In January, 2013 I received a request for seven old style Chonburi FC badges, from an amateur footballer in the north west of England. His team wear our 2010 orange shirt for their league games and he wanted the badges to sew on the change strip. I offered to send them to him on the condition that he agreed to be interviewed for this site and explain how an amateur league team in Lancashire ended up sporting Chonburi shirts.
Here's what he had to say:
Q - Please can you start by introducing yourself.
A – My name is Marc Stevenson. I’m 27 years old and I come from Manchester in England.Q - What is the name of your team?
A - We are called Lees Park Rangers.
Q - Where are you based?
A – We are based in Tameside.
Q - How long have you been together?
A – We have been together for 3 years.
Q - Which league do you play in?
A – We play in the Ashton under Lyne 6 a side Division 1.
Q - What is the standard like?
A - The league is of a very high standard, with good players and some very well drilled teams.
Q - What sort of season are you having?
A - We’ve got off to a good start. We finished 4th last season and after one game of our new season, we are currently joint 2nd.
Q - Which has been your best performance this season?
A - We’ve only played one game so far this season but our best result last season was when we beat the team who were top of the league.
Q - Who is your best player and why?
A - Ooohh, thats a tough one! I'm going to be diplomatic and say we all bring something different to the team. Glyn Rolfe gets our goals, Adam Hatton is our work horse, Jamie Ainscow has safe hands in nets, Rob Cunliffe and myself play at the back and try to give Jamie an easy game, Rob Royal and Rob Clarke make the most of the plays going forward.
Q - How did you happen to start wearing the Chonburi kit?
A - We started wearing the Chonburi kit because, Rob knew a lad at university from Thailand, called Pong Cherisuriwankit. He started playing for us and was our top scorer for a few seasons. Pong used to turn up to training in his Chonburi shirt and we all agreed it looked amazing. So when Pong went back to Thailand he brought us some shirts back for the team.
Q - What was the reaction from your team mates when you first introduced the Chonburi shirts?
A - They loved them.
Q - Do you have names and numbers on the back?
A – Yes, we have nicknames on our shirts and numbers too.
Q - What sort of reaction does the kit get from other teams?
A – It always gets positive comments and we get asked "what teams that?" When we explain to them we get a thumbs up and a "nice kit" comment.
Q - Which kit did you play in before?
A – A Donnay yellow and black striped long sleeved top. Which was a bit boring.
Q - How closely do you follow Chonburi FC?
A – I always keep an eye on the league table but there's a lack of TV coverage of the TPL in the UK.
Q - Does anyone else in your team follow Chonburi?
A - We are all football fans at heart and have an interest in pretty much all leagues.
Q - Would you like to visit Chonburi for a match?
A – Yes we would love to see Chonburi in action if the opportunity came around.
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