Martin O'Neill has paid tribute to Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, the Leicester City owner who died following a helicopter accident on Saturday evening outside the club's stadium.
O'Neill managed the club for nearly five years in the late 90s, winning two League Cups.
"He was everything to Leicester City," O'Neill told Good Morning Ulster.
The money that he put into the hospital and to the university. I have just never known someone, as an owner, to be so popular. That wasn’t just made up, it was serious. It’s a desperate day.
His popularity was far beyond Leicester, but Leicester would have taken the bulk of that. But overall, just for the disaster to happen so close to the football club - it’s very difficult to take in at the moment.
"Obviously, I had really great days there myself," continued O'Neill.
"We’d very decent success, won a couple of trophies as well too, but winning the Premier League a couple of years ago was absolutely phenomenal.
"The manager has to take great credit for that, but let’s be fair, I don’t think any of that would have happened at all had it not been for the presence of the owner.
"I think all of Leicester are pretty well aware of that. What he did was he gave them the opportunity, he gave them everything that they needed really. A fantastic achievement and one that was well merited.
"He went into the community, he made donations to universities and to the hospital, and the Leicester people took to him. That’s the great thing about it; you can see that outpouring of grief at this moment - it’s genuine as they come - and I think that that speaks volumes of the type of man we are talking about."
Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
