Wes Morgan tilted his head back to stop the tears coming. Then he lifted the Premier League trophy into the air, again and again. As his Leicester City team-mates celebrated around him, leaning forward for their own touch of the precious silverware, the cameras cut to a small man watching from the pitch, clapping almost impassively.
Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha had set the King Power Stadium up for a party. The team he owned had been 5,000-1 to win the league at the start of the season, but their position as champions had been confirmed even before that day’s victory against Everton.
Blue and white flags were placed on every seat, and now they waved in the early May evening, held by supporters who could still barely believe the surreal scenes they had witnessed throughout the past months. They had been treated to free Singha beer and Walkers crisps, given to every fan in the stadium as a thank-you gesture from Vichai, the owner who had made their dreams come true.
The team’s shocking success was not just big news in England. There were huge celebrations in Bangkok, as Leicester City had become Thailand’s adopted team.
Their success dominated Thai media, with front pages devoted to Vichai and his son Aiyawatt. A full victory parade was held in the capital, tens of thousands lining the streets.
Back in Leicester, as fireworks flew high into the air, Vichai watched as the trophy passed from player to player. It was the manager, Claudio Ranieri, who called him over. As the players chanted “Championi, Championi,” Vichai shyly joined them and stood as close to the trophy as he could without physically touching it.
The owner rarely spoke. That was part of his appeal, part of his charm; a quiet, thoughtful man, a devout follower of Theravāda Buddhism. On receiving an honorary degree from the University of Leicester a year after the Premier League win, he spoke fondly of his adopted city. “What has impressed me the most is the people of Leicester and their united will for us to succeed… an honour such as this is as much for the people of Leicester as it is for me.”
Ranieri talked of how the owner would visit the dressing room after games, sometimes with gifts, always with praise. “He never shouted, never blamed. He only said ‘Keep going, I believe in you.’”
The supporters sang a song for him:
“Vichai had a dream, he bought a football team.
He came from Thailand, he’s one of our own.
We play from the back, and counterattack.
Champions of England, you made us sing that.”
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He had been born Vichai Raksriaksorn, but in 2012, to honour his business success, the Thai royal family granted him the surname Srivaddhanaprabha, translated as “light of progressive glory.”
In 1989, he founded King Power, a small duty-free shop in Bangkok. Thailand’s travel industry was rapidly expanding, and Vichai then acquired the exclusive licence to run all duty-free stores in the capital’s airports. Soon, every person leaving Thailand had to leave through a King Power store, quickly making him one of the richest men in the country, with an estimated fortune of £2bn.
He bought Leicester City, then in the Championship, in the summer of 2010 for £39m. “One reason was the team’s colours, which were the same as my company’s,” Vichai said in one of his rare interviews. “The other was the fact that they were playing in the second tier at the time. I thought if we bought an EPL [Premier League] club it wouldn’t be challenging enough. If we could lead this team to the EPL, that would be a real challenge.”
He pumped £60m into the team, securing promotion. Ticket prices barely rose once the club was back in the Premier League, and he subsidised buses to away games, with tickets capped at £10.
Every year, to celebrate his birthday, the home fans were given presents. One year a free beer and a cupcake, the following year a beer, a Krispy Kreme doughnut and a free hot dog. For his 60th birthday, fans got a beer and a slice of cake. The league win was followed by a £2m donation to build a new children’s hospital in the city.
Then, on October 27, 2018, 904 days after that glorious afternoon, smoke again filled the air above the King Power Stadium.
Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha had just watched his team score a late equaliser to draw with West Ham in a televised match. As was usual once the stadium emptied, his helicopter landed on the pitch and could be seen preparing to take off in the post-game broadcast.
Once in the air, the helicopter experienced a tail rotor failure and crashed into the stadium car park. All five people on board died – Vichai, the pilot Eric Swaffer, the pilot’s partner Izabela Roza Lechowicz and two of Vichai’s staff, Nusara Suknamai and Kaveporn Punpare.
Kasper Schmeichel, the goalkeeping hero of that Premier League-winning team, witnessed the crash and ran towards the wreckage, knowing Vichai would be in there. He was powerless to help. Fans who had wept with happiness on that joyful title day, now did so with sorrow as they laid flowers, scarves and messages outside the King Power Stadium.
In the first game after the tragedy, Schmeichel admitted he was shaking in the warm-up, unable to stop thinking of the man who meant so much to him. “Everything that is at Leicester City is because of Vichai,” Schmeichel said. “We hope to keep making him proud.”
