A - My name is Martin Breen, I’m 35 and I’m from Liverpool and I teach at an International school in Bangkok.
Q – How long have you been supporting Army Utd?
A - This is my second season.
Q – What first got you interested in Thai football in general and Army Utd in particular?
A - Ive been in Thailand for a long time and I really missed live football. Watching football on the tv is just not the same experience.
Q – What has been the highlight of your time supporting Army Utd?
A - Getting to the FA cup semi-final at Rajamangala stadium last year. We played Buriram and lost but there were lots of dubious decisions during the game, especially the penalty call.
Q – Please tell me three reasons why it’s good to be an Army Utd fan
A - We’ve got a great group of fans, the staff and players are all really friendly and we get to chat with them quite a lot and Big Pat’s is a great place to hang out!
Q – Please can you give a brief description of your matchday routine.
A - We usually meet up with everyone Big Pat’s restaurant near the ground for a few drinks before the game. After that back to Big Pat’s for a few more drinks and we usually bump into the players.
Q – What does the club do to attract fans in the local area?
A - The club actively tries to promote itself and their promotion teams go out into the local area to recruit more fans.
Q – If you were to offer them any advice on attracting more fans, what would it be?
A - Well a marquee signing would be nice like when Muang Thong signed Robbie Fowler.
Q – What percentage of your fans are locals and what percentage are connected with the forces?
A - I think there are a lot of fans with connection to the army but there are also a lot of regular civilians too. Percentage wise I couldn’t tell you. Sorry.
Q – A lot of fans think that forces and company teams represent the “old” Thai league and should be done away with. Obviously you’ll disagree but can you make a case for keeping Army Utd?
A - You can talk about the ‘old league’ but without that platform the ‘new league’ wouldn’t exist as it is today. Also, the club has been established for a long time and it's these companies and forces who have pumped money into the league. The TPL is getting stronger every year.
Q – Do you feel happy with the name Army United or would you prefer to change it to be more representative of the area?
A - Removing the army connotation for the team is an interesting idea and I agree that it would build a stronger link with the area, however I'm not really into the idea of a team changing its name. I'm a bit of a traditionalist. We support teams not franchises.
Q – What is the relationship like between the club’s management and the club’s fans?
A - We tend to meet a lot of the staff from the club and they are always friendly. There’s a nice family atmosphere at the games.
Q – Realistically, how do you think Army Utd will do this season? And long term?
A - Mid-table hopefully. The club do seem to invest but I think we will always be a little unfashionable so they will struggle to match the revenue of the ‘big’ teams. Maybe we need asugar daddy like Buriram.
Q – What sort of crowd do you think there’ll be for a Friday night match? Do you think it would be bigger if the game was played on Saturday?
A - The Saturday matches usually attract the biggest crowds. I’m not a big fan of Sunday games though, I have to work on Monday.
Q – Which players should we look out for on Friday?
A - Tony Costa, definitely a cult hero and check out Recio the Argentinian Viking! 5 Yard Joe looks really sharp too.
Q – What are your impressions of Chonburi FC – players, coach, fans?
A - They seem like a well-run club and the fans seemed nice enough when they visited last year.
Q – Which other teams & players have impressed you this season?
A - So far I would have to say I really liked Dudu from Osotspa. He ripped us apart when we met them this season.
Q – Do you support the Thai teams in AFC competition?
A - No. I would only support Army United. I see the other teams as rivals.
Q – If you could choose a song for Army Utd to run out to, what would it be and why?
A - No Limits by 2Unlimted, it would definitely make me laugh.
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