My exclusive interview with former BG mascot, independent website curator and all round good guy, Andy Potten.
Andrew Potten, 42 years old, originally from Canterbury in the U.K.
How are you and what are you up to these days?
I’m good thanks. Other than my connection to Thai football, not much has changed to be honest. I’m still a teacher and still married to my wonderful wife. Only that I’m now based in Bangkok rather than Pathum Thani and of course, 10+ years older.
How did you first get into Thai football?
As you can imagine, living in Pathum Thani in 2008, there wasn’t a lot to do. Watching football from back home wasn’t easy either. I desperately needed a hobby to stop myself from going stir crazy so I started by just finding out as much info as possible about the local footy scene.
And how did you end up supporting Bangkok Glass?
It turned out during my hours and hours of online research trying to find the nearest club, I lived next door to BGFC. Yes, literally less than 500 metres from my house. Who knew?? In my defence, at that time, they were a ‘new’ and fairly unknown club and weren’t actually playing ‘next door.’ They were temporarily playing at the provincial stadium about 15km away whilst the stadium next door was being developed. Anyway, that was close enough for me. It was either them or Air Force United who were a bit further away but probably easier to get to. I went with BGFC knowing that they would eventually be very close to home.
When and why did you start your website?
Before the website, I started the official BGFC Facebook page before Facebook became a big deal in Thailand. Obviously I started it in English but Facebook then took off in Thailand and it became overrun with Thai fans which despite my wife and I’s best efforts, we couldn’t even come close to keeping up with so I handed over admin duties to the club. I still wanted to do something in English though and I had a background in website development so it seemed the next logical step. I can’t remember the year but I think it was 2009. I also did one for Chiang Rai United for a while too. Both clubs linked their official sites to my sites which was nice.
What did you enjoy most about curating the site?
I have always (and still do) enjoy designing websites and I was always a bit of a stat nerd growing up, so it kind of went hand in hand. I started it really just for myself and for a few friends to view as a hobby but as Thai Football grew larger and the official site linked to it, it became more popular. It was cool hearing from people all over the world who maybe watched a game whilst on holiday here in Thailand and then continued to follow the team.
I didn’t enjoy the hundreds of so called ‘agents’ trying to get me to pass on their players’ bio to the chairman etc.
There is now a lot of English language coverage of Thai football. How does it feel to know you were one of the pioneers?
I certainly don’t consider myself a pioneer, yourself and a couple of others had sites long before me I believe. I was inspired by yours and others commitment to the cause. I don’t really remember that well but I remember seeing your site and using the same platform you did for a while before then building my site from scratch. Without seeing yours, I might not have even started.
What are your favourite memories from your time supporting Bangkok Glass?
Travelling around Thailand to places I’d never usually visit, playing in the fan club matches, making great friends and most of all, having a lot of fun. Admittedly, it was better at the beginning when it was smaller and it had more of a community feel. As Bangkok Glass and Thai Football in general got bigger as well as me getting deeper involved with the club, it started to lose the element of fun.
And now the big question: How did you become BG Man?
Being the only foreigner is a crowd of a couple of hundred, I stuck out like a sore thumb and I soon became the gossip on the BG forum. It only took a few matches for the fans to embrace me as one of them however BG Man came about maybe 9 months later when the club moved back into the purpose built stadium. The TPL was starting to get more attention and the club needed a mascot to supposedly protect the Rabbit Girls. BG Man was chosen, although I wasn’t the original. The original BG Man did it for about 1 month before he was ordained into monkhood. The fan club put a poll up on the forum with choices for the next BG Man and I was unknowingly on it. I apparently had about 80% of the vote without actually being asked to do it. I said ‘yes’ on the condition it would only be for a couple of months. 2 years later and I was still parading about in spandex looking ridiculous.
What instructions were you given as the club mascot?
Very little to be honest. Just walk out with the players and Rabbit Girls before the match. I wasn’t obliged to be at all matches. If I couldn’t make a match for any reason, it was no big deal…. Oh and don’t get (too) drunk.
What was your relationship like with the club?
Great. The chairman Pawin Bhirombhakdi’s door was open if I ever needed anything. He told me he would put BG Man in their ‘Hall of Fame’ museum at the stadium when I stopped. I have no idea if he ever did though. As for the rest of the club, it was also great. The main fan club always kept me in the loop of any activities, trips or fan club matches. I had a decent relationship with Chiang Rai United for a while too.
Please describe a typical match day for BG Man
If it was a home match, I’d usually play the fan club match in the early afternoon, then get changed into BG Man an hour or so before the match. Mingle for photos, TV cameras and meet up with friends etc. Go onto the pitch 15 mins or so before a game and throw keyrings to the kids in the crowd. Go back into the tunnel and lead out the team with the Rabbit girls. Then head into the stands for the rest of the game trying. Sometimes I’d be glued to the match and wouldn’t get involved too much, other times I’d just be having fun in the crowd with the songs and dances depending on the game and my mood. After the game, it was usually more photos.
