Preston North End's former Leicester star Paul Gallagher visits King Power Stadium to pay respects to Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha

Preston North End's Paul Gallagher has revealed that late Leicester City chairman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha made a £20,000 donation to a charity his family was supporting.
Paul Gallagher with his family at the King Power Stadium on ThursdayPaul Gallagher with his family at the King Power Stadium on Thursday
Paul Gallagher with his family at the King Power Stadium on Thursday

Srivaddhanaprabha died on Saturday, along with four others, when his helicopter crashed after taking off from the King Power Stadium.

Gallagher was with the Foxes between 2009 and 2015, spending time on loan with PNE before making a permanent move to Deepdale.

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He visited the King Power Stadium on Thursday to pay his respects with his family.

“He was fantastic with my family and me,” the midfielder told North End’s website.

“We had a difficult time ourselves and he was happy for me to be with my family, take my time and come back when I was ready.

“My brother passed away through meningitis years ago and my wife did a walk to the Great Wall of China and his family donated £20,000, which they didn’t have to do, but we will be forever grateful for that.”

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Gallagher says like most who came across him, he had a great relationship with Srivaddhanaprabha during his time at Leicester.

“He was a true gentleman and someone I was quite close to when I was at Leicester,” he said.

“I used to take the free-kicks and penalties and he would come up to me and say ‘you are going to score today’ and put a bit of pressure on me, but he always made me feel comfortable around him.

“He always had time to speak to anybody; it didn’t matter if you were the best player or the kitman or the tea lady, he would give you the time to speak to you and made you comfortable.

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“The things he did for Leicester, not just the football club, but for the city, were magnificent.

“He put money into charities, the hospitals and universities.

“He wanted to make Leicester City Football Club big, but he wanted to put the city on the map as well.”

Two members of the chairman's staff, Nursara Suknamai and Kaveporn Punpare, and pilot Eric Swaffer and his partner Izabela Roza Lechowicz also died in the crash.

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Tributes from fans and players have continued to grow outside the club's North Stand .

The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) continue to conduct its investigations as it tries to establish what caused Saturday's tragedy.

The aircraft's black boxes have been recovered and are being studied in Farnborough.