To see the son of Vichai!, Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha, staying strong and giving his words of warmth makes us all believe in the future and hope rise as fans gather to show their fantastic tribute at The King Power Stadium this week.
We will of course all be curious to see how this will route the club forward, all believing that Vichai had everything on an arms length, even if others were running the day to day business.
As a fan you are just hopeful that your team will do the best that is achievable and you will not really ever stop believing in the team, despite who is in charge. As a fan you never now what to expect, being distant from what is really going on and you need to trust the people running it all.
The words of Vichai’s son, “Top”, should strengthen the hope of a future with a long term plan being in place and that the clubs ambitions will just continue in the same way as before. The administration and commercial staff at the club, with CEO Susan Whelan in charge, are a bright group of people who looks to have the control that is needed at this time in the life Leicester City FC.
The club have been in difficulties before and we have seen that people with a big Leicester City heart took action and showed boldness. We remember Gary Lineker and Emile Heskey came back to help. For us who clearly remember the days of administration a long time ago now, in the autumn of 2002, makes it easy to see how people caring for this club are bonding and really trying to move forward even under the most difficult circumstances.
To see former managers Claudio Ranieri, Nigel Pearson and “Svennis” Eriksson giving their tribute is heart warming and shows that even those who have experienced, both sides of the story, can see beyond their legacy and stand tall and show their respect, fantastic!
Former players such as Riyad Mahrez and Danny Drinkwater are also among those who have gone public with their condolences. To see players have ambitions beyond Leicester City is normal and has been part of the clubs history. Heskey and Lineker did the same, left Leicester City to take on other adventures. They never played for the club again, but still are fans and always grateful for their time at the football club and the opportunities that opened up by being great in a Leicester City shirt. This has nothing to do with results, table positions, transfers, teams or competitions, but as we have seen this week, all about “coming together” and show “friendship among football friends”, all of us knowing the past of footballs terrible horrors. The letter of Kasper Schmeichel, the pictures of Jamie Vardy and his wife, and of course other present players, shows the family atmosphere.
Easy to forget and not think of others who have previously lost their “best men”. The helicopter crash of Chelsea owner and vice chairman Matthew Harding, who 22 years ago, almost on the same time in the year, lost his life in a simuler helicopter accident. Manchester United and their Munich disaster, Liverpool experiencing horror at Hillsborough and Heysel. In 2016, The Brazilian team Chapecoense in a terrible crash with the majority of the team losing their lives. Not to forget, in 2014, the two Newcastle fans, John Alder and Liam Sweeney who both died in the Malaysia Air crash over Ukraine.
