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This post is really to commemorate and celebrate the life and achievements of late Leicester City owner Mr. Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, who must stand as one of the best owners of a club in Premier League history.
Mr.Srivaddhanaprabha, along with Mr. Kaveporn Punpare, Ms. Nusara Suknamai, Ms. Izabela Roza Lechowicz, and Mr. Eric Swaffer passed away in a terrible accident just outside the Leicester City King Power Stadium. For his achievements for at the club, and in how he was received by the supporters and all connected to the institution, he will be sorely missed.
Leicester City is not the biggest club - and this is meant in all due respect to it. It had won a few trophies in PL history prior to King Power's takeover, namely the League Cups in 1997 and 2000. Martin O'Neill, the former Celtic manager, was their boss at the time, and this era saw the emergence of players like Emile Heskey and Robbie Savage. Heskey went on to join Liverpool and win trophies with them, whilst Savage has become a noted BBC/BT Sports pundit and dancer to boot. But bar a few top division appearances, notably with England legend Gary Lineker and Arsenal great Alan Smith, they had not achieved that much in their history.
This is until the late Mr. Srivaddhanaprabha stepped in. As head of King Power, a Thai-based duty-free firm, he bought the club in 2010 and then progressed to move it up from the Championship.
And then in 2016 - all hell broke loose. Several bookmakers had Leicester City at 5000-1 to win the league. And they did this, and how. "Bigger" clubs and better teams like Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea, and Arsenal for various reasons fell by the wayside. Tottenham ended up as their biggest challengers ultimately, but then they too "bottled it". With the pace and goals of Vardy, trickery of Mahrez, the defensive strength of Morgan and Huth, and the midfield power of Ngolo Kante, Leicester City became the sixth team to win the Premier League title, following Manchester United, Blackburn Rovers, Arsenal, Chelsea, and Manchester City. Kasper Schmeichel also emulated his father, the great Peter Schmeichel, in winning the Premier League.
For his success at a club that had seldom ever won big, the late Mr. Srivaddhanaprabha must be seen as one of the best owners or top-management figures in PL history. But which others have succeeded too? Have many other attained the heights of this?
His influence helped Leicester City do something which the very biggest in England haven't for some time (namely Liverpool and Arsenal), this is a tribute to the late Mr. Srivaddhanaprabha and his aid in bringing Leicester City to glory.
RIP
JACK WALKER
Blackburn Rovers won the league in 1995, after an immensely exciting title race with Manchester United. The Old Trafford club had won the league in 1993 and a League and Cup Double in 1994 and had emerged as the dominant force. Arsenal was winning cups under Graham, and Liverpool had descended from their place in the late 1980s. United was unchallenged, seemingly...
Well, not quite.
Jack Walker was a business magnate, who was a life-long fan of Lancashire club, Blackburn Rovers. Blackburn hadn't been in the top division for some time but had won the league before, albeit many decades before their 1995 triumph. Walker had one prime aim - to win the League for his club again - and he did it. And how.
His first task was to get in legendary former Liverpool manager (now Sir) Kenny Dalglish.
The next step was a ensure a high transfer budget, which enabled several top signings. David Batty from Leeds United joined, and perhaps the piece de resistance was Alan Shearer from Southampton. Chris Sutton joined from Norwich City, and the tools were in place to succeed in the then new Premier League.
Shearer's goals, supported by Chris Sutton, and the wing play of Wilcox, and the midfield strength of Tim Sherwood, gave Blackburn their first league title in 80 years. This also was supported by the redevelopment of Ewood Park, their home ground, to keep it in line with other top stadia of the period.
However, Blackburn's PL defense in 1996 was less than stellar. And once Alan Shearer was sold to Newcastle United, things started to decline. Blackburn was not traditionally as large a club as the likes of Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal, etc. and Walker himself started to lessen his involvement due to ill health. He died in 2000 but his ownership showed how the love of a club can turn a team in the lower divisions to the top of the English game.
DAVID DEIN
A former vice-Chairman at Arsenal, David Dein was not the owner of Arsenal. He did own shares in the club, but was more involved in the administrative and footballing facets, and oversaw arguably the greatest period in the club's history.
Dein was appointed to the Arsenal board in 1983 when the club despite its name and tradition had not won the league since 1971 and was some way behind Liverpool in terms of winning titles or European Cups. It was clear that things needed to change to get the club up, and Dein did bring some new insights to the board, and had become a respected businessman in his own right prior to joining.
In 1986, Arsenal appointed former player George Graham as manager, and things changed a lot. In his first season, Arsenal won the League Cup in 1987, defeating the mighty Liverpool with Rush, Nicol, Hansen, et al at Wembley. The following year, Arsenal lost the League Cup to Luton Town, but in 1989 faced off with Liverpool again, culminating in the ever-famous Anfield 1989 win and Michael Thomas's last-minute title winner.
The title was won again in 1991, with the FA Cup and League Cup in 1993 (the first domestic cup double in English football history), but ended when Graham was sacked due to the bung scandal in 1995.
