Goalkeeper Kasper Shcmeichel has led tributes to Leicester City club owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha killed in this weekend’s horrific helicopter crash at the ground.
The billionaire owner 60, was confirmed dead in an emotional statement club statement this evening.
He is believed to have died instantly along with four others when the aircraft plummeted 200ft shortly after take-off from the centre circle at the King Power stadium on Saturday night.
Witnesses saw captain and goalkeeper Schmeichel run towards the wreckage moments after it crashed in the club car park, leaving him in tears.
Goalkeeper Kasper Shcmeichel (pictured with Mr Vichai) has led tributes to Leicester City club owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha killed in this weekend’s horrific helicopter crash
Leicester club captain Kasper Shcmeichel witnessed the immediate aftermath of the crash and posted an emotional tribute to his boss on social media
Harry Maguire took to Twitter to share his devastation at the loss of the club chairman
James Maddison posted a picture of him and Mr Srivaddhanaprabha at the King Power stadium where the devastating crash happened on Saturday evening
Last night he said he ‘just cannot believe what he saw last night’ and that it ‘just doesn’t seem real’.
In a heart-wrenching tribute, he said the Thai business tycoon ‘changed football forever’, adding: ‘Never have I ever come across a man like you.
‘So hard working, so dedicated, so passionate, so kind and so generous in the extreme. You touched everyone.
‘It didn’t matter who it was, you had time for them, I admired you as a leader, as a father and as a man.’
Harry Maguire also took to social media to share his devastation, posting: ‘Words can’t describe how I feel.
‘A truly great, kind, loving man who will be missed so much by everyone.
Players Jamie Vardy (pictured with the club owner left) and Danny Simpson (pictured with the chairman right) both paid tribute to him with pictures on social media
Vardy’s wife Rebekah also took to social media to pay her respects. She posted an image of the couple on their wedding day with Mr Srivaddhanaprabha stood between them
Ben Chilwell (pictured with Mr Srivaddhanaprabha left) and image of the pair on social media, along with fellow player Hamza Choudhury (pictured right)
‘I will never forget the Chairman’s support, not only during my time @LCFC but also during the World Cup RIP #TheBoss’
Jamie Vardy said he was ‘struggling to find the right words, but described him as a ‘legend’ and an ‘incredible man who had the biggest heart, the soul of Leicester City Football Club’.
His wife Rebekah posted a picture of her and her husband standing next to the club boss on their wedding day, with the caption: ‘You may be gone from our sight but never from our hearts….yesterday we lost a member of our extended family, a man that meant the world to us and to so many.
‘He was the kindest person with the biggest heart! Irreplaceable.’
Matty James (pictured left) also used the hashtag ‘#theboss’, along with fellow player Demarai Gray (pictured with the chairman right)
Leicester player Christian Fuchs posted a black and white image of the pair of them with the words ‘thank you’ and a red heart on Twitter
Nampalys Mendy and Darnell Johnson were also among the Leicester players to share their devastation at the loss of their club owner
Midfielder Fousseni Diabaté posted a tribute in his native French, thanking the chairman for all the opportunities he has given him at Leicester
Former Leicester star and Match Of The Day Host Gary Lineker posted about his heartache on Twitter after he had to break news of the tragedy to millions of football fans on Saturday night’s show.
He wrote: ‘That was the most difficult @BBCMOTD I’ve ever hosted. Thoughts are with everyone at Leicester City. A terrible tragedy. Heartbreaking.’
Leicester player Danny Simpson thanked ‘The Boss’ for everything he had done for him and the club.
He wrote: ‘You made mine and everyone else’s dreams come true,’ before promising to ‘make him proud’.
Demarai Gray described him as a ‘generous, kind man who always had a smile on his face,’ adding that he ‘always believed in us and never stopped supporting us.’
Matty James said the duty free businessman would be ‘missed by all’, while Ben Chilwell said he was ‘heartbroken to hear no one survived the crash yesterday.’
Former Leicester star and Match Of The Day Host Gary Lineker posted about his heartbreak on Twitter
Wes Morgan posted a heart-warming picture of him and his fellow players with their boss
James Maddison shared a similar post saying ‘life isn’t fair sometimes’, as Wes Morgan confessed he was ‘absolutely heartbroken and devastated’.
Christian Fuchs simply posted a black and white picture of him with Mr Srivaddhanaprabha with the words thank you and a red heart.
Player tributes flooded in after Leicester City confirmed the chairman had lost his life in the crash late yesterday evening and Leicestershire Police confirmed the identities of the other four casualties.
The club owner’s pilot Eric Swaffer, 53, his partner and flight instructor Izabela Roza Lechowicz, 46, and two members of his staff former beauty queen Nursara Suknamai and his assistant Kaveporn Punpare all perished in the fireball.
Andy King wrote with his image of Mr Srivaddhanaprabha enjoying the 2016 Premier League celebrations: RIP Boss. You were a great person who cared so much about our club, city and everything which came with it. Thank you for enabling us to make our dreams a reality and I hope you were as proud of your club as we were of you. Although your shoes can never be filled we promise to try our best to take this club to where you wanted it to.#Theboss’
In a tear-jerking statement from a club spokesman, LCFC wrote: ‘It is with the deepest regret and a collective broken heart that we confirm our Chairman, Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, was among those to have tragically lost their lives on Saturday evening when a helicopter carrying him and four other people crashed outside King Power Stadium. None of the five people on-board survived.
‘The primary thoughts of everyone at the Club are with the Srivaddhanaprabha family and the families of all those on-board at this time of unspeakable loss.
In Khun Vichai, the world has lost a great man. A man of kindness, of generosity and a man whose life was defined by the love he devoted to his family and those he so successfully led.
‘Leicester City was a family under his leadership. It is as a family that we will grieve his passing and maintain the pursuit of a vision for the Club that is now his legacy.
‘Everyone at the Club has been truly touched by the remarkable response of the football family, whose thoughtful messages of support and solidarity have been deeply appreciated at this difficult time.’
Supporters are pictured paying tribute at Leicester City’s King Power stadium today as they wait desperately for news following owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha’s helicopter crashing outside the ground in the club car park last night