by Anna
23rd August, 2014
Since moving to Thailand, I have become heavily reliant on Twitter as a way of coming up with the football news from England. As a lifelong Everton fan, I was so happy when they played in Bangkok towards the end of July (even if we did lose) – it was great to go to a match and watch live football again.
I then began tweeting with the supporters club for Chonburi FC and I was so excited when they invited me (and my friend Nicky) to go and watch their next home game against Muang Thong Utd a few weeks ago.
I had been keen to see a Thai football match since moving to Bangkok, and given the link with Everton, it seemed apt to go and support Chonburi.
About an hour and a half from Bangkok by bus, Chonburi couldn’t be easier to reach, and our hotel was nice and close to the ground.
Nicky and I spent a bit of time wandering around the ground, and then sat by the lake refreshing ourselves with a beverage or two before kick off.
We then met up with Dale, Mark, and the other guys from the supporters club and had a couple of beers before heading into the ground.
We went in just as it was kick off and I was immediately struck by the atmosphere which was incredible. I don’t think the singing and chanting stopped for the whole 90 minutes – it was impossible not to join in and Nicky and I quickly got to learn the songs. The volume and passion of the singing doesn’t really come across from my videos but hopefully gives a flavour.
There were very few expats in attendance at the game, and I believe Nicky and I were the only female foreigners and initially we got a few stares and smiles, but we were made to feel so welcome by everyone. It was also nice to see what a family place it was with children of all ages enjoying the game.
The quality of football was admittedly not quite the same as the Barclays Premier League, but this was probably the most fun I have had at a match – I always get a slight pit in my stomach when watching Everton so it was nice to be able to just relax and soak up the atmosphere and game.
It was fantastic that Chonburi won 2-0, with celebrations being rounded off with a Mexican wave around the stadium.
I also found it really refreshing to see how much respect the players gave their fans – at the end of the match all of the team took the time to wander around the pitch thanking all of the fans. They were also more than happy to pose for photographs (yes we took full advantage of this) and chat to fans before going home.
Our tickets were only 100B each – I can’t wait to go back – thanks Dale for the invitation!
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