A few years ago, Leicester City FC was on the verge of returning to the top of the sport: the Champions League. The investment for this was largely in place; the Foxes believed they had the right manager to take them back to the top of Europe. Unfortunately, the ambition of finishing in the top four of the Premier League and subsequently qualifying for the NFL did not materialise that year. Leicester’s trips to Europe quickly evaporated; progress and stability in the Premier League suffered drastically thereafter. Everything else, relegation to the Championship etc., is now history.

Many people are to blame – players, staff and members of the management. However, there is one factor that is regularly mentioned by well informed fans: money. Why did LCFC chairman Aiyawatt “Top” Srivaddhanaprabha stop properly funding the club? And, most importantly, is the incredible dream of the late popular former owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha still alive? A new but rather short interview with a journalist specialising in Leicester, with one question, may reveal the answer to this question.

Leicester City’s luck
It could be said that Leicester have had some luck over the years. Some examples stand out. Going down by a few points against an undeserving Everton in 2022/23 is one modern example. Their current headline sponsor BC.Game has only been bankrupt for about a third of the season, which is typical of LCFC. Believe me!

Apparently, even in modern times, the East Midlands team could be described as one of the luckiest teams in the world. Triumphing in the EPL in the 2015/16 season was a once in a lifetime, unthinkable achievement. Of course, luck was also involved. But the meticulous planning and the search for cheap gems to be plundered, such as Jamie Vardy, Riyad Mahrez and N’golo Kante, were ingenious and innovative, as befits the game.

Architects of their own design, the eventual demise and re-emergence
Most people attribute the rise and ultimate primacy of this period to one great man, his vision and his appointments at the club: Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha. After his tragic death in 2018, his son Top took over the reins with the blessings of the blue army.

Top undoubtedly wanted the same success. The goal of high rankings and re-entry into Europe seems to have been sufficiently supported. And for a while, the plan came true. Until it didn’t.

Unfortunately, it seems that City must potentially repeat the impossible in order for Top to then reinvest at the same higher level. This possibility seems unthinkable; without guaranteed funding, LCFC may remain irrelevant: