Leicester City are to pay an emotional tribute to late owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha on Saturday as the club play at their King Power Stadium for the first time since his death in a helicopter crash.
The charismatic Thai had become a beloved figure in the club and the city — a feat rarely achieved by Premier League clubs’ often distant billionaire owners.
Under Vichai’s ownership Leicester produced one of the biggest upsets in English football history by winning the 2015/16 Premier League, having started the season as 5,000-1 outsiders for the title.
To echo those odds, around 5,000 fans are expected to walk from the city centre to the stadium before the Premier League match against Burnley.
On Friday, the club announced plans to erect a statue of Vichai at the stadium.
His son Aiyawatt, the club’s vice-chairman, wrote in Saturday’s match programme: “We will never be able to repay what he did for us — for me as his son, us as his family, everyone connected to Leicester City and beyond — but we are committed to honouring his memory and upholding his legacy.” Vichai was among five people killed when the helicopter plunged to the ground in a car park just outside the stadium following Leicester’s match against West Ham on October 27.
