Q – What first inspired you to get involved in football?
A – When I was eight years old, I went to boarding school in England and that’s when I fell in love with the game. I played as a goalkeeper for the U11, U12 and U13 sides at school because I was taller than most of the English players at that time. I had a dream to become a professional player, then a coach and finally, as I got older, I decided I wanted to manage a team.
Q- How did you first get involved with Bangkok Glass?
A – Once I got back from the States – where I went to university after school – I started working at Bangkok Glass. This was about eighteen years ago. I was part of the plan to encourage the company employees to get involved in sports. We used to organise inter departmental football tournaments for our workers; Packing v Purchasing, Marketing v Production and so forth.
Q – How did this develop?
A – We noticed that we had some good players on the staff and also we had a couple of ex players join the company and this encouraged us to hold a tournament for all the companies in the area. We had a simple grass pitch and we used to organise a lot of fixtures around this time. This was successful so our ambition was to join the Football Association of Thailand and play in the amateur leagues. This would have been in about 2006. We played in the amateur leagues for a couple of years before the opportunity to join the TPL presented itself in 2009.
Q – How did this opportunity come about?
A – In 2009, the AFC forced every football club in the region to become a registered company and not just a department of a corporate company. So that’s when we contacted Krung Thai Bank, who were playing in the TPL. The Bank of Thailand had brought in a rule that stated banks couldn’t be involved in any other businesses. Therefore, they had to shut off the football operation.
Q – Was there any club that you used as a model?
A – Not really. The model for Bangkok Glass FC is mainly based on that of American sports rather than football. We have been playing football in Thailand for the past century or more and I saw that the main thing we didn’t get right was the marketing side of things. Therefore, I thought I would concentrate on this area. I started by introducing the Rabbit Girls, who are based on the American cheerleaders.
Q – So what else did you do to market the club and encourage the fans to come?
A – Football is a hard sport with a very masculine side to it. Therefore, I felt I needed to do something to attract families, females and kids. We started by letting people in for free. Zero baht. Then we looked around and thought about what would be a fair price to charge for tickets and would people be prepared to pay that. We wanted to attract the families to come.
Q – Do you consult the fans on decision making at the club?
A – At the beginning, no, because there were no fans! (laughs) But yes we do now. We have quite a few different fan groups based in areas around the stadium. So basically, we have to keep them happy. They don’t want to be all one group. They want to have their own clans. So our job is to keep all these clans happy. That’s what we try to do.
Q – You’ve already explained how you attracted fans in the first place, but what are you doing now to attract new fans?
A – We know that the only way to fill up a stadium is to win matches. So even though we’ve been concentrating on the commercial side – introducing our own brands and merchandise etc, as well as sponsored brands – we know that we need to be in the top two or three to bring in the crowds. Without that on field success, the marketing will be doomed. We know that.
Q – So what are your plans to strengthen the team in order to do this?
A – Last year, we were looking at which direction we were going to go. Were we going to put pressure on ourselves by attempting to finish in the top three every year and raise the fans’ expectations? Or, were we going to take our time and bring in the youngsters? This latter approach was also a way of encouraging loyalty and commitment from the players and keeping down the wage costs. So, hopefully, by introducing these youngsters now, in three or four years we should have a good team. But in the meantime, what are we going to do? We will have the youngsters in the team but probably no real big name Thai players.
Q – What about foreign players?
A – Next year we will be limited to five foreign players. So, yes, we will spend the money on those imports and not big name Thai players.
Q – Do you think it’s becoming harder for clubs such as Bangkok Glass to remain competitive in the TPL as other clubs gain momentum and have bigger budgets?
A – Yes. It’s becoming harder. The big clubs such as Buriram Utd and Muang Thong Utd, their spending budgets are much bigger than the others. I think we’ve missed our chance to compete already. With better management of the team since 2009, I’m sure we’d have won a few trophies but now it’s harder to catch up.
Q – Do you think that this is something that the TPL needs to address? Maybe introduce a spending limit or a wage cap, like in American sports?
A – I think it’s possible but it we might need to have some sort of crisis first. At the moment there are only a couple of teams with the financial weight. If the league has a crisis and many teams are struggling, then I’m sure some sort of rule will be brought in. But at the moment, it would very difficult to introduce.
Q – What kind of cost is involved in running a football club?
A – To be honest, there is not much money needed. The costs are quite low compared to other countries.
Q – Do you generate much income from your in house catering and drink sales on match days?
A – This is quite lucrative. We realised early on that the only way we could make money from the stadium was to use every single square metre that is available to us. Not to do so would be a waste. Therefore, it is important for us to have lots of activities going on in this space.
