A TOUCH OF CLASS...

Like the rest of the football family, we supporters of Southampton FC also mourn the tragic loss of Leicester City`s excellent owner, Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, in the horrendous helicopter crash the other evening.   Of course, this awful event has been felt not only by the fans of Leicester City but also by the city itself which has joined together to pay tribute to a man who gave so much to the football club and to the city as a whole.   Quite properly, tonight`s scheduled cup game between Leicester and Southampton has been postponed - I can`t imagine anyone associated with either club has a football match at the forefront of their mind - it almost seems irrelevant now,

This has brought back equally sad memories for us Saints fans as we lost our own highly respected owner, Markus Liebherr, who passed away suddenly following a heart attack eight years ago, having rescued the club from near extinction and overseen its rise from League One back to the Premier League.   So we feel for Leicester supporters perhaps a little more deeply than fans of other clubs - we`ve been through that experience and we know what it`s like.

I remember going to St. Mary`s Stadium just after Markus had left us and was amazed at the floral tributes left by fans with sadness and thanks for all he had done for the club.  Here`s a photo of that occasion which is so clearly replicated now outside Leicester`s King Power Stadium ....

Both represent the warmth of feeling for the respective club owners and the true sense of loss  felt by supporters of both clubs.  Now,  I don`t wish to enter a note of irreverence here but I vividly recall seeing a red plastic duck - the kind you might have in a bath - placed firmly among the floral bouquets in honour of Markus and it occurred to me at the time that one bereft Saints fan had woken up to the news of Markus`s death and decided that he or she must dash down to the shops, buy a red plastic duck and place it among the floral tributes outside St. Mary`s. 

I`m sure it was well meant but I suspect the tributes outside the stadium in Leicester might have perhaps a little more of a touch of class about them?  Or maybe there`s not much demand for blue plastic ducks in Leicester.