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LEICESTER: The city of Leicester must pay an emotional tribute to its owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha on Saturday, November 10, while the club is playing in its King Power Stadium for the first time since his death in a helicopter crash.
The charismatic Thai had become a beloved figure of the club and the city – a feat rarely accomplished by billionaire owners often distant from the Premier League clubs.
As owner of Vichai, Leicester has won one of the biggest upheavals in the history of English football by winning the 2015/16 Premier League, having started the season as 5,000 to 1 underdog for the title.
To echo these odds, approximately 5,000 spectators are expected to walk from downtown 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.
In his Saturday match schedule, his son Aiyawatt, vice president of the club, wrote: "We will never be able to repay what he has done for us – for me as his son, for us as a family, everyone is connected to Leicester City and beyond – but we are committed to honoring his memory and preserving his legacy. "
Vichai was one of five people killed when the helicopter fell to the ground in a parking lot just outside the stadium following the Leicester match against West Ham on October 27th.
The team, currently 10th in the Premier League, returned to the game last weekend, beating Cardiff 1-0 away, but on Saturday, an audience of ability will have the chance to show appreciation for it. a man who has transformed his club.
A special video entitled "Tribute to Khun Vichai" will be broadcast on the big screen before the kickoff and a two-minute silence will be respected. Fans will receive commemorative scarves and remembrance programs in the honor of the recently deceased club president.
Players will wear tribute t-shirts during their warm-up and during the first half, the team will put on embroidered shirts named Vichai.
The second half jerseys will wear the poppy symbol in the honor of those who gave their lives to the war. The match will be chosen as the club's annual event, one hundred years after the end of the First World War.
ACTS OF GENEROSITY
A number of players, including Jamie Vardy and Kasper Schmeichel, and manager Claude Puel traveled to Thailand to attend Vichai's funeral.
Schmeichel was particularly touched after seeing the helicopter take off from the ground before it seems to take a fatal turn.
"I was on the ground and I dismissed it," Schmeichel said. "I've seen it all happen, it's something that will stay with me, unfortunately."
Grieving people turned the Leicester stadium into a sanctuary for Vichai in the past two weeks, lining the ground with floral tributes and messages of thanks.
Stories were told about Vichai's acts of generosity towards club supporters and players and about the large donations he made to local hospitals.
Puel said to wait for an emotional afternoon.
"We know our fans, they are fantastic … they were 3,000 in our last game in Cardiff, it was a fantastic meeting with the fans," said Puel.
"After the match, we shared a lot of emotion and we can imagine what it will be like at home with 30,000 people in the stadium."
He admitted that preparing the players for the game against Burnley had been difficult.
"It is not easy to prepare this game, but the union between all of us is good feeling, good energy, fantastic strength," he said.
"Our strength, our spirit and our positive attitude, as well as the support of our fans, will be very important.
"In the last game, we found the right balance between emotion and concentration, and we focused on our game."
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