Ben Chilwell pays tribute to former Leicester City chairman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha - 'The memory of him will not die'

Ben Chilwell has paid a touching tribute to Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, saying the memory of the former Leicester City chairman will always live on in his eyes and in those of everyone associated with the club at the time of his death.

Srivaddhanaprabha and four others were tragically killed in a helicopter crash on October 27, 2018, shortly after Leicester played out a 1-1 draw with West Ham at the King Power Stadium.

It’s a day that won’t be forgotten for the now Chelsea defender Chilwell, who rose through the ranks with The Foxes before becoming a mainstay of the first team, not least because he has the shirt framed and hung up in honour of not only Srivaddhanaprabha the chairman, but also because of the man he was.

Looking back at some keepsakes from his career with TNT Sports in a special feature that airs in full on YouTube on Thursday, February 22, Chilwell said: “This is another very special keepsake because Khun Vichai [Srivaddhanaprabha] passed away and this is the shirt that I wore on the day.

“We all felt as players that we wanted to honour him and what a great person he was, so we all decided to get the shirts from the game framed and of course it’s hung up in my house.

“The memory of him will not die in any of our eyes because we all have those shirts. What a good guy he was and it’s very special that I can remember him with something on the wall in my house.”

The Thai business owner took over at Leicester in 2011 after buying the club the year prior and famously went on to oversee one of the greatest triumphs in modern-day sport as The Foxes lifted the Premier League title at the end of a thrilling 2015/16 season.

Ranked as 5000/1 outsiders before a ball had been kicked, it was a story that transcended football like few before it and it was made possible, in no short measure, by the culture that had been instilled from top to bottom.

Chilwell was still a teenager at the time and had only returned from a loan spell with Huddersfield Town in January but remembers the bond that group of players had. It was a bond that helped them defy the odds and topple giants of Europe to reign victorious, but one that was only made possible by the leadership of Srivaddhanaprabha.

“I remember the very positive and, I would say, loving memories we all had at that time,” Chilwell added. “I was 18 when we won the league at Leicester and to be part of that group and how together the group was, but not just the players, it was the staff, Khun Top [Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha], who is Khun Vichai’s son who is now looking after Leicester.

“When I see the shirt now it’s the memories of the dinners we all had together, the nights out we would have, and just how generous he was to us and how he supported all of us. I just remember the very fun and positive moments we had and it brings me back to such a happy part of my life.”

Following the joy came tragedy that rocked the Premier League and football a little over two years later. And while that was also accompanied by sadness, Chilwell remembers the lasting feeling that enveloped the club amid the despair.

“In a weird way, it impacted us positively, because it brought us all so close together and kind of made us this family who wanted to do everything together,” continued Chilwell. “We wanted to win games for him, for each other, for the fans, because it wasn’t just us that went through that.

“It was his family, it was everyone associated with Leicester as a club. It hit all of us very hard. You’re playing a match and then something so devastating happens probably an hour after the match.

“For me personally it [taught me] not to take anything for granted and it puts a lot into perspective. Of course, it was a very sad moment for everyone, but I think looking back in hindsight it definitely brought us all together and a lot closer, and [he was] always such a big believer that he wanted us to all be a family.

“Unfortunately he passed away but he would have loved the fact we all became so close from it.”

Chilwell left Leicester in the summer of 2020 to join Chelsea with a view to lifting more silverware and achieved that goal at the end of his first season at Stamford Bridge when the Blues won the UEFA Champions League and later the UEFA Super Cup.

But some things are bigger than football and the 27-year-old is reminded of that, and of the legacy left behind by Khun Vichai, every time he looks upon the shirt he wore more than five years ago on a day that won’t be forgotten in the history of the Premier League.

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