Away games could involve full weekend trips depending on who we were playing. They were always fun and I looked forward to these. Usually some sightseeing, restaurants etc. on the first day, fan club match and the actual match on the second day, followed by a long coach journey back. The away match at Buriram was fantastic. The people and the club (despite all the negativity surrounding them at the time) were brilliant. I was given a Buriram shirt as a gift by some random Buriram fan that really meant a lot to me.
What was the best thing about being BG Man?
People were amazing towards me. Both BGFC fans and rival supporters. Being a foreigner when there weren’t that many about, people would try to talk to you even if they spoke little English as well as offer you transport, beer, food etc. but being BG Man just magnified it ten-fold. 99% of people were amazing.
And the worst?
There was a certain member of the PR team that couldn’t understand that this wasn’t my proper job and she was always calling me at work to do TV/radio interviews or go to public events which I wasn’t always able or willing to do. She seemed to take BG Man far more seriously than I or anyone else at the club did. When it started getting too serious towards the end, it stopped being fun.
One other thing, needing the toilet whilst wearing it was no joke either.
What was the funniest thing that happened to you as BG Man?
This is going to sound so egotistical but it’s 100% true so I’m gonna tell it anyway… ;)
The first time I was ever BG Man was an away trip to Buriram. Yep, my first appearance was in front of 20,000 or so away from home against the best team in the league at the time. I was as nervous as you might imagine. It actually went quite smoothly (other than the score line) albeit I was pretty conscientious of myself the whole time. After the final whistle and when we all headed back to the coach, there were a few Buriram fans asking for photos. Nothing too much but at this point although I didn’t really have a bench mark to what would be normal.
I remember it taking ages to get out of the car park but finally we left and the coach headed through the town. The coach started slowing down and there were some kids shouting outside. Then the coach was surrounded and they wouldn’t let the coach leave again until BG Man went outside and signed their scarfs and shirts. I actually didn’t want to (and I was out of costume by then anyway) but I was encouraged to do so, so I did. I spent about 10 minutes signing stuff (having to make up a BG Man signature there and then) and unbeknown to me it was filmed by a couple of people. The video ended up on the local news and kind of went ‘relatively’ viral on both the BGFC and the Buriram forums.
Two weeks later Buriram had their own mascot…. Buriram Man. A shameless rip off but I didn’t mind. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and all that… In the return fixture, Newin Chidchob (Buriram owner and prominent politician) even joked with me about blatantly stealing the idea, all in good humour of course.
Why and when did you stop?
I stopped at the end of 2011 season. I felt 2 years was enough. It was fun and was only ever supposed to be for fun, once it started getting too serious (see question 8) I decided to call it a day. However I never intended to stop going to BGFC games or even watching Thai football in general but fate dealt a cruel blow. Not long after the season finished, the floods of 2011 devastated Pathum Thani badly. My wife and I lost our house, jobs, possessions and worst of all, our unborn baby in the stress of it all. We were forced into Bangkok to find work and obviously everything else took a back seat for a very long time.
What do you miss most about the role?
Meeting people that would never have spoken to me had I not been BG Man.
Being recognised when going about normal life was weird but always a pleasant surprise. Once in a market in Chiang Mai someone recognised me and came over to speak to me and only a few years ago at a running event in Pattaya someone tentatively approached and asked whether or not I was BG Man even after 6 years.
It was always nice to have photos taken with kids especially in the smaller provinces where they had probably never even seen a foreigner, let alone a foreign nut job dressed as a wanna be superhero.
How closely do you follow Thai football and BG these days?
Not very. I still follow the scores and have some friends from back then but that’s about it.
What do you miss the most?
Definitely the community feel in the first couple of years before it all got too big. Also, I loved playing the fan club matches against all the other teams’ fan clubs. We were a half decent team too, winning most of our matches although I do remember Chonburi fan club team beat us a couple of times. BGFC and Muang Thong always had a great relationship and those matches were always big news and played on the pitch at the LEO Stadium under floodlights with the big screen on and everything, usually with a couple of hundred in the stands as well. That always felt great to play in.
Would you ever consider following BG again and what - if anything - would encourage you to go back?
Probably not go to actual games as it’s now an 80km round trip through the Bangkok traffic but possibly from afar on TV. I doubt it’d be the same though.
Would you like to take this opportunity to send a message to the fans of BG?
For those that were fans 10 years ago, thanks for all the memories that I will forever have. It was a great time in my life. For all the current fans, obviously, things are going very well this season for BGFC (I still can’t bring myself to say BGPU) so I really hope they continue, especially after the recent relegation. Good luck.
Is there anything else you'd like to add?
Thank you for getting in contact with me. Just writing this brought back some fantastic memories that I haven’t thought about in years. Truly some of my best memories in Thailand. It’s great to hear from you and to see you’re still doing this with the same passion and commitment as always.
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