Foxes and Burnley hit weekend of mourning
leicester City 0 burnley 0
In the circumstances, everything was right apart from the result.
Leicester City struck the right note in every aspect as they paid an emotional and moving farewell to their Chairman, Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha.
As the club has come to realise over the past fortnight, football for all its highs and lows, is very much “only a game”.
It would not have mattered if Leicester had been heavily beaten. But apart from the most die-hard Burnley supporters, few could have begrudged the home side if they had won. Instead they settled for a point, on a day that was about so much more than just the match.
This was acknowledged by Burnley boss Sean Dyche. While pleased with a point for his side, he saw the bigger picture. “A shocking thing has happened and everyone just feels it,” he said. “It has reminded everyone that underneath the glamour, a club is part of a community.
“The earthiness of football sometimes gets lost. But the Leicester people have been amazing.
“I came down to the ground last night and the amount of wreaths took me by surprise. We thought it was important to show our respect.”
This was the first match at the stadium since the tragic events of two weeks before when the owner’s helicopter crashed only yards away, killing all five passengers on board. There had been a huge outpouring of grief from both the club and the wider football family, culminating in this occasion. Thousands of fans took part in a special walk to the
match stats
leicester City:
Schmeichel 6; Pereira 8, Morgan 6, Evans 6 (Soyuncu 90, 3), Chilwell 6; Albrighton 7 (Iheanacho 60, 5), Mendy 6, Ndidi 7; Ghezzal 6, Gray 6 (Okazaki 84, 3); Vardy 6. Unused subs – Ward (Gk), Simpson, Fuchs, Iborra. burnley:
Hart 7; Lowton 6, Long 7, Mee 6, Taylor 6; Lennon 6, Defour 5 (Hendrick 55, 4), Cork 6, Gudmundsson 5 (Brady 65, 5); Vokes 6 (Barnes 73, 4), Wood 5. Unused subs – Heaton (Gk), Westwood, Bardsley, Vydra. ground entitled, “5000 to 1” in respect of Leicester’s famous title win in 2016, made possible by the owner’s vision.
All foreign owners coming into English football dream of success and talk big. Unlike most of them, Srivaddhanaprabha saw those dreams fulfilled.
When he arrived in 2010, the aim was to get out of the Championship. People would have laughed at the idea of Leicester City being champions of England and enjoying incredible nights in the Champions League. But there he was in May 2016, stood on the pitch at the King Power Stadium holding aloft the Premier League trophy after his players had conquered the big boys.
In the past fortnight, the thing that has really struck a chord is the bond that existed between Khun Vichai, his players and the supporters. The late billionaire did not treat Foxes fans as consumers or