Brendan Rodgers thankful to have a Leicester City owner who 'knows the game'

Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers is thankful that he has a “genuine football man” in Aiyawatt ‘Top’ Srivaddhanaprabha as the club’s owner.

The City chairman attended his first European away game of the season at PSV Eindhoven on Thursday night, sitting alongside director of football Jon Rudkin and his brother, vice-chairman Apichet, as the club made history. The 2-1 win over the Dutch side earned them a spot in the semi-finals of a European competition for the first time ever.

Earlier in the day, Top and Apichet had walked around the Dutch city, meeting and taking pictures with City fans, reminiscent of when their late father Vichai did the same for the club’s first-ever Champions League game at Club Brugge in 2016.

While Rodgers was happy Top could witness the comeback at the Philips Stadion, he was more thankful that his boss “knows football”, in turn allowing him to do the work at the club that he wants.

Rodgers said after the victory over PSV: “It’s always great to see Top. He’s an amazing owner for us. I’ve got to say, as the manager of the team, the support I get from him, it’s remarkable.

“He’s a genuine football man who loves the game, and thankfully for me, he knows the game. He knows football, he knows our expectations, and he knows we’re working very hard to progress the club. It was great for him to be here.”

Top has been around the team and in Leicester for the past couple of weeks. He was present for the unveiling of the statue of his father on what would have been Vichai’s 63rd birthday, and then visited Rodgers and his squad at the Seagrave training base ahead of the first leg of the PSV tie.

City will play Roma in the next round of the competition, with the first game at home on April 28. If they