More than just a game
CARDIFF PLAY THEIR PART AS LEICESTER PAY TRIBUTE TO CHAIRMAN VICHAI
CARDIFF City Stadium was the scene of a hugely emotional occasion at the weekend.
And the Bluebirds have been applauded for the part they played as tributes were paid to Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha and the four others killed in a helicopter crash at Leicester City’s King Power Stadium a week earlier.
It was the Foxes’ first game since the tragic events of the previous weekend and though they prevailed 1-0, it was a day when the sport of football was the true winner.
Here’s what the national Sunday newspapers had to say on events at Cardiff City Stadium. DAVID WALSH (SUNDAY TIMES)
“CARDIFF City played their part in ensuring their visitors were respectfully received.
“The match programme carried a message from the club’s board of directors that acknowledged what Leicester fans have been saying: “The world of football lost a true pioneer and visionary seven days ago, though one whose legacy will live forever.
“Around the ground the advertising hoardings dispensed for a moment with corporate messages and just said “Together With Leicester”.
“So quiet and respectful were the 30,000 crowd during the minute’s silence that you could almost hear the tears rolling down Kasper Schmeichel’s face.
“Before the game, Cardiff fans let it be known that if any away supporters should find themselves in parts of the stadium reserved for home fans they should feel free to show their Leicester colours.” OLIVER HOLT (MAIL ON SUNDAY)
“THIS foray into Wales was the first time the club had played since.
“It was the first time they had tested their readiness to deal with their grief as their players tried to do their jobs and play the game Vichai loved so much.
“This is a stadium that usually provides a hostile reception for visitors but this time was different.
“No one quite knew what to expect from the game. No one really knew whether they were coming to watch a match or just show solidarity.
“The images of the Leicester players in distress last week asked obvious questions about whether they were psychologically ready to play.
“The message from them and their manager, Claude Puel, was they wanted to compete to honour their owner.
“Cardiff were unsure how to approach it, too. Neil Warnock had wondered if maybe his players would feel guilty about trying to beat men who were still in the midst of suffering.” NICK AMES (THE OBSERVER)
“THEY were received beautifully by Cardiff, whose task in staging an occasion clouded by such a ghastly pall was entirely unenviable.
“The host club met it with grace, reverence and class.
“Inside the match-day programme a dedication from the Cardiff owner, Vincent Tan, the CEO, Ken Choo, and the chairman, Mehmet Dalman, described Vichai as “a true pioneer and visionary, whose legacy will live forever”.
“A number of their fans gathered to applaud the Leicester squad as they arrived and the locals were generous with their acclaim, too, as they went through their drills an hour later.
“They joined their visitors in passing around a Thai flag banner before kick-off; a bouquet was also laid in Vichai’s memory and the sense was one of intense kinship, on a football level and several deeper.
“Neil Warnock and his players had made little mention of their own needs but would, on a normal day, have earmarked this as a game from which to take points for their relegation battle.
“On the pitch they showed no inclination to offer favours, dominating the first half-hour and hitting the
woodwork through Victor Camarasa’s free-kick.” JIM WHITE (DAILY TELEGRAPH)
“AFTER the immaculately respected minute of quiet was over, as a visceral roar filled the air, the Leicester contingent gathered in a group hug while their goalkeeper gave an animated speech. As he spoke, the visiting fans chanted: “There’s only one Vichai.”
“He would have been in Cardiff for this match. He went to most of his club’s away games. He would have been up in the directors’ box, sitting alongside (Vincent) Tan, a Far Eastern owner whose relationship with his club’s followers has been more equivocal than his.
“While the Leicester owner was universally admired from the moment he took control in 2010, Tan’s dogmatic imposition of a change to red shirts when he bought Cardiff around the same time was wholly despised.
“In the last couple of years, however, through diplomacy led by the managing director Mehmet Dalman, relations have healed.
“Now the restored blues of Cardiff, like Leicester, are a club where everyone is heading in the same direction.
“But for all the cohesion off it, on the pitch Cardiff here proved to be well behind their visitors.
“There seems little hope of a Vichai-style fairytale overwhelming the Welsh capital at any time soon.”