COLLYMORE COLUMN

I HAVE been back to my old club many times in the last decade to see the transformation.

There is a huge Thai presence because of Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha (Harry Maguire and Matty James looking at tributes to him, above) and his son.

But the main thing is Leicester fans, from what I have seen, are very happy because he came and delivered for them.

Many owners these days come into clubs and want to mess around with the structure and bring in exotic people from across the planet.

But Leicester is very much a local and regional club, and they kept that flavour.

On his birthday Vichai would buy everyone a pint and on their amazing run to the title there were lots of freebies and gifts given by the owners.

Many owners like to take out of the football club.

One thing lots of Leicester supporters will tell you is their owners gave. They didn’t get involved in areas they weren’t qualified to deal with.

They employed people to deal with those. They brought the miracle of the Premier League title two years ago, which will go down as one of the greatest football stories in modern times.

But it was the fact they had a connection with the supporters and gave something back. Whether it was a pint, a pie, a mince pie at Christmas.

That will be the thing most Leicester fans will treasure... they had an ownership that gave something back.

It is very, very sad. Sincere condolences to the family and friends of those on the flight.

And I hope as things become clearer eventually, the club continues to go in the right direction, and that his son, his family stay involved in Leicester, as I’m sure they will.

And just be thankful they had someone who came along at the time he did and gave the club so much.