LEICESTER'S Thai owners are the powerbrokers behind this unprecedented surge to the Premier League title.
Thai billionaire Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha (right) took over Leicester City in 2010
And they do it very much in their own way.
Owner
and chairman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha and his son Aiyawatt, the
vice-chairman known as 'Top', have three times got the beers in for the
fans at the King Power Stadium since taking over the club in 2010, and
also once handed out doughnuts.
Vichai made his
fortune in duty free shopping, and is now reputedly worth around
£2billion. Khun Vichai, as he is known in Thailand, has only spent a
relatively modest £77m on transfers, but he also converted some £103m of
Leicester's
debt into shares in 2013, wiping out the club's liabilities and
effectively signing them off to signal his long-term intentions.
RECOMMENDED
SURE BET:
SOCCER
PREDICTIONS FOR TUESDAY 03-05-2016
Khun has continued to invest in the stadium and training ground, and flies in by helicopter for each match.
The
publicity-shy family are also heavily into polo, another sport into
which they have poured huge sums - but it is football that has really
captured Khun's imagination.
Away coach travel
for the fans is capped at £10 a head, and when the team won promotion to
the top flight in 2014, he treated them to a meal of caviar and fine
wine in a West End restaurant and picked up the tab.
At that point,
Khun claimed he would spend £180m to take Leicester into the top five in
the country within three years. It is a feat the Thai has achieved in
only 12 months.
The investment has also been of a
kind that has shown his commitment to the club, which is an indication
that Leicester may well not be just a one-season wonder, despite Claudio
Ranieri's wariness. If Khun's enthusiasm does not wane, they could be
here for some time.
'Top', often seen at the
training ground, is the man charged with the day-to-day running of the
club by his father. The family are devout Bhuddists and have invited
monks to the King Power Stadium and the training ground on several
occasions to bless the squad.
0 comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you for your contribution