Dein and the board appointed Bruce Rioch from Bolton Wanderers, but spats with star forward Ian Wright, and disputes with the board concerning transfer targets led to his dismissal in 1996.
What came after this is what cemented Dein's status as a prime Arsenal benefactor. He had met Arsene Wenger several years before he became the manager, and Dein knew from the off that he was an ideal future Arsenal manager.
After Graham left, he had tried to persuade the board to sign him up, but instead, they chose Rioch. After Rioch left, however, they opted for Wenger and the rest is history.
Wenger left Arsenal in 2018, but stands as their best ever manager, winning three Premier League titles (including the 2004 Invincibles), and seven FA Cups. The 13th FA Cup trophy won in 2017 vs. Chelsea was an all-time record for a club in the competition, and the seventh for Wenger was an all-time managerial record, which was broken for the first time in many decades.
Dein left Arsenal in 2008, in the wake of the Kroenke takeover, but his legacy stands as providing the footballing executive knowledge to help Arsenal gain glory. He also played a major part in developing the Premier League as a breakaway top division in England and held senior roles in the Football Association and European bodies.
ROMAN ABRAMOVICH
Chelsea had attained some success in the years before Roman Abramovich joined in 2003. They had won the FA Cup in 1997 and 2000, and the League Cup and Cup-Winners Cup in 1998. They didn't manage to rival Arsenal and Man United as the top teams of that period, but this changed once Abramovich came in.
After the foundation was cemented by the late Matthew Harding and Ken Bates, Chelsea had sound infrastructure and needed further bolstering to take them forward.
This is where Abramovich came in. Eager to enter the world of football ownership, he saw that Chelsea as a club with recent success, a completed stadium, Champions League football, and top players such as Desaiily, Lampard, Terry, etc. It was primed to challenge at the very highest level.
An initial step was to bring in Jose Mourinho, a then up and coming manager who attained major success with FC Porto via the Champions League.
Moreover, they unleashed mega money on top players, such as Mutu, Drogba, etc. and this soon brought them the League Cup and league title in 2005. They retained the league in 2006 and won the FA Cup in 2007.
Mourinho left in the same year, but this didn't deter the big spending. Not all managers succeeded in this period, as Scolari, Grant, etc. didn't, but Guus Hiddink won them the FA Cup again in 2009. The League/Cup Double was attained in 2010 under Carlo Ancelotti, and the biggest trophy of them all - the Champions League - was won in 2012, after an epic penalty shootout vs. Bayern Munich.
Mourinho came back in 2013, and won the league again in 2015, but left in controversial circumstances. Antonio Conte came in and made them champions again in 2017 but left too amidst board disputes. Sarri currently has Chelsea playing well, and they're in a strong position in the league and the Europa League.
Some say Chelsea was a small club that struck gold and became big, but they did have some note, as the club of the late Peter Osgood, Ron "Chopper" Harris, Kerry Dixon, and other noted players in the 1970s and 1980s. It's possible they needed investment to fulfil their potential, and this is certainly what happened.
SIR JOHN HALL AND FREDDY SHEPHERD
Newcastle United, otherwise known as the Toon or Toon Army, is a club noted for its passionate and large fanbase, and the fact that its ground is still amongst the very largest in the country. At 52,000, St. James's Park is only bettered by Old Trafford and the Emirates Stadium. And only Tottenham's new ground when finished will outsize it still.
They clearly had the potential to be a major force with the proper backing, which is what happened in the early to mid-1990s. Sir John Hall was a local business magnate, who bought the club in the early 1990s and attempted to make Newcastle a major force in the Premier League. The club was competing in the then First Division (now Championship), and gained England legend Kevin Keegan as manager. He brought in old boy and local favorite Peter Beardsley, as well as young starlet Andy Cole, and won the First Division with ease. They entered the Premier League, with Andy Cole scoring over 30 league goals to secure them a third-place finish.
Cole left for Manchester United in 1995 in a then British transfer record fee, but, in 95/96, the true apex of their run arose. The club signed David Ginola from PSG, Les Ferdinand from QPR, Shaka Hislop from Reading, and came very close to winning the league. Signing Faustino Asprilla late in the season imbalanced the side, and they lost ground to Manchester United, who eventually won the Double. Keegan himself had a noted meltdown when triggered by United boss Sir Alex Ferguson concerning the relative performances of Leeds United who was playing both teams in quick question.
Home city boy Alan Shearer joined from Blackburn Rovers for a world record fee in 1996, and things were still looking good for the Tyneside club.
Sir Johns's influence in the club receded somewhat, and Freddy Sheppard continued the good work with appointing Sir Bobby Robson, who akin to Keegan made the Toon challenge for the league and compete in the Champions League.
Sir John left Newcastle in the mid-2000s, and Freddy Shepherd died also in 2017. But they stand as an example of what the Toon could be under the correct management. This is something in direct contrast with the current owner, Mike Ashley.
