Foxes fans mourn ‘King of Leicester’ who gave them pride
IN the watery afternoon sun, the Leicester City first team filed out of the turnstile entrance of the King Power Stadium in matching black King Power tracksuits – pink-eyed, shoulders hunched against the cold.
There were no cheers or waves from the crowds. No selfies, no jostling.
Just silence from the hundreds upon hundreds of people who had come to pay their respects to Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, the man who transformed the debtridden football club into the most unexpected League Champions ever in 2016.
The players were here to do the same. For once they wanted no VIP treatment. Dismissing security, they breached the crash barriers to view the floral tributes with the fans, to read the poignant messages scrawled on a sea of football shirts of all sizes, scarves and children’s football boots.
‘To the greatest owner. We owe you everything’, ‘King of Leicester, King of Hearts’.
But most of all, they wanted to show gratitude to the man who changed everything for the Foxes, from the moment he bought the club in 2010 for £39million.
Many in the crowd had been here all day among the fluttering scarves and bunches of sad, blue balloons. Every few minutes dozens more, mostly burly men – but also women with prams, pensioners, teenagers – arrived on foot clutching bunches of roses, lilies and carnations and laid them in a sea of cellophane, as tears streamed down their faces.
Earlier they watched members of Vichai’s devastated family – Aimon, his wife of 30 years, and son Top – arrive to pay tribute and lay vast ornamental wreaths alongside the fans’ tributes.
Later they laid another large wreath on the centre circle of the pitch from where his doomed helicopter took off on Saturday night.
When the team went to look at the tributes outside the stadium – some weeping, their heads in their hands – Top was in their midst, weeping silently too, and wringing his cold hands over and over.
Every so often, either star striker Jamie Vardy or goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel wrapped an arm over his shaking shoulders and pointed out a shirt bearing a message from a six-year-old supporter, or a pair of tiny football boots with a thank you note stuck to them.
After five minutes or so, there was spontaneous applause. Then other long silent contemplation.
The Duke of Cambridge yesterday said he was ‘lucky’ to have known Mr Srivaddhanaprabha. Prince William, who is president of the Football Association, praised him for his contribution to the sport and for his philanthropy.
William also knew the helicopter’s pilot, Eric Swaffer, 53, who was hailed a hero after steering the doomed aircraft away from crowds of football fans after Saturday’s Premier League match.
The other victims were staff members Nusara Suknamai and Kaveporn Punpare, and Mr Swaffer’s girlfriend Izabela Lechowicz, 46, who was also a pilot.
City supporter Richard Moss, 68, was at the stadium when the helicopter crashed and had been there pretty much ever since, desperately trying to make sense of it. ‘I knew him, not well, but well enough to know he was unassuming and quiet,’ said the retired prison worker who was given a free season ticket by Vichai, along with 60 others, to mark the owner’s 60th birthday in 2017.
‘Look at all the other football club owners – there’s no one like him. All the other clubs wished they had an owner like this one.’
A surprising number at the stadium yesterday had never been to a match, but they also viewed Vichai as a father figure.
‘He did so much for us,’ said Jody Hollingsworth, a mum in her 20s. ‘He cared about us. We were at rock bottom when he arrived, he gave us our pride back.’
‘We’re here for the man who saved Leicester and gave us our spirit back,’ added Sandra Corey, 43, who was there with five friends. ‘He put us on the map.’
Vichai was far, far more than the billionaire owner of a football club who made his fortune in duty free at home in Thailand, and would fly in monks to bless the pitch and the players’ feet.
His largesse – including £2million for a children’s hospital, £1million to Leicester University’s medical school, a £105,000 BMW to every team member when they won the Premiership – is well known.
But there were also endless quiet kindnesses. Free pork pies, bacon rolls, beers and scarves to fans travelling to away matches. Mince pies and free drinks at Christmas. Dozens of free season tickets to veteran fans. A freeze in the season ticket price for years.
Pat Chamberlain, 78, said Vichai helped to integrate the local community. ‘Before he came we didn’t have many Asian supporters, but now we do,’ she said. ‘He’s brought the Asian community in. It’s been bonding, uniting.’
As experts began analysing the helicopter’s flight recorder, the wreckage lay in the car park around the corner, while his RollsRoyce remained parked outside the players’ entrance.
The Foxes have lost their Sun God, but hopefully his legacy will live on – not just in the King Power stadium, but in the city of Leicester where Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha did so much good.
The impact of Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha’s death was laid bare in an outpouring of grief from Leicester City’s players and staff yesterday as his son Aiyawatt laid a wreath in the King Power Stadium centre circle.
