Friday 2 March 2012

Leicester City owner's jackpot dream


As a young reporter I worked in a pub to supplement my income.

Among the images I remember, alongside sad drunks and lagered up teenagers, is the sight of normally rational people pumping dozens of pound coins into the fruit machine chasing an elusive £100 jackpot.

Not only did the sight of their demented determination put me off fruit machines for life, it taught me when to call it quits.

Now Thai businessman Vichai Raksriaksorn has certainly got a lot more cash to his name than a dozen or so pound coins, but he is still chasing a jackpot dream nonetheless.

The owner of Leicester City has pumped £53 million into the club since taking control in August 2010 in a bid to get it back into the big time.

That is a serious amount of money - a third of his total wealth by some estimates - and his commitment to getting City promoted to the Premier League cannot be doubted.

But another failed attempt to secure promotion is a strong possibility this season. So what if Mr R decided enough was enough and called it a day?

How quickly will he want his £53 million - which is structured as a loan from his company Asia Football Investments - back?

Who will come in to take over a club which could by that time have up to £80 million of debt -which, incidentally, is more debt than the club had when it went into administration in October 2002?

With Premier League football comes a jackpot of at least £90 million. But how much can one man keep putting in the slot before it pays out?

Sometimes, if I felt sorry for a fruit machine addict, I used to shout from behind the bar that someone else had put in a load of cash before them and had failed to win, so it was 'bound to pay out soon'.

But I'm sure Mr Raksriaksorn doesn't need my advice.


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