Leicester City’s King Power Stadium: a symbol of Multi-Faith Inclusivity and Culture

Leicester, is the city of diversity, the home of inclusivity and the place for culture. A 20-minute walk from the town centre is the home ground for the Leicester City Football Team, the King Power Stadium, which has become like a multi-faith church for many of the Foxes. Anthony Herlihy, now communications director at Leicester City Football Club, had never stepped foot in Leicester before he moved for the job. But he did know that he was coming into the most multifaceted cities in the country, it’s the same with Leicester City. 

That shows, in areas around the King Power Stadium which has been blessed by the Buddhist religion. When you walk into the reception at the stadium to get your visitor pass you’re greeted by the smell of inscents and Buddhist ornaments which is probably not the first thing you expect to see when visiting a Football stadium in the UK. 

Before every game at the King Power Stadium, the match kit that the players are wearing is blessed. The Buddhist elements as a force to bring the club together have been a real eye-opener for the people who work within the club. These beliefs have never been imposed on anyone and everyone is completely free to give the ceremonies a miss. There have been quite a few of the City players that have attended the ceremony to observe without participating.

“It is rather about sharing and inclusion rather than imposing,” Anthony says. 

These Buddhist elements, which can be found in certain parts of the stadium have become a part of the Club Culture of Leicester City. Some of the players who weren’t interested in the ceremonies at first have later found it rather comforting. 

They bless the stadium by putting up flags on top of the building and when you walk out of the tunnel at King Power Stadium and look up, you will see the “Foxes Never Quit” sign right above the entrance towards the pitch, which has also been blessed.

“I was raised around Catholics, went to catholic school and was a frequent churchgoer,” he says.

“But I have also always been open-minded and curious about stuff like that.

Religion is personal to everybody so everyone’s experiences will be different.

“To me, it is broadening and educating, you build a real appreciation for people and where they’re coming from.”

Anthony describes it as opened everybody’s mind up even broader than that in a way. An example is when the late Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha passed, Leicester City hosted a multi-faith ceremony. Stakeholders in the city opened up to the faith leaders in Leicester who all came together and implied such a rich context of what everybody was going through. The comfort the people took knowing the context that all of these people thought in their way and whatever you believed in there was a context to it and it was so powerful and that was something everyone internally felt passionate about. The introduction of the Buddhist way was less of an imposition and more of an eye-opener.  

“If you look around the building we have people from all faiths and backgrounds here,” he says. 

“And there’s never really been a tabu here, however, the openness and acceptance of something different have opened people’s minds to be comfortable sharing their beliefs and experiences.

Whether that was the intention or not, I couldn’t tell you but it certainly did break down walls.