.

In 2006 Walsh accepted an offer to become chief scout under Sam Allardyce at the Magpies, where he met Nigel Pearson. When Pearson was appointed Leicester boss in 2008, Walsh joined him and the two returned to the club in 2011, along with Craig Shakespeare, Leicester's joint assistant alongside Walsh and Paolo Benetti.

Riyad Mahrez has been a star for the Foxes this season
Riyad Mahrez has been a star for the Foxes this season

READ: Graham Barrow on his time with Chester City

Since arriving at the King Power Stadium, Walsh has become a pivotal part of their success on the pitch.

It was he who spotted Algerian Mahrez playing for French side Le Havre, encouraging the Foxes to shell out for the midfielder, who cost just £375,000. Walsh had been there to scout Ryan Mendes but it was Mahrez who caught the eye.

Another player to have enjoyed a stellar season is another one of Walsh's recruits, Kante. The French midfielder has thrived in the Premier League since his £5.6m move from Ligue 1 side Caen last summer and has since earned himself a call up to the national side.

And then there is Vardy. The England striker's rise has been meteoric and his goals have helped fire the Foxes to title glory. Walsh was the key man once again in getting the marksman to join Leicester from Fleetwood Town, who had themselves signed the Sheffield-born front man from non-league FC Halifax Town the previous summer.

Mike Stowell in his Wolves days
Mike Stowell in his Wolves days

And the Chester connection doesn't stop at Walsh, with goalkeeping coach Stowell playing a big part in the rise of Foxes stopper Kasper Schmeichel.

The son of Manchester United great Peter, Leicester keeper Schmeichel has been in stunning form this season and has been drawing admiring glances from a host of top European clubs.

Stowell, who has worked closely with Schmeichel since the Dane first arrived at the King Power Stadium in 2011, made his professional debut for Chester back in 1987, spending a 14-game spell between the sticks while on loan from Everton.

He went on to make almost 400 league appearances in an 11-year association with Wolverhampton Wanderers between 1990 and 2001.