Fans mourn billionaire who made their impossible dream come true
HE was hailed as the man behind the miracle, the billionaire businessman who turned an impossible dream into a glorious reality.
Just six years after he bought the club, delirious Leicester City fans were celebrating the Premier League title in one of the greatest shocks in sporting history.
The Foxes had been huge underdogs at the start of the momentous 2015-16 season. Just two years before, the club had been in the Championship “second tier”.
Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha won the deep affection of players and supporters since buying the club in 2010 for a reported £39.3million.
Born Vichai Raksriaksorn (the new name is an honour bestowed by King Bhumibol) in Thailand in 1958, his first business was a handicrafts shop.
Later, he won duty-free shop monopolies at Thai airports and built up a chain called King Power.
Last year, it denied owing the Thai government £327million. A fortune of more than £2billion allowed him to indulge in his love of two sports poles apart – football and polo.
The tycoon has played in the same team as Prince Charles and Prince William. In 2008, he was appointed president of the prestigious Ham Polo Club, London, a post he held for four years. A father of four, he watched two of his children play for King Power Foxes, one of the best.
In 2015, the side won the hallowed polo double: the Gold Cup and the Queen’s Cup, which was presented by the Queen and Prince Philip. They are based at Srivaddhanaprabha’s 100-acre estate outside Reading, Berks, with 80 ponies and 60 staff.
His love of Leicester City began in 1997 when he watched as a last-gasp equaliser saved the club from defeat in the League Club Final at Wembley.
He bought back their stadium, wrote off £103million in loans and bought new players.
He would bring Buddhist monks who prayed for victory at games.
After winning promotion to the Premier League in 2014, Srivaddhanaprabha treated the entire squad to caviar and vintage wines at an exclusive restaurant. He also gave them a £1,000 chip each to gamble at a nearby private casino.
After the club’s history-making title win two years later, each first team player got a £105,000 car.
Srivaddhanaprabha was married to Aimon. Their children are Voramas, 37, Apichet, 36, Arunroong, 34, and Aiyawatt, 32.