It’s one year to the day since former Leicester City chairman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha lost his life in one of the saddest events in sporting history.

The Thai billionaire was among five people killed in a helicopter crash after the Foxes’ match against West Ham at the King Power Stadium on 27 October 2018.

His passing was a devastating blow to the football community and Leicester in particular.

Tributes flowed in from around the world following the accident, but the void Srivaddhanaprabha left behind remains poignant to this day.

While Leicester were the primary beneficiary of his enormous generosity, his unique approach to owning a football club spread joy far beyond the East Midlands.

Srivaddhanaprabha bought Leicester in 2010 at a time when they were struggling to control mounting debts as a mid-table Championship side.

The club managed to balance the books within four years, thanks to their new chairman supplying more than £100 million in funding.

Srivaddhanaprabha’s kindness also touched the city of Leicester at large; he donated over £4 million to Leicester University's medical department, Leicester Royal Infirmary and the construction of a new children's hospital.

On the pitch, Leicester ended their first full season under his chairmanship in ninth place in addition to reaching the FA Cup quarter-finals.

But just two years later, the Foxes returned to the Premier League for the first time in a decade.

Eager to capitalise on their momentum, Srivaddhanaprabha said the club would spend £180 million in order to challenge the top-five within three years.

Well, a year ahead of schedule and over £100 million under budget, nobody could’ve predicted the miracle of the 2015-16 campaign.

Led by Claudio Ranieri, Leicester defied odds of 5,000-1 to finish top of the Premier League and complete arguably the greatest triumph of the underdog football has ever seen.

It was the fairytale every fan wanted to see, and in typically big-hearted fashion, Srivaddhanaprabha rewarded every member of the title-winning squad with a new BMW i8.

While you can bet the magnitude of Leicester’s achievement won’t matched for a long time, if ever, we definitely won’t see another Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha again.

One of the most amiable football figures of all-time seen would be proud to see his Foxes thriving in the top-flight once again this season.

Rest in peace, Vichai.