Leicester City owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha dies after horror helicopter crash
LEICESTER City’s charismatic Thai boss has died after his helicopter crashed and burst into flames in the football stadium car park moments after taking off, the club has confirmed.
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LEICESTER City’s charismatic Thai boss has died after his helicopter crashed and burst into flames in the football stadium car park moments after taking off, the club has confirmed.
Leicester released a statement on Monday morning (EDT) confirming the horrible news.
“It is with the deepest regret and collective broken heart that we confirm our chairman was among those to have tragically lost their lives on Saturday evening when a helicopter carrying him and four other people crashed outside King Power Stadium. None of the five people on board survived,” it said.
“The primary thoughts of everyone at the club are with the Srivaddhanaprabha family and the families of all those on board.
We are deeply saddened to learn of the deaths of Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha and the other passengers on board the helicopter that left the King Power Stadium last night.
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) October 28, 2018
We send our heartfelt condolences to their families and all at @LCFC at this difficult time. pic.twitter.com/r4K4KEtSZa
“In Khun Vichai the world has lost a great man. A man of kindless, 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.”
Images showed orange balls of flame engulfing the wreckage in the car park at King Power Stadium - the scene of unbridled jubilation after Leicester’s against-all-odds Premier League title victory in 2016.
A witness told Sky News the helicopter spun out of control after clearing the roof of the stadium before steadying itself and crashing into the car park and away from the packed media centre nearby.
Fellow EPL clubs were quick to issue statements of condolences.
Tottenham said: “We send our heartfelt condolences to their families and all at @LCFC at this difficult time.”
Liverpool’s owners said: “It is with great sadness that we today offer our heartfelt sympathies to Leicester City.
“Our thoughts and condolences are extended to the families and loved ones of all those lost in this dreadful accident.
“The admiration we have for Vichai, his family and colleagues is as high as you can imagine, both professionally and personally.”
Chelsea echoed those sentiments.
“Khun Vichai was a passionate owner and supporter of Leicester, overseeing their incredible, unforgettable 2015/16 Premier League success with N’Golo Kante and Danny Drinkwater both a part of that team managed by Claudio Ranieri. He was a regular attendee of matches and a popular figure with fans and colleagues alike.
“Our thoughts at this sad time are with the family and friends of all those who lost their lives, as well as the players, staff and supporters at Leicester City.”
Prayers and tributes poured in from across Britain for the jovial man many credit with bringing glory to the central English city with the miracle-making club.
— Kasper Schmeichel (@kschmeichel1) October 28, 2018
“He’s put Leicester on the map,” supporter Cathy Dann, 55, said.
“He’s made us big.”
A steady stream of grieving fans laid down football scarves and shirts outside the home fans’ entrance as aviation experts picked through small pieces of wreckage scattered on the stadium’s edge.
Among the tributes was an image of Ganesh - a Hindu god also seen in Thai Buddhist temples.
A minute’s silence was observed before the whistle of Monday morning’s (EDT) Premier League matches.
“It is a family business and they have instilled this sense of family not just throughout the club but into the city as well,” Andrew Hulley, the team’s chaplain for the past seven years, said.
England legend Gary Lineker, a former Leicester player and host of the BBC’s Match of the Day, tweeted
That was the most difficult @BBCMOTD I’ve ever hosted. Thoughts are with everyone at Leicester City. A terrible tragedy. Heartbreaking.
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) October 27, 2018
Leicester stars Jamie Vardy and Harry Maguire both tweeted emojis of hands held up in prayer.
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— Jamie Vardy (@vardy7) October 27, 2018
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— Harry Maguire (@HarryMaguire93) October 27, 2018
Sven-Goran Eriksson, who was manager of the team under Vichai, called his former boss a “very, very generous man” who “saw every game during my time”.
And ordinary fans in central Bangkok said Vichai helped develop Thailand’s football as well, bringing the southeast Asian country greater recognition in the sports world.
“He is an important person who has raised the bar of Thai football further,” Apichart Jitratkavee, a Leicester fan in the Thai capital, said.
Vichai bought Leicester City in 2010 and moved to chairman the following February, pouring millions into the team and becoming a beloved figure in the club and the city - a feat not always achieved by the Premier League’s foreign owners.
It was under Vichai’s ownership that Leicester crafted one of the biggest fairytales in English football history by winning the 2015/16 Premier League, having started the season as 5000-1 outsiders for the title.
Vichai’s investments in the club helped return them to England’s Premier League from the second-tier Championship in 2014.
They initially seemed outclassed by richer and more established rival from London, Liverpool and Manchester, languishing at the very bottom of the table for most of the 2014/15 season.
The Foxes, as the team are nicknamed, then engineered what fans now fondly refer to as the “Great Escape”, winning seven of their last nine matches.
They ended up finishing 14th, securing another season in Europe’s richest league in 2015/16.
But not even their most devout fans could have imagined what happened next. Vardy, signed from non-league Fleetwood Town, scored in 11 consecutive matches, propelling the men in blue to a title without parallel in Premier League history.
The success also qualified them for the first time for the lucrative Champions League, the pinnacle of European football played by the continent’s most successful sides, including Barcelona and Real Madrid.
There, Leicester City defied the odds yet again, winning their group before eventually losing their quarter-final 2-1 over two legs to Atletico Madrid.