By Andrew Warshaw
October 29 – Rarely, if ever, has a foreign owner of a top-flight football club anywhere in the world endeared himself to the fans as much as Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha.
Hence the outpouring of grief, shock and emotion that greeted the news that the boss of Leicester City and architect of perhaps the greatest ever team achievement in world sport, tragically lost his life in a helicopter accident shortly after the club’s home English Premier League game against West Ham on Saturday.
In England, in his native Thailand and across the footballing world, there was a collective sense of disbelief over the loss of the billionaire businessman who bought Leicester in August 2010 for £39 million and laid the foundations for the most unlikely of Premier League champions at odds of 5,000 to one, a fairytale story that made global headlines two seasons ago.
But as well as forging an unusually close personal connection with the fans, it was also his charm and generosity, ploughing money into the local hospital and university and treating fans like long-lost friends, that made Srivaddhanaprabha so special to the community.
In a statement as the tributes poured in after it was confirmed that he was one of those killed when the helicopter crashed on take-off and came down in a car park yards from Leicester’s stadium, the club said: “It is with the deepest regret and a collective broken heart that we confirm our Chairman, Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, was among those to have tragically lost their lives.”
“The primary thoughts of everyone at the Club are with the Srivaddhanaprabha family and the families of all those on-board at this time of unspeakable loss. In Khun Vichai, the world has lost a great man. A man of kindness, of generosity and a man whose life was defined by the love he devoted to his family and those he so successfully led. Leicester City was a family under his leadership.
“It is as a family that we will grieve his passing and maintain the pursuit of a vision for the Club that is now his legacy.”
The club said a book of condolence is being opened at King Power Stadium while Tuesday’s League Cup fixture against Southampton was immediately postponed as a mark of a respect to a universally and almost uniquely popular figurehead.
Such were his gestures of goodwill that when the club famously won the title after losing just three games, Vichai bought an expensive car for each Leicester player while his unique relationship with the fans extended to providing them with beer and doughnuts on occasions such as his birthday.
As well as 60-year-old Srivaddhanaprabha, the fourth-richest man in Thailand, two members of his staff, the pilot – who reportedly had some 20 years’ experience – and a passenger were also killed when the helicopter spiralled out of control and crashed in a fireball just after clearing the stadium.
As a thorough investigation was launched into what caused the tragedy, thousands of bouquets and scarves have been left outside the ground.
Leicester’s Danish international goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel, who witnesses said ran out of the stadium towards the crash scene, said Srivaddhanaprabha, a humble man despite his wealth who rarely gave interviews, had “changed football forever”.
“I cannot believe this is happening. I am so totally devastated and heartbroken,” Schmeichel added.
Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore said: “Vichai was a gentleman who graced the game with his civility and charm and we will miss him enormously. His impact on Leicester – the football club and the city – will be remembered forever.”
Leicester City Supporters Club chairman Cliff Ginetta paid his own tribute, saying: “The family have put the city on the map worldwide. They’ve put millions of pounds into the club and lots and lots of money into local hospitals, children’s care. At Christmas time, it’s free mince pies and a drink – and that’s the way they are.”
One anonymous Twitter posting from a Leicester fan perhaps best summed up the feelings of everyone involved with the owner of the club nicknamed the Foxes.
“Ask any Leicester fan and they’ll tell you the same thing … We idolised Vichai,” it said. “Believe us when we say he’s the best. He let us dream.”
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