I’d love to win the cup for Khun Vichai and his family, his spirit and presence will be there with us on the day

RODGERS REVEALS SPECIAL REASON FOR WANTING TO MAKE HISTORY WITH CITY

LEICESTER City’s late chairman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha will be on the mind of manager Brendan Rodgers when he leads the club out at Wembley tomorrow.

Should City lift the trophy for the first time, the City boss will dedicate it to Vichai, above, who died in a helicopter crash outside the King Power Stadium in October 2018.

His son, current chairman Aiyawatt, affectionately known as Top, will be present at the game having arrived from Thailand last week for the final few games of the season.

“I’d love to win it for Khun Vichai and his family,” Rodgers said. “His spirit and presence will be there with us on the day.

“Having Top with us this week has magnified the why. One of the reasons I came here was because of them and the cause Leicester City has.

“I would love to do it for the supporters and the players, but if I had to pin one, it would be for Top and his family, that would be truly special.”

Top’s first game back in the UK was the defeat to Newcastle, while he was also at Old Trafford for the 2-1 win over Manchester United.

He wrote in his programme notes ahead of that game against Newcastle about how delighted he was to be able to attend games again, having not been present since the pandemic started.

“Having waited 52 years to reach the FA Cup final, we would have dearly loved to have been travelling to Wembley with a full contingent of the Blue Army behind us,” he wrote.

“The unique circumstances of this season mean a far smaller number of you will be with us on this occasion, but it is our ambition to feature on such stages with increasing frequency in the future.

“In the meantime, I’m sure those that are with us next Saturday will do the club and all of our supporters proud.

Having arrived in the UK last weekend, I’m delighted to be able to be back for the run-in to the end of the season.

“I’ve missed being at games to support the team in person, I’ve missed Leicester and I’ve missed sharing matchdays with our supporters.

“I’m looking forward to addressing all of that in the coming weeks, as we go in search of a strong finish to the season together.”