DANIEL LEVY
In the early Premier League years, Tottenham Hotspur was often in the shadow of near neighbors, Arsenal. Whilst the club, under former owner Sir Alan (now Lord) Sugar, had signed Jurgen Klinsmann - a prime world-class forward at that time and German World Cup winner - they seldom looked like challenging for honors, and Klinsmann left after a season for this reason.
Sugar sold the club to ENIC in 2001, which was jointly owned by Joe Lewis and Daniel Levy, with the latter becoming the club's MD. Since then, Levy's goal has been to restore Spurs to a top level, which they haven't been in for several decades. Even the teams featuring Hoddle, Ardiles, Villa, Waddle, etc. didn't challenge for league consistently, and only won a few FA Cups between them. And of course, the spectre of Arsenal was still bright, inclusive of the great Wenger teams and their league wins. Chelsea was emergent, and United was still strong.
Since 2001, Levy's achievements stand as:
-Securing top four football. This was done initially under Martin Jol, or at least it's when Spurs first looked like a consistent top four team. This was in part based on Ledley King, Aaron Lennon, Jermaine Defoe, and Jermaine Jenas, who all were young players looking to advance themselves.
-Building world-class training facilities, rivaling Arsenal, Manchester United, Man City, and even Real Madrid and Barcelona.
-Securing more consistent top four football, with the arrival of Harry Redknapp and Mauricio Pochettino. The former manager got the best from Bale, van der Vaart, Modric, etc. whilst the latter has developed Harry Kane, Dele Alli, Dembele, Alderweireld, Lloris, and other top players.
-Also, the club is constructing a stadium with unique facilities, which will be the second biggest ground in the country once completed.
Harry Kane has won the Premier League Golden Boot, twice, and won the World Cup Golden Boot in Russia 2018, during England's semi-final run. Lloris was France's World Cup winning captain, and Dembele stood out in Belgium's semi-final run and ultimate third-placed finish.
Levy has to be commended for getting Spurs from way behind the other top clubs to being Champions League regulars, and with a soon high-end stadium.
Concerning the new ground, it has tarnished Levy's standing somewhat, since there have been reports of fans not obtaining season tickets readily, and there being no evident construction completion date. Work is currently ongoing 24/7, but then to date, no firm construction date has been identified.
This notwithstanding, Tottenham holistically is the healthiest it's been in many decades, and Levy's vision in part is the primary cause.
MATTHEW HARDING
Given the successes of Chelsea since 2003, his role has become unfairly overshadowed. However, it's arguably due to the late Matthew Harding that Chelsea became a major world force.
Chelsea in the 1980s and early 1990s was a different club to today. It often flirted in the relegation zone, got relegated, and their stadium was also a greyhound running track. It was a poor in relation to other London clubs, especially at that point Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur.
With the advent of the Premier League, the then club owner Ken Bates and Harding devised plans make Chelsea more competitive. This included a stadium revamp, new club facilities, and better players. Ruud Gullit signed from Italy, and Mark Hughes came from Manchester United. Glenn Hoddle had joined as manager in 1993, and the club looked to move forward to eventually enter the English footballing elite.
This ended in tragedy, however, as Harding died in a helicopter crash in autumn 1995. He eventually held the freehold of the Stamford Bridge ground (but didn't own the club overall, as Ken Bates did). But his legacy is that he helped Chelsea on the initial foundation steps of being a large global football club. He helped spring Chelsea into the big-time, by reorienting its attitude, focus, and ambitions.
The 1997 FA Cup win vs Middlesbrough was dedicated to his memory, and in tribute to making Chelsea a competitive team again.
SHEIKH MANSOUR OF QATAR
Manchester City was for many years a maligned football club. They had a large and passionate following, but for many decades were mismanaged, or simply not that good on the pitch. The poorer relations of city neighbors Manchester United, City often flirted with relegation, and at one point were in Division 2 (current League One).
They moved into the former Commonwealth Games stadium in 2002, and this boosted both attendances and revenues. But then things changed in 2008, as City no longer were the "banter club" and failing side they had been for decades.
The Qatar group, led by Sheikh Mansour, bought the club with the stated intent to make it a super force in the country and the world. They saw their position in Manchester, a large British city, and the ready infrastructure at the club.
They very soon started to buy big, redevelop the stadium (renamed from the City of Manchester Stadium to the Etihad Stadium), build world-class training facilities, and develop their global branding to match those of more established top-level clubs.
With Sergio "Kun" Aguero, Yaya Toure, David Silva, et al. they were able to win the FA Cup in 2011, and then the Premier League in a unique style in 2012:
Further league titles and FA Cups followed since then and most recently the 2018 record-breaking title side, led by legendary manager Pep Guardiola.
Manchester City is now a prime global force, and the next step is surely the Champions League and European dominance.The Qatar Group certainly has made an indelible impact on both Manchester City and the Premier League.
