Leicester's Albrighton says Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha needs time to grieve

London (AFP) - Leicester winger Marc Albrighton has said the club’s vice-chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha deserves time to grieve following the death of his father in a helicopter crash.

The Foxes were held to a goalless draw by Burnley on Saturday in their first home game since owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha died along with four others when his helicopter came down, shortly after take-off, on October 27 following a draw with West Ham.

Vichai’s death has left fans concerned over what the future holds for Leicester, who under the Thai businessman’s ownership achieved one of the great sporting upsets by winning the 2015⁄16 Premier League title, having been 5,000-1 pre-season outsiders.
But Albrighton, whose mother-in-law died in tragic circumstances during a 2015 terror attack in Tunisia, said Aiyawatt deserved time to mourn his father before focusing on Leicester.


“It’s difficult, I know after what I went through it’s hard to take advice from people because everyone’s situation is different,” he said.

“The way I dealt with mine may be different to the way he may deal with his. I feel I’ve come through what happened to me and he will come through what he is going through at the moment.

“We’ve spent a lot of time with him, we’ve seen a lot of him in Thailand and here. He’s staying strong.

“He won’t tell us anything moving forward with what’s going to happen (with the club) but everyone needs to realise he’s a normal person, he has family and close friends and he needs to spend time with them.”

Aiyawatt, known as Top, did, however, join players and staff for a lap of the pitch following the Burnley game to thank Leicester fans for their support.

“The last two weeks have been a bit of a blur, we haven’t had the chance to reflect on what’s happened,” Albrighton added.

“Saturday marked the end of the last two weeks and we have got two weeks without a game. It might be a bit of a reflective time.


“It’s still going to be difficult, it’s still going to be raw, but it’s important to take time to reflect on what’s happened.”