Q – Which leads me nicely on to my next question about the artificial pitch. Do you also use that to generate income when it is not being used by the team?
A – Yes. We will rent it out to other companies to use. We also stage concerts here. These type of events are much more feasible with an artificial surface. There is virtually no damage to the surface. Unlike a grass pitch.
Q – What was behind the decision to lay the artificial pitch?
A – The drainage system in this area is poor. The land around here gets flooded easily and frequently. No matter how hard you work to maintain a grass pitch, there are still problems. We learnt after two or three years with a grass pitch that it was very difficult to look after.
Q – Do you think more Thai clubs should install such a surface?
A – No. Not really.
Q – Why?
A – Basically, because we currently have an advantage. (laughs) If you look at the history of our five seasons here – except this season to date – we’ve only lost an average of two matches per season. However, our away form sucks. But that’s maybe down to the mentality of the players. It can be a psychological problem.
Q – From the pitch to the stadium in general. You do have a very impressive set up here but, please can you tell us what is the issue with the fourth stand?
A – We are talking to the owner of the land but, at the same time, there’s more to it. He wants us to buy all the land, right from the main road down to the other side. He also wants us to find him an alternative venue for his Isuzu dealership. They are a big company and have a lot of dealerships around Thailand. He doesn’t know much about this area so he’s asked us to help him find somewhere suitable and we are currently in the process of doing that.
Q – Does it bother you that you only have a three sided ground?
A – Not really. It’s unique. People think that a football stadium should have four sides but for me it’s not really a problem. Plus, the sponsors love it. There’s much more room for their advertising.
Q – So, would you be happy to leave it as it is?
A – Have you seen the Boca Juniors stadium in Buenos Aries? That is built in a ‘C’ shape, with a tall building running down one side filled with VIP boxes. We are looking at that. We would like to do something similar and make any new stand exclusive. We know that in this area, there are many people with money to spend who would be attracted by that. Ideally, we’d like to keep the stadium capacity to 13,000 – 15,000 and no more.
Q – Are there any plans to further develop other areas of the stadium? Maybe put a roof on the open terraces?
A – No. I think the rest of the stadium is virtually complete. However, we are trying to develop other areas inside the complex. Take the sports hall for example. Our volleyball team – who have just won their league – will use that. We are also hoping that fans of the volleyball team will take an interest in the football. We are trying to establish a Bangkok Glass sports club and build a sports complex here. That’s really our plan, to develop other areas of the land we have. This is also another way we can build our fan base.
Q – What is your day to day involvement in the running of the club?
A – It used to be every day but now I rarely get involved. We have a lot of people working at the club now so I’m happy to leave them to it. We put the systems in place many years ago so, even without me being here, the club is still running smoothly.
Q – And are you happy with everything that you’ve done?
A – No. Not really. You’re never happy because I think that every area of the organisation can improve. But you have to be realistic. These improvements could come next month, next year or even further in the future.
Q – What is it that you most enjoy about your role here?
A – Watching the players practice. I don’t really enjoy watching the matches.
Q – Is that because you’re having a bad season?
A – No. It’s been that way for a while now. I used to go to every match but last year was the first year that I stopped going to away matches. You would get situations when chairmen who are good friends would fall out over referees. That wasn’t fun. Also, I think the security side of things is getting stricter. And I started to feel that it’s just not fun anymore. So, watching the players train or watching the youth teams is more enjoyable for me now.
Q- I know what you mean about the security. It is silly and unnecessary at some grounds. One of the reasons I enjoy coming here is that you seem to have the balance right. You treat fans with respect.
A – Thank you. We have worked hard on this. I went to watch some football in England and it was so restrictive. There were too many rules and it’s beginning to get a bit like that here. We are also lucky – and when you talk to anyone in the Thai football industry they will agree with this – that we are a club that doesn’t have a corruptive mentality. We are one team that doesn’t really care about the results. We treat football as an entertainment business and that’s why we aren’t considered a threat to anyone. And why we treat the fans well.
Q – The security at Chonburi has certainly become stricter and therefore, it has become a less enjoyable experience.
A – I’m sure it will get stricter everywhere. Most of the fans are nice but there are some who are out to cause trouble.
Q – One final question: Five years from now, where do you see yourself and the club?
A – I’d like to see us develop as a large sports club, including volleyball, football and other sports, using the facilities on the complex. As regards the football team. I’d like to see us continue to develop the youngsters and hopefully, in a few years time, they will be the core of a strong team that can challenge for honours. But even within that five year period, I would hope that we could still challenge for trophies.
Q – Thank you very much for that. I really appreciate it.
A – You’re welcome.
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