It was the coldest day in England in the late autumn.

Leicester people gathered around King Power stadium to pay tribute for their dear “Boss” Vichai. The bouquets outside the stadium have merged into a sea of flowers, which stretches away like waves.

Three days ago, Thai billionaire Vichai, the owner of Leicester City FC was killed when his helicopter crashed outside King Power stadium. That miserable time froze at 20:30 BST on 28^thOctober. Later, Leicester City FC club and BBC issued a statement to prove that.

Not only flowers but also club scarves, jerseys of all ages, dolls of different clubs, candlelight flickering in the wind, messages with different fonts filled with endless sadness and remembrance…

For people living in Leicester City, a small city in the middle of England, before Vichai the most famous figure in the city was Richard IIIthe former King of England. In 2012, the remains of the King were found in a parking and were placed in the downtown Cathedral after a grand ceremony.

Until 2016, Leicester City FC Club became the new symbol of the city and Vichai deserved to be the true hero. As chairman, Vichai led this football team to win the Premier League Champion of that season.

Actually, when he first entered the club, Leicester City FC was still struggling in the second-tier and stood on the verge of bankruptcy.

If we use a metaphor to describe Leicester City’s incredible championship, that will be Chinese football winning England national team and British table tennis beating Chinese. You can imagine what an awesome and glorious achievement they made. No wonder fans called it “Miracle Leicester City”. This was one of the most remarkable stories in the history of British football.

The first time I heard this broken-hearted news was BBC breaking news in the Sunday afternoon. Since then I constantly paid attention to the real-time information of rescue via BBC. I read an open letter written by Schmeichel, Gatekeeper of Leicester City, “He is a leader, a father and a man.” “You make my dream come true, and your contribution to Leicester can’t be expressed in words.” Captain Morgan called the news heartbreaking. And the former Leicester City player Mahrez dedicated his winning goal in the match against Tottenham to the “father-like” Vichai on 29thOctober.

My school is situated in the Harrow, London just one stop from Wembley Stadium who often holds NFL games. Around 7 p.m. on Sunday night, I noticed that the lights outside Wembley Stadium were unusually blue and white which was particularly dazzling under the night.

I didn’t link these two events together until Wembley Stadium updated their tribute on official Facebook, I realized this warm behaviour. Because the colour of the flag of Leicester City is blue and white. It seems that sports spirit always exceeds the competition, flowing across all kinds of sports.

I post a picture on my social media and wish good luck for Leicester City FC, the Blue Fox. Vichai and Leicester City FC taught us a lot. As one fan said in a message board: “You will live forever in the hearts of the Leicester people because you have taught us how to dream!”

This season, Leicester City FC didn’t perform fluctuating around the eleventh in PremierLeague. After this tragedy, fans have to wave goodbye sadly to the founder of “Miracle Leicester City”. Meanwhile, they are praying will there be another miracle?

Come on! Foxes!

 

Reference:

Nick, Mashiter. (2018). Leicester City helicopter crash: Club to open book of remembrance for Vichai, The Independent, 30 October. Available from https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/leicester-city-helicopter-crash-vichai-srivaddhanaprabha-book-of-remembrance-king-power-stadium-a8608141.html

BBC. (2018). Leicester City helicopter crash: Funeral arrangements made in Thailand, BBC, 1 November. Available from https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-46057980

BBC. (2018). Leicester City helicopter crash: Vichai- the ‘humble, generous, private enigma’, BBC, 28 October. Available from https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/46006896

Maev, Kennedy. (2017). Leicester car park where Richard three was buried given protected status, The Guardian, 21 Dec. Available from https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/dec/21/leicester-car-park-richard-iii-buried-given-protected-status

BBC. (2012). Richard three remains: Leicester car park dug up, BBC, 24 Aug. Available from https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-19361350

All pictures are from Xinhua News Agency with agreements