The fear, then the grief, swallows Leicester after the crash of his helicopter by his owner

Slowly, the flower mat on the outside of the stadium grew. Holding freshly-purchased bouquets, scarves and jerseys, many fans came forward: young and old, men and women, entire families standing together to support each other.

Each put his offering in a neat line on the ground. Near Ganesha was a small statue of Buddha, a testimony of Srivaddhanaprabha's faith: he had often invited Buddhist monks to come to Leicester to bless the team's field. Voted Buddha images nestled among the jerseys – not just the royal blue of Leicester, but the rich red of Liverpool, the dazzling white of Leeds United, the blue sky of Manchester City.

At noon, the sanctuary began to spread far from the wall and into the stadium hall. A dark and silent crowd was standing in front of her. Few have spoken. Some knelt, offering a prayer; others got up, tears in their eyes, for a few minutes, before moving away, their place being immediately occupied by another. Staff members quietly extended the barriers surrounding the sanctuary to create space for other tributes. Yet no one knew, not for sure.

Few of those who gathered outside the stadium had met Srivaddhanaprabha; the vast majority would never have heard of it. They could only offer a brushed insight into what he was: the man they felt they knew, the man they did not want to acknowledge being in. mourning.

Although the sight of his helicopter landing on the field after the matches suggests a showman sequence, he had shown little appetite for advertising since the purchase of Leicester in the summer of 2010 while he was fighting in the championship second rank. He also got it for a song, paying only 39 million pounds, or about 60 million dollars at the time.

Four years after the start of his reign, when Leicester was promoted to the Premier League, he said he wanted it to be a challenge for a top spot in the next five years. He pledged to provide the funds – from his personal fortune of about $ 5 billion – from his King Power International duty-free chain in Thailand to make this happen. That said, he rarely gave interviews. it has not been given to public statements.