28th April, 2013
by Tim Spear
Stadium
Suphanburi Municipal Stadium.
We arrived 5 hours before the game, and were impressed with the stadium and the ongoing work for improvements. The bank of home fans was impressive, and offered a great view of the pitch. It is good to see that 3 of the stands will eventually be covered.
Transport
Car
Cost
A full tank of diesel, so B1,600. Also tolls, which mounted up, but B230 in total.
Travelling Time (total journey)
We left Banglamung at 9am and arrived by car at 1pm after a number of extended stops. It was great to see so many vehicles (cars, buses and motorcycles) on the way with Chonburi Stickers. It took us roughly 4 hours each way so total time 8 hours. This would have been considerably less if the signposts in Bangkok were organised. We ended driving into the centre of the city, when we wished to travel on the expressways. Perhaps this is one reason why Bangkok is so crowded on the roads.
Total Distance Travelled
Not sure on this one - just a lot!
Match Ticket
B120 for the away end. This was B20 more than the home fans were paying, and we were in an unfinished stand. Still it was all worth it.
Programme
One was available, and looked larger than ours, but unfortunately I didn't get one.
Club Shop
An open stand where the queues were huge. Didn't manage to get around to this, but they were clearly doing very brisk business. The home fans were almost all wearing the new colours of their team.
Away End
As I said above the stand was unfinished. The away end was full 60 minutes before the start of the game, so was very crowded. I think we took more fans than they expected.
Staff
All very friendly and jolly. Entering the ground was a pleasure and very efficient. When buying tickets we were helped to the correct location.
Food
The usual range was available at the stadium, but we had already eaten in town at an excellent and very cheap restaurant.
Beer
Of course! The club were selling Chang and 2 large exports for B100 was sufficient. However, our fans were selling Leo, so we changed to this when they arrived. Food and drink was allowed in the stadium, which was a breath of fresh air.
Highlight of the Day
Everything really from the build up and the number of Chonburi fans. It was this that stands out in my mind more than anything else. We were not sure why our "goal" was disallowed. A great overall performance and we won well, away from home, which made a huge difference as often we are so toothless on our travels.
Another highlight was not seeing any member of the management team threaten or take photos of the fans. The behavoiur of the coach and manager at the club's last match was very unbecoming. I am surprised that an apology was not issued, rather than a verbal attack on a few fans on television and the newspapers.
Overall Experience
A very likeable club and set of fans. Supanburi has a good team that play good attractive football, and their fans support the team without the horrible synchronized effort of a Buriram.
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