Loved by the football club, loved in the city... Vichai’s Foxes legacy has already given so much to so many

FOOTBALL is awash with broken dreams.

But one wasn’t about to happen on Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha’s watch.

The Thai businessman was enjoying his lunch in the south of France a couple of years ago when he began chatting to the Italian waiter.

It turned out that the man in question, Davide Lorenzo (below), was a failed player. A young man who had travelled from the youth set-up in Juventus across continents in search of his big break.

Little did he know, he was just about to receive his.

Most in the position of Leicester City ’ s chairman may have smiled at the sob story, recognised there are no longer any fairytales in professional sport and moved

A year ago today, Leicester City lost one of its most cherished adopted sons. Thai magnate Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha had owned the Foxes for seven years and his impact on the east Midlands club and the city itself in that time was considerable.

His death, at the age of 61, in a helicopter crash while leaving the

King Power Stadium after a match against West Ham United was met with a heartfelt wave of mourning.

A sea of scarves outside the ground (right) was a tangible sign. But there was also another reason why ‘Kun Vichai’s’ loss was so poignantly felt by the people of Leicester.

He had touched the lives of ordinary people who recognised that with his financial generosity came a generosity of spirit that will be marked today at the opening of a memorial garden.

politely onwards. Not ‘Kun’ (Mister) Vichai.

After a brief discussion, the offer of a contract was made. In the football equivalent of Cinderella going to the ball , Lorenzo was about to find one at Leicester.

He was offered a short-term deal. If he had a dream and was prepared to follow it, then Vichai was prepared to give the 25-year-old a shot. And so it was that Lorenzo was added

to Leicester’s development squad. It wasn’t ever likely to work – and didn’t – the striker was simply nowhere near the required standard and he was released last summer.

But if dreams are made to come true, then why should the man who embraced Leicester to his heart – and received that affection back in spades – not try his best to realise them?

Of course, in the beginning there were more grand gestures. Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid were invited to the King Power to play a pre-season friendly. The cost was £1million. It was to put a stake in the ground.

However, it is the untold stories, the little secrets, the tales that aren’t supposed to reach the public domain that make the difference. Such as the one where Kun Vichai spotted a family being shown around the King Power Stadium.

He engaged them in conversation and it turned out that they had come to discuss scattering the ashes of a loved one.

Realising that paying for the wake was going to be a struggle,