Kasper Schmeichel and Jamie Vardy were visibly upset when a devastated Aiyawatt, the Leicester vice-chairman known as Top, made his way round the team to shake hands and receive hugs of condolence.
Schmeichel and Vardy wiped away tears. A number of players took up the option to speak to counsellors at the club’s Belvoir Drive training ground and found the process cathartic. Schmeichel and manager Claude Puel also addressed the squad and staff with moving speeches, issuing a message that the club must honour Srivaddhanaprabha by continuing with the same family mentality he created.
Top met the players yesterday morning and fought back tears as he spoke. But he did reiterate his commitment to the club and talked about building on his father’s legacy. At the stadium, Leicester’s staff lined the touchline for a moment’s reflection as Srivaddhanaprabha’s image was shown on the big screens next to a message: RIP.
Top was joined by his mother, Aimon, the pair having flown over from Thailand on Sunday evening. They had arrived at the ground at midday and made their way to the site of the helicopter crash that claimed the lives of the Leicester chairman, two members of his staff, Nusara Suknamai and Kaveporn Punpare, pilot eric Swaffer and passenger Izabela Roza Lechowicz.
Air accident investigators do not expect to move the aircraft until the weekend while continuing work.
Aimon and Aiyawatt laid a wreath and then another at the sea of tributes that has spread across the gates to the north stand. The players and Puel followed and made their way through the crowds to read the touching notes left by hundreds of supporters. A spontaneous round of applause broke out.
Top was overcome, slumping across the metal fencing as he looked over the scene, his eyes shielded by sunglasses. he is expected to assume his father’s role as Leicester chairman, although it is too early for such talks to take place.
Chief executive Susan Whelan and director of football Jon Rudkin accompanied Top around the ground and will be leant on for additional support.
It was the first time the club had come together since Srivaddhanaprabha’s customary helicopter flight away from the King Power Stadium ended in disaster on Saturday evening.
The players were said to be in no state to play tonight’s Carabao Cup tie, which was cancelled late on Sunday, and the atmosphere at the training ground was described as extremely sombre.
Rather than undertake a typical session, the players and staff arrived at Belvoir Drive and talked through the loss of the man responsible for turning the club into Premier League champions. The plan is for Leicester’s match at Cardiff on Saturday to go ahead, but the psychological state of the team will be assessed and league chiefs are sensitive to the unique trauma of the situation.
Claudio Ranieri, the manager who led the club to their 2016 triumph, paid his tribute yesterday. Speaking to Sky Sports Italia, he said of Srivaddhanaprabha: ‘he always had a positive word for everyone. his positivity and ability to make everybody love him was clear for all to see.
‘he came into the dressing room only to dispense kind words, never to reproach you. One time soon after my birthday, he arrived in the dressing room with a huge cake and made everyone sing Happy Birthday.
‘When we first met, I immediately thought he was a positive person, full of energy. My objective when I arrived at Leicester was to secure Premier League safety, then we all know what happened.
‘Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha made a very important contribution to the Premier League victory, as he’d arrive 30 minutes before the game to embrace everyone. he never said a word out of turn, was always happy with a smile on his face. I am so sad right now, I want to join the family in their grief.’
Alan Birchenall, the much-loved figure who played for Leicester in the 1970s and is now an ambassador and stadium announcer, explained how Srivaddhanaprabha had fostered such a depth of feeling.
‘When he arrived, we couldn’t afford a crate of milk,’ he said. ‘Seriously. People brought their own milk in to make cups of tea. Now you are talking about splashing out £30million on a player. It is unbelievable.
‘That’s the difference and why it is so emotional around the place. everyone in the world knows the story. Lots of owners want to change club colours or the badge. he didn’t change anything like that. What he changed was the mentality. Second best was not good enough. When he installed blue lighting in the tunnel, the hue wasn’t right initially, so he whipped it out.
‘he wanted his club to look and be the best. his heart and soul was in it and that’s why he was loved. When I had my incident last year, he made sure I was okay. I had my drivers’ licence taken away because of a heart attack and, while I was convalescing, he agreed for my son, Dean, to be taken on as an employee to drive me places, so I could carry on doing my ambassadorial work. It was a massive thing.
‘This football club will always owe a lot to him. his legacy will carry on. There is a new training facility that will hopefully go ahead, costing over £100m, and the stadium might be expanded.
‘The response from fans shows what he meant to them. I was at the stadium at 6.30am and people were laying flowers. The tributes will be round the whole ground soon.’