LEADER LEGEND LEGACY

VICHAI: A YEAR ON

FOOTBALL is awash with broken dreams – but not 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, 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.

And 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 politely on.

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 would find one at Leicester City.

Affection

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-yearold (below) a shot.

And so it was that the name of Lorenzo was added to Leicester City’s development squad.

It wasn’t likely to work, and didn’t – the striker was nowhere near the required standard.

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

ONE year ago today, Leicester City lost one of its most cherished adopted sons. Thai magnate Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha had only owned the Foxes for seven years but his impact on the city was immense.

His death, at the age of 61, in a helicopter crash while leaving the King Power Stadium following a match against West Ham, unleashed a wave of mourning.

As NEIL MOXLEY reports, he touched the lives of plenty 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.

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.

Yet it is the untold stories, the little secrets, the tales that aren’t supposed to reach the public

domain, which make the difference.

Such as the one where Kun Vichai spotted a family being shown around the King Power Stadium.

He spoke with them and it turned out they had come to discuss scattering the ashes of a loved one. Realising paying for the wake was going to be a struggle, Leicester’s chairman stepped in and paid for the lot at his own expense, hosting the event at the stadium.

As Leicester’s supporters’ club chairman, Cliff Ginneta, said at the time of his death: “The Srivaddhanaprabha family are loved by the Leicester public – not just for what they have done for the football club, but also for the city.

Patronage

“They have put the city on the map, worldwide. They have put millions of pounds into the club and lots more into hospitals and children’s care.”

Thousands will benefit from that patronage, of course, but it is the more personal touches that possibly mean more.

Such as that involving Richard Page, whose son Ellis suffers from a rare chromosome disorder.

Page Snr cycled to all of Leicester’s 23 away matches during the 2013-14 promotion campaign, raising money to raise awareness.

Vichai intervened on hearing of Ellis’s plight, and the child was the mascot for the away fixture at QPR, skipper Wes Morgan carrying him onto the pitch.

The campaign’s target was £100,000 but had fallen some £30,000 short until the chairman and his son, Aiyawatt, donated the cash to push it over the line.

The Very Reverend David Monteith will lead the eulogy at today’s service.

He said: “Kun Vichai was supportive of so many important causes in Leicester and it is heartwarming to see his legacy.”

The city of Leicester mourned as one 12 months ago when Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha’s helicopter plunged from the sky, killing him, the pilot and three other passengers.

And they will unashamedly come together again today to embrace and celebrate the life of an amazing man who became one of their own.

A donation of £800,000 was made towards the restoration of the city’s cathedral. Eventually, it will contain the tomb of King Richard III and a heritage centre that will drive visitor numbers to Leicestershire.