Wealthy family have earned affection of city with shrewd stewardship of club
THE Agusta helicopter landing on the Leicester City pitch at the King Power is as regular a tradition at home matches as the pre-game Foxes bugler, one of the few obvious reminders that the Srivaddhanaprabha family who own the club are extremely wealthy.
The owners of Leicester bought the club in 2010, although it was never entirely clear why. The family’s fortune was in the King Power dutyfree chain which had a monopoly on the airports of their native Thailand. They built up arguably the biggest polo estate in Britain, and created the King Power team, signing the best Argentinian players and taking the UK’s leading team manager from their rivals.
Polo bought the Srivaddhanaprabha family, and the patriarch Vichai, an entrée in the British establishment. Their King Power teams won the Gold Cup and Queen’s Cup, and the family rubbed shoulders with members of the British royal family. Polo was their passion and Vichai’s son Aiyawatt, known as ‘Top’, played in the team alongside Facundo Pieres, the Lionel Messi of Argentinian polo, and indeed the world game.
But it was football that truly catapulted the Srivaddhanaprabha family to UK fame. Their club’s remarkable 2016 Premier League title victory, in just the second season after their promotion from the Championship, changed the notion of what was possible for teams outside the elite. While
Vichai is known simply as ‘the boss’
Top, the club’s vice-chairman, gave some interviews in the joyful aftermath – and joined in part of the celebrations – Vichai stayed out of the spotlight. He remains the reclusive billionaire.
Vichai is known for his close links to the Thai establishment and also for his religious faith. The Buddhist monks from the Wat Traimit Withayaram Woraviharn (Golden Buddha) Temple, in Bangkok, are flown in by Vichai for many of the home games to bless the team. The family, including another amateur polo player, Top’s brother Talapichet, or ‘Tip’, who turns out for the B-string King Power side.
Vichai is known simply as “the boss” at Leicester and at his base in Berkshire, west of London, which encompasses 100 acres, 60 staff and the stabling of around 80 ponies at an annual cost of around €10m to run the two teams.
The decisions made by the Srivaddhanaprabha and Vichai in particular have not always been easy to read. The first interest the family had in football was an executive box in the west stand at Stamford Bridge which they took in 2006, picking No 8 because of the Chinese tradition that it is a lucky number.
They were sufficiently interested that in August 2010 they bought Leicester from Milan Mandaric when the club were in the Championship, taking four years to get promoted.
Their eight years in charge were first characterised by a loyalty to managers, even Claudio Ranieri who lasted longer than many would have given him when the team bombed in the season following the 2015-2016 title-winning season.
Previously, they stuck with Nigel Pearson through that difficult first year in the Premier League and only eventually parted with him when Pearson’s son James was involved in a sex scandal in a post-season tour of Thailand.
The family take advice on the big football decisions from Jon Rudkin, the former academy director and now director of football, who has their full trust and can often be seen accompanying them across the pitch to the helicopter when they leave the stadium.
They also place great store in Susan Whelan, the Irish chief executive of Leicester and King Power. Since winning the league, the club has continued to invest but struggled with its managerial appointments, replacing Ranieri with his assistant Craig Shakespeare and then bringing in Claude Puel.
In Leicester, the Srivaddhanaprabha are regarded as model owners. They delivered the greatest season in the club’s history and, by and large, the Leicester faithful also agreed with the decision to sack Ranieri. The Srivaddhanaprabhas donated £2m (€2.25m) towards building a new children’s hospital in the city.
Few owners generate such affection in their own support, although for all that they remain a very private family. (© Daily Telegraph, London)
The family also place great store in Susan Whelan, the Irish boss of Leicester and King Power