A minute’s silence was held at Tynecastle on Wednesday night ahead of the Edinburgh derby in tribute to Leicester city Chairman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha and four members of his staff, Nursara Suknamai, Kaveporn Punpare, Eric Swaffer and Izabela Roza Lechowicz also died in the crash.who tragically died in a helicopter accident outside the King Power stadium last Saturday.
Mr Vichai’s tenure oversaw Leicester City’s promotion from the Championship and peaked with the 5,000-1 outsiders’ astonishing Premier League title victory in 2016.
His contribution to the city went beyond what happened on the pitch and during his time at the club he donated £2m to the Leicester Children’s Hospital charity, £1m to the Foxes Foundation for community causes and £1m to Leicester University’s medical department.
Hearts’ manager Craig Levein and Hibs’ head Coach Neil Lennon stood side by side to pay their respects. Levein managed the club for a spell whilst Neil Lennon enjoyed success as a player under Martin O’Neil, winning the League Cup.
Former Hibs’ star Davie Gibson who earned legendry status as a player with Leicester City told the Edinburgh Reporter: “I was terribly saddened by the news and have written to the club to express my sincere condolences.
“What the chairman did for not only the club but for the city of Leicester will never be forgotten and life is so unfair that such a thing could happen to him.
“I go to several games at the King Power each season and the former players are treated unbelievably well. All the staff have raised their game since he took over and he always insisted that the fans were well looked after. It was as if he had personally trained everyone.
“I have seen Mr Vichai many times in the stadium although he was always busy and I never had the chance to speak to him.
“Winning the league was probably the greatest thing ever to happen to Leicester City and I find it difficult to put into words how I am feeling right now.
“My thought are with his family at this sad time.”
John graduated from Telford College in 2010 with an HNC in Practical Journalism and since then he worked for the North Edinburgh News, The Southern Reporter, the Irish News Review and The Edinburgh Reporter. In addition he has been published in the Edinburgh Evening News and the Hibernian FC Programme.
