Peter's article on the state of Thai football, from September, 2018.
Baum’s children’s book The Wizard of Oz portrays Dorothy following the road in the hope of finding good things. A metaphor for the new immigrants to the US who had been told the streets were paved in gold, it has come to symbolize hope for the future. Chasing the dream, which is what it appears the Thai footballing authorities are staking their future and the future of the game upon. But what dream do they chase?
Surely not the English Premier league which so many Thais seem to be obsessed with. A league destroyed by owners with ulterior motives outside of football, where the influx of foreign money, some if I am being generous, from dubious sources that has turned the league into a rather expensive circus act. Where the total disaster of not having a cap on the number of foreign players has led to teams taking the field with not one player from England in this English league in the starting line-up. That’s an intelligent idea isn’t it. Only for fools.
A league where clubs buy players just to make sure another club doesn’t get them and then lend them out to other clubs. A league that professes itself to be the world’s best. It’s not of course, the Bundesliga and La Liga are far better. Is that Thailand’s Yellow brick Road? Do the powers that be look at it and think they can create the same in Thailand. Surely not. You can copy the image of it but it would be like building the body of a BMW and having no engine. In any case why would you want to copy it?
Thailand should be building its own footballing identity, using the best of the knowledge they can glean from successful nations and applying it. But do the Thai football authorities actually want that? And just who is actually singing the tune the Thai FA or the TPL? Sounds like an English idea that one, with the English FA and PL constantly at odds with each other. One trying in its antiquated way to improve the game, the other prostituted to its ‘money masters’. Does the Thai FA tell the PL what will happen or is the tail wagging the dog?
For Thailand to shake off its amateur status in world football much has to be done but it could be managed. The FA can make little inroads with the most basic of things. Ensure referees are trained properly, teach officials about offside, issue instructions to clubs re players time wasting and feigning injury and then monitor it, help clubs prepare effective business models, ensure that the most basic of activities like taking a throw in conform to the laws of the game. That is if they actually think change is necessary. It’s possible they think that by ignoring the problems they will go away. They won’t.
The clubs themselves could start it off, but that is unlikely as most of the powers that be at the clubs don’t think anything is wrong. Surely though they see that whatever business plan they have in place is unfit for purpose. Assuming firstly there is a plan and secondly that the idea is to be as profitable as possible.
Where do football clubs get their money? There are ‘fixed’ and ‘fluctuating’ income streams. The fixed are contracted issues that provide a pre-agreed level of funding. This might come from TV rights, Transfers, Sponsorships or other partnership arrangements. They are fixed amounts, some incremental but they arrive without question. Clubs therefore should focus their attention on the fluctuating streams. Income they can do something about on an ongoing basis. The most important of these is attendance at matches. Attendance has its spin offs in terms of merchandising and cash brought in on matchdays. It is vital.
Those that dispute this should ask themselves the question why clubs all round Europe are increasing the size of their stadiums. And therein lies the next problem. Facility. With a few exceptions they are not football stadiums but community sports facilities complete with a running track. This is not good for a football atmosphere at all. They offer nothing to what a football stadium should be. In fact the worst football ‘stadium’ I have been to anywhere in the world is just down the road from here in Nakhon Ratchasima. Take your binoculars.
When a Thai premier league club gets attendances of 2000 that is a very poor return. Clubs that have that number are not well run. In fact anything less than 10,000, depending on the clubs location, is not acceptable neither can it be profitable. I know amateur clubs in the UK that get more than 2000 despite being surrounded by 5 PL clubs and 6 Championship clubs,. A club needs to make what is known as ‘operational profit’ and not rely on the ‘sugar daddys. If a club has 2000 coming along the income will be roughly 200,000 baht. Every two weeks. Anyone with the right approach can turn that, after planning, into 600,000 baht inside 3 months. In real terms that equates to about 7 million baht per season. Is any owner going to say they don’t need it? It really isn’t that hard.
All of these issues are correctible with the right activity but if not addressed will worsen over time. Certainly in the four years and a bit I have been here standards seem to have lowered on the pitch, haven’t noticeably improved off it and attendances are at most clubs down. The national team embarrassed themselves in a futile attempt at WC qualification and the U23’s recently did no better. But there still seems to be this belief that things will get better without attention to the details. Just follow the Yellow Brick Road.
I hope that road is not the English PL. I don’t often watch those games anymore but did turn on to watch Chelsea’s foreigners play Manchester United’s foreigners. Turned it off. Just a circus, inclusive of animals and self-opinionated ringmasters. Yes, I have a problem with it. My problem is they go on about how wonderful it is, about the quality on show, but they have done nothing themselves to attain it other than getting a cheque book out. Is that where the Thais want to go? And all the money spent does it bring automatic success? Not always. The Thai PL already has its share of foreign ‘talent’ earning a pretty penny for very little ability.
Thais should look beyond it and learn from the best. Get the German strength in depth of their league, the Spanish ideas on how to fill a stadium, the Dutch to learn how to produce world class juniors, anyone who can teach them a little about marketing (not merchandising) and avoid England at all costs. Thailand has a population that loves football. Translating that love of the game into regular attendance is the trick, but at least it’s there. They have players who with the right coaching and disciplined approaches to playing the game could make an impact. The raw material exists. But to build your BMW there is more involved than what it looks like. It does actually need its engine.
For Thailand, Elton John gets it right, “the future lies beyond the Yellow Brick Road”
There are no streets paved with gold.
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