Interview With Nicolas Popis: 2018

My August, 2018 interview with Nicolas Popis, who runs the Thai League FR Twitter account.

Q - Please can you introduce yourself 

I’m Nicolas, 34 years old. I come from Marseille - as any guys from this city, I’m of course a fan of Olympique de Marseille. I have been living in Bangkok for 4 years and I’m working in an IT company here.

Q - How long have you been following Thai football?

I’ve been following Thai football and T1 for the last 3 seasons.

Q - What first got you interested in Thai football?

I would mainly say it was two things that caught my attention:

1- Muangthong Utd’s campaign in the AFC Champions League 2 years ago, with some outstanding players like Chanatip and Theerathon. This is the strongest team I’ve seen here so far. 

2- The World Cup qualification campaign for the Thailand national team. I remember a decisive game - Thailand vs Taiwan - to qualify for the final round. Even though it was only Taiwan, Rajamangala was full. The same thing against Slovakia in the King’s Cup this year. Can you ever imagine would would happen if a top national team would come here, even if just for a friendly game? I'm sure the national team has an important role to play to develop the interest in local football, including T1. I’m secretly hoping for a good AFC Asian Cup campaign in January, 2019.

Q - What aspects of the local game do you most enjoy?

The atmosphere in Rajamangala when the national team plays. I also like the fact that I’m following a league that is not well known in the “west”. People here always like to see foreigners coming to the games.

Q - And is there anything you don't like?

Of course, many things could be improved and there are already interesting debates on social media about this: marketing, game schedule, stadiums, physical training... 

Thing that are particularly negative for the T1 image are the attendances and the quality of stadiums. These are not helping the promotion of Thai soccer, even if there are some exceptions.

Q - Which are your favourite local teams? 

I would say Muangthong Utd because they were playing very attractive football when I started to follow the game, but this has unfortunately gone.

I don’t really support a particular team, but I enjoy watching teams such as Bangkok Utd, Port and Buriram Utd. In fact, any team that plays quality football. 

Q - And who are your favourite players?

As a Frenchman, I particularly follow Tristan Do. But I have also been impressed by other players in the last couple of seasons: Heberty, Cleiton Silva, Chanatip, Theerathon, Boskovic, Tunez, Teerasil, Kawin…

Q - Which are your favourite stadiums?

Rajamangala, for the atmosphere when national team plays, SCG (Muang Thong Utd) for the match day experience and PAT (Thai Port) for the fans. 

Q - Which has been the best Thai league match you've seen and what made it special?

I would say Muangthong 3-2 Buriram in season 2016. I remember Diogo opened the scoring for Buriram Utd and finally Muangthong Utd was able to reverse the situation, thanks to Chanatip, Sarach and Cleiton. What made it special was simply the high quality of the football quality. This is the kind of big game that T1 needs on a more regular basis.

Q - How much interest is there in the Thai league in France?

Honestly, the interest is limited, but nothing has been done to increase it so far. A few media outlets started to talk about it when Sinama Pongolle joined Chainat. The media could focus on Tristan’s story: a French citizen playing for the Thailand national team is not common. But oddly this has never really been highlighted.

Q - Is this why you started your Twitter account?

Yes. I would like to make Thai football better known in France. Many people don’t know about the existence of the Thai league or think this is an amateur league, where games happen with chicken on the pitch. The English media content covering the Thai league is already there, while nothing exists in French. If we look at French unofficial accounts for other Asian leagues they do have thousands of followers (China, Korea, Japan, Australia) so why not for Thailand? 

Q - What do you hope to achieve with your account?

Nothing special. This is first and foremost a leisure activity. If the interest rises and people start following then we may have more French players/agents looking at this league and it could benefit both sides: more French players in T1, and some recruiters looking at talent here, as already happens in other Asian leagues. 

Q - Do you have any plans to start a website?

I don’t think so. I do have a busy job so running this Twitter account is already enough. But perhaps in the future if more people join the project.

Q - What would you say to someone who has never been to a Thai league match to encourage them to go?

This is a professional league. Even if the level could be better, you will be surprised. This is an exciting experience for people who are only used to following main European leagues.

Q - And what would you say to the league management to help them attract more fans to the games?

More marketing: better promotion of the big games and top players, create a stronger identity for each team (only Port and Buriram Utd have this so far). We should have some exciting derbies with so many teams in Bangkok and that does not happen, except for Port v Muang Thong Utd.

Clubs should try to sign some marquee players, as was done with Robbie Fowler at Muang Thong Utd few years back.

Improve the quality of the stadiums (lights, stands, pitch). Only SCG (Muangthong Utd), Thunder Castle (Buriram Utd) and Ratchaburi have reached a decent quality. 

Promote the AFC Champions League campaign: Buriram Utd and Muangthong Utd have recently reached the final rounds and this is a major achievement. Stadiums should be full for such games.

Q - I can’t let you go without mentioning your country’s recent triumph. How did you celebrate France's World Cup final win?

With French friends in Bangkok. The final was widely followed, but I have to admit that the Thais were mainly supporting Croatia! 

Q - And what are your thoughts on the final and their performances in the tournament as a whole?

I didn’t have the same feeling as I did after our victory 20 years ago. The first time is always the best. 

Q - Is there anything else you'd like to add?

Merci for the interview, the questions were interesting and I hope it will help bring the French speaking community to Thai footie!