NEW!! From The Stingray To The Swatcats by Paul Hewitt: 2020

From The Stingray To The Swatcats

by Paul Hewitt

Thanks to the magic of Wikipedia I can pinpoint the exact day my association with Thai football began. It was December the 9th 2006 as I watched the Thai U-23s lose 3-0 to Qatar at the 15th Asian Games in Doha. Well, the match was in Doha; I was at home in a rural part of the East Midlands as Eurosport, never knowingly not obscure, and in spite of the channel’s name, beamed this sun-kissed feast of Asian football into my wintry living room. My interest in the Kingdom had been roused by several holidays and the inevitable romantic entanglement. Fast-forward ten months from that December day and I’m sitting on a plane with a one-way ticket to Bangkok. A new life as a teacher in Nakhon Ratchasima awaited.

My sole priority before departure, obviously, was discovering what, if any, local football club existed. I was in luck as the fans of Nakhon Ratchasima F.C (aka ‘Korat Stingray’) were ahead of the online game having set up koratfc.net as far back as the early noughties (Don’t search for the site. It’s been deleted now and you will probably get redirected somewhere unpleasant). Fixtures, results and tables were all kept up to date and though everything was written in Thai I soon learnt to sight read ‘Nakhon Ratchasima’ – the first Thai word I learnt to read. A few tentative questions on the site’s webboard elicited responses from a few English speakers: ‘Kob’, ‘Arroon’ and ‘Del’ remain friends to this day.

Having successfully established that the team played at the Central Stadium close to the city centre and that said stadium could be reached by the number four song-taew, I excitedly embarked upon my adventure as a foreign fan of a Thai football club. I knew from online research that the stadium was a small, municipal affair with obligatory athletics track (it had in fact been recently renovated with a re-laid pitch, red plastic seats added to the main stand and an athletics ‘Tartan Track’ installed as the stadium was one of the 2007 SEA Games venues) and having gained admittance in exchange for twenty baht I settled down on that sweltering afternoon of April the 5th 2008 for my first Thai league match. Among a crowd of about 200, I was interested to discover a small singing section of a dozen or so fans, and I was pleased to meet my online helpers in person. 

Korat lost the match 2-1 against Samut Prakan though the visitors had a player dismissed. Further home matches followed against Satun (won 4-1) and Sakon Nakhon (won 6-1) when my winning new team was stolen away from me. The incomprehensible decision was made to move a football club with a couple of hundred fans to the cavernous out-of-town 80th Birthday Stadium – capacity 20,000 (and, because this will bear on issues to come, the capacity is 20,000. I’ve personally counted the seats in the stadium when the ground was empty. Yes, I really have!). So with no means of transporting myself to the far-flung stadium, I had to hope that in 2009 the club would either lay on transport for fans to get to the new stadium or better still move back to the city. After all, why play in such a large venue when the football fans of Korat plainly weren’t interested in their local team?

In 2009, the club did decide to stay at the stadium as the club was relaunched as the ‘Swatcat(s)’ for the inaugural Regional League season. It proved to be the correct decision as home attendances rose rapidly throughout the year. A combination of the launch of the Regional League, high-scoring, exciting performances on the pitch and much improved promotion of the club led by youthful and enthusiastic chairman Phollapee Suwanchee saw attendances rise from a few hundred to 3,000 on a good day. It was a remarkable and memorable season. It was perhaps the final season that the team could be described as ‘local’. It was stocked with korat natives. First team regulars Yongyuth Judto, Kitti Soraro, Uthai Piewngern, Somyot Wanasut, Phanomkorn Charot, Boonyarit Ladkrathok, Jiranawut Thiprod, Pakpoom Manaying, Surachet Charoensuk, Kongnatee Boonma, Pratheep Supapong and Promphong Kransumrong all hailed from the province – more than half were also serving members of the army. 

Striker Promphong was a revelation. The slight youngster from Khonburi district scored for fun including a double hattrick in an 8-0 demolition of Roiet. The season became a two-horse race between Korat and Loei. The two sides played out an amazing match in Korat in which the home side won 4-2 (this match featured the greatest goal I’ve ever seen from a Korat player as Jiranawut scored a stunning solo effort) but would ultimately be pipped to the title by Loei on the final day. Some consolation was achieved with a fine cup run which include giant killings against the likes of Customs, Army and Pattaya United, and came to an end away at TPL side Thai Port in the quarter-finals – the only third tier side to reach the quarter-finals that season.

Despite the disappointment in the league, the club had taken huge strides forward and were odds-on to go one better in 2010, particularly as Loei’s star midfielder Bani Abeiku and one David Lebras were close-season recruits. David was a volatile but undoubtedly talented midfielder who had made his name in Thailand as one of BEC Tero’s star players in 2007. A high-profile move to champions Chonburi didn’t work out and the Breton was plugging away in the Swiss fifth tier when he contacted me through the NRFC website I was running at the time. He was under the impression that it was an official site run by the club when he sent his come-and-get-me message (actually, ‘can-I-come-and-play-for-you?’ message would be more precise) and was somewhat embarrassed to discover I was just a fan and not even a Thai one at that. But I was able to help get David to a trial and he duly signed for the club in January 2010, so beginning a tumultuous three years at the club.

