31st July, 2018
Q - Please can you introduce yourself
Hello. I’m Richard. I’m 48 and live in Berkshire, in England. I work in the small town of Marlow as a software developer, and my main hobbies are going to football (mainly Reading FC) and travel, and combining the two if I can.
Q - How long have you been a groundhopper and what first got you interested?
Oddly, I’ve never really considered myself a groundhopper. I just found it interesting to arrange trips away, weekend breaks etc, and squeeze in a game or two if I could. I’d been on quite a few such breaks, first inspired by a Reading FC foreign pre-season trip in 1998, even if it was to just a Dutch training ground, but it wasn’t until I did a weekend to Germany to see Borussia Dortmund and then Köln that I started taking trips where the main reason was football.
To me, a decent football ground is just as much a landmark of a city as the conventional tourist sites, so it was an extension of tourism. I actually found it quite exciting going to these grounds that I sort of knew about, either from TV, or the Simon Inglis Football Ground of Europe book.
For domestic games, I used to travel away a lot with Reading, but had stopped for a number of years. Then a mate started going to random games, and would ask me if I’d like to make a day of it.
Q - What are the best things about what you do?
A sporting event typically isn’t something tourists go to, so you always feel you are seeing an authentic side of the city you are in, well off the normal tourist trail. It’s good to experience the different football cultures of each country, enjoying both the similarities and the differences in equal measure.
Q - And what are the biggest frustrations or challenges you face?
With foreign trips, games being moved for tv are a huge frustration. In some countries, unless you can plan to arrive Friday and leave on Tuesday, you can’t guarantee being there when the game is being played. I have travelled to a few games, only to find no game on at all. Some games also don’t live up to the billing. I went to Japan in 2008, and one of the supposed highlights, right at the end of the trip, was going to a Urawa Red Diamonds match in front of 45,000 at Saitama Stadium. The game ended 0-0, and was about as bad a 0-0 as you can imagine.
Q - What has been the funniest thing that has happened to you on your adventures?
Nothing hilarious stands out, but I did like it that when I went to Kyoto Purple Sanga on a very humid evening, the fans were applauding by hitting their right hand against the plastic hand-fans they were fanning themselves with, which meant I’d gone to the home if Zen Buddhism and heard the sound of one hand clapping.
The thing that makes other people laugh though was that I missed 65 minutes of the 2006 UEFA Cup Final after being nabbed by the police be having a pee behind a bush. I was in the cells for nearly 3 hours and fined €100. I still saw three of the four goals though, so it wasn’t all bad.
Q - Which Thai grounds have you visited?
First was the Thai Army stadium, for an U-19 Asian Cup qualifier v South Korea. It was a group game, and South Korea had to beat Thailand to qualify. However if South Korea only won by a single goal, and Thailand scored a goal, for example a 2-1 victory to South Korea, then both team would qualify. Amazingly, the game ended 2-1 to South Korea.
On a trip in 2011 I went to four games. First was Sriracha (pictured). Next was BEC Tero Sasana at the smaller stadium next to the National Stadium at the end of the Skytrain line in Bangkok. I had no idea a game was on that day. I was just in the area late in the afternoon, and saw activity, and found out there was a match two hours later.
Next on that trip was a trek to Pathum Thani, for a Bangkok Glass game. That was the first game back at Leo Stadium after the terrible floods that year. I’d been in touch with a guy who was “BG Man”, the Bangkok Glass mascot, who lived in one of the streets near the stadium. As the floodwaters came, he waited for an evacuation that didn’t come, and eventually lost his house, his dog, and everything he owned. Even though the road past Klong Rangsit had been declared passable for a few days before the game, I was still lucky to find a taxi that would take me, as the water was still up to the taxi’s door sills in places, and you could see many homes down the sois still under water, as well as dirty brown marks extended up the walls of most buildings, showing just how high the water had been.
Many would think football doesn’t matter in times like that, but there did feel a sense of community among the fans. I could have been imagining it, but it did feel like the game helped them pull together. It was strange that after all that, they still felt compelled to have a minute’s silence before the game for Gary Speed, who died a few days earlier.
I also went to Thai Port the following afternoon. I sat in the main stand for shade, as it was a baking hot day, and to find the main stand had no back wall, and the sun shines in and cooks you just as much.
In 2017 I went to the main National Stadium for a Muang Thong United match v Kashima Antlers, again without knowing there was a game on until a few hours before. I had meant to go Muang Thong Utd’s ground for a game a few days later, but it got switched to an away game for some reason.
Q - You recently visited Chonburi Stadium. Why did you choose to come to the match against Sukhothai?
Without being impolite, a lack of other options. I was finishing up a trip to Vietnam and Cambodia with a few days in Thailand, opting to give Pattaya second chance after a slightly disappointing stay there a few years before; I’d just found it not as laid back as other places in Thailand and too much hassle. I’d been tempted partly because I liked the look of PTT Rayong’s stadium, with Pattaya United being a fallback option. The trip was arranged long before the fixtures came out, and there was only a 1 in 4 chance, I thought, of them both being away.
As it turned out PTT Rayong had a bye that weekend, due to uneven numbers in the 2nd division, and Pattaya United were away. This left three options. Navy FC were at home, but I didn’t fancy their ground. Pattaya youth were also at home in the 4th division, but that was too obscure even for me, so I decided I would go to Chonburi, as long as I could hire a taxi driver for a half-decent price for the evening.
Q - How easy was it to find information about the match beforehand?
Thanks to google chrome’s auto-translate, I could understand the Thai League website to confirm times and dates. I knew where the ground was from google maps. Soccerway.com showed that the ground selling out wasn’t likely, so no need to get a ticket in advance. Buying a ticket was slightly awkward due to the language barrier, but we got there in the end. All the staff seemed very helpful. I’ve no complaints in that respect.
Q- Was there anything that you particularly liked about our ground?
I did like the little pagoda in one corner. I like little quirks like that.
Q - What were you most disappointed with?
It was a shame the crowd wasn’t bigger, but Buriram Utd’s continued dominance looks like it’s killing what had been a growing league.
Q - What were your overall impressions of the match and how did the standard compare to other Thai league matches you've seen?
It was on par with the other games I saw. Nobody would claim the Thai League is of a standard that compares to the best, but it’s good enough for games to be enjoyable, and there’s generally an enthusiasm both on and off the pitch at Thai games that makes it a good experience.
Q - How does Chonburi Stadium and atmosphere compare to other Thai grounds you've visited?
I’d say about average. I preferred the National Stadium, Leo Stadium, and Thai Port’s stadium. Chonburi suffers from having the running track, but the ground itself it fine.
Q - Would you consider coming back?
I’d be unlikely to come back, purely because I’m not likely to ever spend time actually in Chonburi, and hiring a taxi from Pattaya or Bangkok for the evening isn’t the cheapest option, but I would recommend it to anyone else in the area looking for a football fix.
Q - If you could give the Chonburi management any advice on how to improve the match day experience, what would it be?
It’s be great if Chonburi could have a more enclosed stadium, no track, but that’s not really in their hands. One thing I would do is have food/drink stalls inside the stadium.
Q - Is there anything else you'd like to add?
Just good luck for the future.
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