Brendan Rodgers says Leicester cup win would honour Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha

Boss Brendan Rodgers has urged Leicester to win the FA Cup for late owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha and his family.

The Foxes face Chelsea in their first FA Cup final in 52 years at Wembley on Saturday.

Khun Vichai and four others died in October 2018 when his helicopter crashed outside the King Power Stadium following a 1-1 draw with West Ham.

He bought the club in 2010 and saw the Foxes win a shock Premier Legaue title in 2016.

Son Aiyawatt, known as Top, is now the club’s chairman and Rodgers wants to lift the trophy – for the first time in the club’s history – for the family.

He said: “We had a chat on Thursday morning around that. We revisited when I first came in, two and a half years ago back in 2019, when I talked about the cause and why we were doing it.

“Back then we sat as a team and collectively had a set of values and a signpost going forward.

“Of course, for Khun Vichai and his family, they were obviously a massive motivator because, even though he’s not here, our fight every day is to continue with his legacy and the dreams he had for Leicester and the supporters.

“We still very much feel his presence. You see it here in the training facility and I’m very protective of that. I try to ensure that the players understand that it’s more than football why we’re here.

“That’s a huge part of our story and an influence for the development of this club. We fight every day to protect that.”

Rodgers left Celtic almost two and a half years ago on the brink of winning the treble for the third straight year.

He has built a team to challenge for the Premier League’s top four but insisted he does not view reaching Saturday’s final as simple justification for leaving Parkhead.

“I don’t want to say that, I knew what I was leaving, I was leaving one of the great clubs in the world in Celtic,” said the 48-year-old. “To deal with the pressure there, the expectation and that mental fortitude to deal with the biggest clubs was an incredible experience for me.

“From that point I thought I had taken it as far as I could, it was onto the next challenge.

“It’s one of the rules of success for me, you have to be able to test yourself. I’m not a maintainer, I have to be able to build, create and have the opportunity to do that.

“It isn’t necessarily at the biggest clubs, arriving to Leicester was the next part of my story. I know when I left Celtic some people weren’t happy, some people could understand it but I have my own mind.

“I made a decision which I was very clear on but it’s always been about the challenge and test. Coming here was going to be a big challenge against some of the biggest clubs in the world. We have embraced that. It’s gone well but we want to keep pushing forward.”