This unorthodox way in which a player came to the club’s attention reveals how, despite appearances, the club was still essentially very small. For years, the club had no publicly available phone number or email address; no office or club shop opened during weekdays. The official website seemed to change address almost weekly and was thin on content and inconsistently updated. The club, even when flying high in Division 1 as was, really only consisted of the squad, coaches and a handful of directors, and it was only a fully functioning football club for a few hours on match day. Like the wizard in the Emerald City, pull back the curtain and what lies behind is rather unimpressive.

The 2010 season was an anti-climax after the excitement and drama of 2009. The balance of power in the North-East Division had shifted east to Buriram as politician Newin Chidchob took over local side Buriram F.C as well as moving PEA F.C to the province. The latter would become Buriram United. Korat endured painful 0-3 and 0-4 derby defeats to Buriram and exited both cups early. David and Bani certainly excelled – a 1-0 win in another derby match at Chaiyaphum with David scoring the winning goal was a rare memorable moment, but shorn of the services of prolific Promphong, who had secured a move to BEC Tero, the team lacked sufficient firepower to finish in the top three and enter the play-offs. Loei actually ended up as champions with Buriram two points behind in second. But Loei would miss out in the play-offs for the second successive season while Buriram went up. Korat finished fifth out of sixteen. Not a disaster but a backwards step certainly from 2009. Crowds had plummeted too and there was even close-season talk of moving back to the city-proper and using the old Army Stadium which the club had predominantly used from its formation in 1999 up to 2006. Once again, Korat decided to stay at the 80th Birthday Stadium for what would prove to be my most memorable season as a football fan.

Korat had a stunningly effective team in 2011. In particular, a midfield composed of David, Bani, Pakpoom and Jiranawut that I feel could have graced the TPL that season. A couple of months into the season, Promphing returned from BEC Tero via Chantaburi and Korat were unstoppable. Top-of-the-table unbeaten Roiet pitched up in Korat on the thirteenth match day of the season and were sent packing with a 3-1 defeat including an outrageous Beckham-esque halfway line goal from Pakpoom. Further spankings were handed out to Sakon Nakhon and Nakhon Phanom, both 4-0; Udon Thani were beaten 3-0 away and 3-1 at home; a derby double was also completed over Chaiyaphum with a 2-0 away win and a 3-0 home win. Halfway through the season the only question was whether Korat would finish first or second – which didn’t really matter either way as the top two places both offered an automatic play-off berth whilst the play-offs could also be entered through the back door by being one of the best third-place finishers out of the five Regional League divisions.      

But it all came to a juddering halt at the beginning of August when Korat were deducted nine points for fielding an ineligible player in three matches. It seemed harsh in the extreme as the player in question was an unused substitute in one of the three games. It was a sickening blow. Korat would possibly have to win all of their remaining ten games to reach the play-offs. Korat’s response was thrilling. The three games after the deduction was confirmed resulted in 5-0, 3-1 and 8-2 wins over Ubon Tiger, Loei City and Nong Bua Lamphu. A pair of 1-0 away wins at Yasothon and Nong Khai followed. There was no chance of Korat finishing in the top two now but they were certainly in with a chance of claiming a best third place berth. Consequently, Korat’s main rival at that time was a team in another division: Samut Sakhon of the Central & East Division who were also pushing hard for that best third place finish. Korat’s progress was checked by a 2-2 draw with Surin and the team’s only defeat of the regular season 3-1 away at Roiet. But normal service was resumed with 1-0 and 3-0 wins over Sakon Nakhon and Amnat Charoen.

Korat were on the verge of the miraculous. A win on the final day at Mahasarakham would guarantee a play-off place. Any slip-ups and Samut Sakhon would take it if they could win away at the champions of their division, Ratchaburi. Korat made the relatively short journey to Mahasarakham with a slew of first-teamers missing: David, Promphong, Pakpoom and defender Phossawee were all missing. A dull first half finished 0-0, and shortly into the second period the dreaded news came through that Samut Sakhon had taken the lead. Korat needed a goal even though Ratchaburi soon got back on level terms against Samut Sakhon. The golden moment came in the 75th minute as long-serving super-sub Pratheep Supapong , a Korat native and serving member of the army, tapped in after the home keeper spilt a long-range shot. Korat were now in pole position but some oil was thrown on the track as Samut Sakhon regained the lead at Ratchaburi. But Korat just held on as the large travelling contingent stormed the pitch to celebrate the culmination of an astonishing resurrection after that controversial points deduction. Now the play-offs awaited.

Promotion from the Regional League was devilishly difficult. The maths alone made it highly improbable. Eighty-odd teams from across five divisions were reduced to twelve who went into two groups of six for the play-offs with the top two from each group gaining promotion to Division 1. Korat were in a group with familiar foes Roiet and less familiar Lamphun, Krabi, North Bangkok and Rayong F.C.

Korat’s first game of the play-off campaign was away at hot favourites Roiet. The home side edged an even match 2-1 but just a few days later the result was overturned and the three points awarded to Korat as Roiet were punished for fielding an ineligible player. How we laughed!

