The 2015-2016 English Premier League season saw one of the most stunning upsets in sports history. The Leicester City Football Club, after narrowly missing relegation the previous season, won the Premier League title against 5,000-to-1 odds. To put the absurdity of this win into perspective, here are the odds of some crazy upsets in American sports:
- Buster Douglas winning the 1990 heavyweight championship against Mike Tyson – Odds: 42-1
- St. Louis Cardinals win 2011 World Series – Odds: 999-1
- Miracle Mets of 1969 – Odds: 100-1
- Auburn Tigers winning American college football’s 2012 Bowl Championship Series – Odds: 1,000-1
Many attribute the club’s historic rise to the top to their owner and chairman at the time, Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, who was recently killed in a helicopter crash at the club’s King Power stadium on Saturday, October 27th. Vichai, a Thai businessman, bought the Leicester City Football Club in 2011 while the team was in the second tier of English football. That same year when Vichai signed current Leicester City goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel, Vichai promised him that the team would make it into the Premier League within the next six years. Within five years the team had not only made it into the Premier League but had won in one of the greatest upsets in sports history. Vichai was beloved among Leicester City players and staff, making his sudden death especially difficult.
On Sunday, October 28th, Vichai was confirmed dead from the crash. In response hundreds of fans travelled to King Power stadium in order to pay their respects and leave Leicester City memorabilia in honor of him. Current Leicester players, past players, and managers have also visited the memorial outside King Power. The club also announced that a book of condolences would open at the stadium for fans to write messages to Vichai’s family.
In the week and a half since his death the club has communicated openly with fans and worked to honor Vichai, the man who literally made the club’s dreams come true. The club released a statement announcing the cancellation of the upcoming fixture against Southampton scheduled for the 29th. Instead on the 29th, the Leicester City team and staff participated in a wreath laying ceremony at King Power stadium along with Vichai’s family.
The next Leicester game scheduled was against Cardiff City on Saturday, November 3rd, a week after the crash. The Leicester City players voted unanimously to keep the fixture. For Leicester fans travelling to the game, the club provided a free breakfast as well as a tribute shirt in honor of Vichai. Leicester players wore black armbands and everyone observed a minute of silence before kick off.
Looking ahead at the upcoming Burnley game, the first home game since the crash, fans will be given commemorative scarves, pins, and banners. There will also be a “Tribute to Khun Vichai” video that will be showed on the big screens before the game.
In a way it made the club response to the death easier because Vichai was so beloved. Every social media post from players and every statement from the club seemed genuine. It was obvious in every facet of the club and the players’ responses that Vichai was beloved. The entire squad even decided to travel to Thailand in order to attend Vichai’s funeral service.One of the most lasting tributes to Vichai was the renaming of the “LCFC Foxes Foundation” to the “Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha Foundation.”
The club did a good job of making it easy for fans to pay their respects with the memorial outside the stadium and the book of condolences. Vichai’s reach in Leicester was not confined to the football club; he also donated huge sums of money to hospitals and charities all over the city. He’ll be missed by the greater Leicester community, not only football fans.
https://www.lcfc.com/news/902217/tributes-to-lcfc-chairman-to-continue-against-burnley/press-release
https://www.lcfc.com/news/890995/club-statement-vichai-srivaddhanaprabha/featured
https://www.lcfc.com/news/895946/khun-vichai-tribute-t-shirts–free-breakfast-for-supporters-travelling-to-cardiff
https://www. nytimes.com/2016/05/01/sports/soccer/how-leicester-city-went-right-side-up.html
https://www.kansascity.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/for-petes-sake/article75290627.html