One year on, the legacy left by Vichai continues to touch Leicester fans

One year on, the legacy left by Vichai Svriaddhanaprabha following his tragic death continues to touch the people of Leicester.

His face is the first thing Leicester City's players see at the Belvoir Drive training ground and the last thing as they leave for the field on home matchdays. A year after his death, Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha's presence and influence at the club is still great.

Football is awash with broken dreams. But one wasn’t about to happen on Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha’s watch.

Vichai was a quiet man who avoided the media spotlight. Away from the cameras, when he was with the players, he was known to be the life and soul of the group.

In the months since his passing, people have heard more and more stories about him. Kasper Schmeichel talks animatedly still of how he always knew when "the boss" was in the changing room, even if out of sight because there would be the bubble of banter and laughter.

The goalkeeper also remembers a squad night out in France when Khun Vichai sat the two biggest club security guards together on a tiny, intimate table for two - candles lit - much to their amusement, and when the chairman ordered a solo guitarist to serenade the couple, it brought the house down; the perfect punchline.

Captain Wes Morgan is adamant Leicester would not have won the Premier League without Khun Vichai, not because of his money but because of his vision to create a "family" within the squad, and a wider sense of community among staff and supporters. Without that unity, Morgan is certain the Foxes would not have been the force they were when they won the Premier League title in 2016.

And it has only really been since his death that the public has learned how much Khun Vichai had done for the local area. Just last week, Leicester Children's Hospital named two intensive care wards after him in thanks for £2m in donations. Similar money was given to De Montfort University and Leicester Cathedral.

People who have no affiliation with football speak with fondness and gratitude towards him, many of whom came in their hundreds to lay flowers at his shrine. They, like Leicester's supporters, still mourn his passing and offer thanks for his generosity.

Yet in the upper echelons of the club and in the world of business, Khun Vichai had a reputation for being shrewd, tough and even ruthless. He never shied away from the hard decisions - the sacking of title-winning boss Claudio Ranieri just nine months later chief among them.

Many Leicester fans had feared for the club's future in the absence of their talismanic owner. But far from stalling, Leicester's ambitions have soared since Khun Vichai's parting, largely because Top is determined to repay their affection for his father, to whom he feels he owes it to continue the Leicester dream in his memory.

And so far this season they are certainly prospering, hot on the heels of the champions Manchester City and fresh from making history with the top league's biggest ever away win - a 9-0 thrashing of Southampton on Friday night - putting them third in the Premier League and only five points behind leaders Liverpool after 10 games.

The tragedy seems to have brought the players, the staff, and the supporters even closer together. The healing goes on; but the players now talk of the good times they shared with "the boss" with smiles on their faces, rather than bowed heads and furrowed brows.

As is so often the case, it is the fans who find the best expression of affection, and for Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha the Foxes faithful have made a song sung regularly at the King Power, that was particularly loud on the hour-mark at St Mary's on Friday with Leicester astonishingly up 7-0. And it goes like this:

"Vichai had a dream,

"He bought a football team

"He came from Thailand

"Now he's one of our own.

"We play from the back,

"And counter-attack,

"Champions of England,

"You made us sing that."