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Muang Thong United “The Champions”

N Thailand, supporting a team that, at the end of your first season, wins the Premier League leaves you open to questions. Just ask any Manchester United fan. “How long does it take to get back to Luton?” and “is Reading a new suburb of Greater Manchester?” being two of the kinder enquiries. So, supporting Muang Thong United as they

won the Thai Premier League last season looked like jumping into the saddle of the leading horse in the home straight of The Grand National. Whilst we did jump on the winning horse, it was good to know that it was from our local stable – just a 20 minute drive from home. Living so close to the ground means that my wife can go onshopping trips whilst the males of our family take a detour to the ground. We spend quiet Sunday evenings eating meals at the club and often drop by to watch the players train. My two sons get to know the players and make new friends of their children. Better still, they meet opposition fans with a feeling of friendship rather than thetrepidation I felt as a child supporting Aston Villa. Football here, now, makes me feel connected to Thailand. Language is a barrier that becomes irrelevant as we each jabber on excitedly in mutual incomprehension. Our “conversations” are peppered with names that we both understand. That is enough. Shared drinks and singing together do the rest. This has been made

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FEATURE THAI PREMIER LEAGUE

easier for farangs by the amount of English songs sung in the stadium. In fact, hundreds of Thai fans turn up at the ground on a Sunday to rehearse the latest terrace chant with the words pinned to the shirt of the person in front. In this surreal atmosphere of thousands of fans singingsongs many of them do not understand, enter the characters.Our club has Pipat. By day a quiet, unassuming man working for an international retail company but, with megaphone in hand, he exhorts everyone to sing, dance and show respect to the opposition. We also have a lady who comes to every game with her clothes designed from the team merchandise. I have seen a six-foot transvestite in the middle of the crowd singing and cheering with everyone else. And accepted by everyone else as a friend and fellow fan. In life we tend to make friends before drifting apart as our family situations change. With the New Wave of Football here, those friends have returned to the fold. All have been bewitched by the experience and wanted to return with their friends to become part of an ever expanding group. It brings back to life ‘the routine’ of a Saturday but at a tiny fraction of the cost. If you haven’t been to a game I highly recommend it. Go early to feel the atmosphere build, stay outside the ground before kick off to watch opposing fans show respect to each other, and jump around and sing like a maniac during the game. The post match beer will taste all the sweeter. I hope to be there to share it with you.

Predictions for this season Making predictions based on last season is like comparingapples and oranges. The environment is so different and finances are on such a different level. Of course I would love for the team to be champions again, but there will be some very

stiff opposition from Bangkok Glass, Chonburi, BEC Tero and the newly minted Buriram PEA amongst others. I will go for second place in the hope that I have underestimated the team by one position.

Players to watch The central defensive partnership of Mai and Oat will be crucial to the season and they lookextremely impressive together. Christian and Kone up front also have a great deal to offer. Another great season from Kawin will also give us theplatform to make another assault on first position.

Info: General tickets: 50 baht (kids 20 baht)Season ticket: 1,000 baht (includes the MT Utd team shirt and poster) www.mtutd.tv

IN a new monthly column, British expats Matthew Riley and Simon Causton reveal just what it’s like to be a supporter of a team in Thailand’s burgeoning Premier League – Simon of last year’s relegation dodgers Bangkok United, and Matthew of current champions Muang Thong United. Follow all the ups, downs, laughs and heartaches of these two fans as the season plays out and their teams go gunning for glory

A tale of two teams Thai Premier League

Two teams. Two fans. Two very different seasons

Matthew Riley

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Bangkok United “The Underdogs”

HE actions of the Red Shirts have been felt by Bangkok United, and by that I am not referring to our recent 5-1 defeat by Muang Thong United. The Thai-Japanese Stadium was being used as a logistical hub for the army for a long period of time during the beginning of the season so we only recently

played our first home game, with the others being postponed until later dates. The games we have played so far have been very mixed: a 1-1 draw at Police United, a 2-1 win at Sariburi, and, as previously mentioned, a thrashing at the hand of the reigning champions. A return to home was unfortunately timed badly with sev-eral injuries and we were defeated by TTM Pichit and Pattaya United. Signs are encouraging though, and the style of play has been extremely positive, with the ball being played along the ground through our creative midfielders at every opportunity. A switch of formation recently to a 3-5-2 using wing backs seems to be playing to the team’s strengths. The return to fit-ness of both Kone Saib, our large Ivorian defender, and strong holding midfielder Cheick Fofana will be key over the next few games. As always the supporters have never stopped singing and I am sure that home games this season will be a great expe-rience. The Club was bought out by Multimedia Giants ‘True’ prior to the start of the season and a large amount of funds have been promised. Advertising and marketing campaigns are being started in the next few months and the future looks very bright for BUFC with both rising gates and ambitions.

Predictions for this season: As with all things in Thailand, predicting results is almost impossible. The league has changed dramatically since last

A tale of two teams Thai Premier League

Two teams. Two fans. Two very different seasons

Tyear with a huge increase in investment and public interest. I think the top four places in the league will be filled by Chonburi, Muang Thong United, Bangkok Glass and Buriram. If the club invests some of the ‘True’ funds in a couple of new key players, I am confident we should be able to cement 5th or 6th place and challenge for the title in the following season.

Players to watch: Goalkeeper Weera ‘Rah’ Koedpudsa is vital for the team and must be due a call up to the Thailand squad soon. In front of him, club captain and central defender Patiparn ‘Tob’ Phetphun (No.7) is a vital stalwart of our defence. He’s joined by left back Kornwit ‘Tui’ Narmwiset (No.3), who offers great links between defence and midfield. Midfield is bolstered by free-kick expert Sattrupai ‘Pai’Sri-Narong (No.33), and also by my predicted player of the season - Masahiro Fukasawa (No.14), who re-signed for the club from Singapore Armed Forces in the close season. Although at 32 he’s not young, he will provide much needed creativity and experience.

Info:Tickets: 60 baht.Season ticket: 1,200 baht (includes a First Team Home Shirt, a BUFC scarf,T-shirt and hat).

www.bangkokunitedfc.com (for info in Englishjoin the ‘Bangkok United FC ExpatSupporters’ Group on Facebook).

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Simon Causton