Tributes as soccer returns to Leicester 2 weeks after crash

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LEICESTER, England (AP) — Leicester players led thousands of fans on a walk from the center of the city to the club’s stadium as soccer returned home for the first time since the death of the owner who oversaw the team’s transformation into improbable English Premier League champions.

The march ended close to the scene of the helicopter crash next to the King Power Stadium that killed Thai owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha and four other people after Leicester’s last home game two weeks ago.

Harry Maguire was among players who joined the “5,000-1 walk,” which was named after Leicester’s title odds going into the 2015-16 season that ended with the trophy being collected.

Inside the stadium, before Saturday’s Premier League game against Burnley, fans watched in silence as a tribute video to Vichai was played. Two minutes of silence honored the five crash victims and also marked the centenary since the end of World War I.

The hundreds of soccer jerseys and club banners from Leicester and beyond that were placed outside the stadium in the days after the disaster have now been placed on railings nearby. A carpet of floral tributes has formed in front of a picture of Vichai and the word “boss” in blue and white flowers.

They were inspected by Vichai’s son, Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha, who is vice chairman.

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