There followed a narrow 2-1 home win against North Bangkok, a 1-0 defeat at home to Krabi and a dire 0-0 draw at Lamphun. Thank goodness for that reversed result at Roiet because Korat were looking unsteady and unsure of themselves in this elite company. Nerves were steadied with a reasonably convincing 2-0 home win over Rayong which was almost immediately nullified with a 3-2 defeat in the reverse fixture a week later. The game was marred by players brawling after the final whistle – trouble which spread to the stands. Rumours abounded that Rayong would be deducted points, but in the end were ordered to play a match at a neutral venue.

Korat’s play-off hopes were in the balance when struggling Lamphun visited on match day 7. Pre-match nerves became grave concerns when, just before kick-off, the floodlights went off. We sat and waited. And waited. And after an hour and a half we trudged away from the stadium. Would Korat be deducted points again? Would Lamphun be awarded the win? Surely the season isn’t going to end like this? Just as we reached the car the floodlights flickered back into life. Then went out. Then came back on again. We ran back to the stadium like over-excited kids and the match did eventually get underway, a full one hour forty-five minutes late. What a lifeline Korat had been thrown but again looked inhibited by the challenge of the play-offs; a shadow of the team that steam-rollered the opposition during the regular season. 

Another dull 0-0 was on the cards until a tiring Lamphun defence left striker Marcel unmarked and he nodded home a pinpoint cross with a couple of minutes left on the clock. The stadium exploded; Marcel and David made a beeline for the heaving mass of fans at the scoreboard end of the ground. The single most memorable moment of my life as a Korat fan; a spine-tingling moment. Hope had returned. And that hope became something more concrete with an improbable 1-0 win away at far-flung Krabi a week later – Marcel again scoring the winner. These back-to-back wins, along with favourable results elsewhere, had put Korat in control of the group. A win at North Bangkok would guarantee promotion if results elsewhere again went their way. The match took place at the Thephasadin Stadium, next door to the old Suphachalasai National Stadium and several hundred Korat fans were on hand to witness history.

After all the astonishing drama of the season so far the denouement, when it came, was mercifully pedestrian. Korat strolled to a straight-forward 2-0 win thanks to goals from Marcel and Jiranawut. But there was one more act to come a week later as Korat hosted Roiet on the final match day. Roiet had topped the table during the regular season, but had failed to recover from the points deduction at the start of the play-offs and arrived in Korat a chastened side, promotion beyond them.

I sat in the stadium, in a crowd of around 15,000 (an almost unfathomably large crowd for a Regional League play-off match) remembering that just three and a half years earlier I had been one of 200 at the old Central Stadium. Korat won an otherwise unremarkable match 1-0 thanks to a penalty scored by a certain David Lebras. It was an emotional moment. How deeply attached to a club one can get, and how quickly, is almost inexplicable; a club on the other side of the world that I have no real “right” to support. But that season felt every bit as special and as personal as anything I’ve experienced as a supporter in England.

In some ways, that’s where my Thai football story ends. I was there for the 2012 Division 1 season. The new boys acquitted themselves well, finishing in eighth. But there was little in the way of drama. Attendances continued to rise – Korat were comfortably the best-supported side in the division; the budget rose exponentially; political bigwig Suwat Liptapanlop displaced the well-liked Phollapee (his vision to relaunch the club as Swatcats and move it to the 80th Birthday Stadium had been more than justified); many big money signings were made; the 2011 squad was quickly broken up – David and Bani two of those departing. Inevitably, the bond between fans and club, forged in the fires of 2009 and 2011, was broken.

My time in Thailand was coming to an end. My final game was on March the 17th 2013. Korat beat Nakhon Pathom 1-0. The goal scorer, local boy and hero of 2009 and 2011, Promphong Kransumrong. It was the perfect goodbye. Two weeks later I was back in England where I remain to this day. Korat finished fifth in 2013 and achieved promotion to the top flight a year later. I don’t regret missing out on that promotion season. Korat’s budget and level of support made promotion to the TPL a matter of ‘when’ not ‘if’. I officially cut ties with the club in 2015 when I shut down the website following the club’s decision to put supporters’ lives at risk by admitting over 30,000 fans into a stadium which holds 20,000. Besides, maintaining enthusiasm for a team when you’re on the other side of the world and not seeing any matches is a challenge.

My relationship with the club is at an end as is the relationship which took me to Thailand in the first place. I’m a gardener in England. As I rake leaves off a lawn on this damp, day in Lincolnshire, how far away seem those heady nights under the lights in Korat watching Promphong score another scorcher; seeing Pakpoom chip the Roiet keeper from the halfway line; seeing promotion achieved on that steamy night in downtown Bangkok. How quickly those memorable years retreat into history! But the legacy is friendships that have stood and I hope will continue to stand the test of time. And 2011. I will always have 2011. 

As for David, he never left. Yes, he left the club in 2012 (the three season he spent at Korat is the longest he spent at any club in his career) but always based himself in Korat as he bounced from club to club in the lower echelons of Thai football. Today he runs a soccer school in Soeng Sang district. Pratheep Supapong is his assistant.