Here's issue number six of our popular regular feature - 'Five Asides'. Take five Thai football fans, share five contentious opinions with them and let everyone have their say. Nice and simple. Our panel today is made up of All Things Thai Football (ex-Police Utd), Grant (Muang Thong Utd), Richard (Chiang Mai FC), Marco (Port), and Jim (port). Away you go...
1. The Thai League should pass a rule banning players from wearing coloured boots. Only black boots should be allowed.
All Things Thai Football: I think it would be better to pass a rule to force players to wear two different colours of boots instead. Teeratep Winothai did it before and it is pretty cool.
Grant: I’m happy to leave it to individual preference. I do find it slightly amusing that black boots are becoming fashionable again, but I guess that’s how it works, to stand out you now need to avoid the neon colours.
Richard: The Thai League should pass a rule banning players from wearing coloured boots. Only black boots should be allowed. I was always taught if you cant fight wear a silly hat. Meaning take away the fact that you cant really do something then distract the audience. Unfortunately a lot of footballers in the Thai league haven’t grasped this concept. It seems the worse some players are the brighter the boots, maybe it is time to bring in all black boots to avoid them sticking out like sore thumbs.
Marco: I think the rule should be this: Goalkeepers*, defenders and defensive midfielders should wear black boots - wingers, attacking midfielders and strikers should be able to wear muliti-coloured boots.
* I'll make an exception for keepers who are free-kicks specialists.
Jim: Let them wear what they like, nobody's paying them any attention. I mean who cares about the players footwear? Surely we're all focused on the price of Pang's trainers this week and hoping that today might be the day Mario finally invests in a pair of socks.
2. The Thai League and FAT should set up fan groups across the country and consult them on how to improve the local game.
All Things Thai Football: I think it is the duty of each local club, not the Thai League or FAT.
Grant: That is a fantastic suggestion. The game here needs to be marketed better, yet nobody thinks to ask the consumers what they would like. The truth is, I think they have a fair idea of how to improve the game, it wouldn’t take too much investigating to establish the basics of what has made the game so profitable in major European leagues. However, to mirror their success there would need to be more transparency, organisation and stricter guidelines to keep those with ulterior motives out of the league. That won’t happen, so it would be futile to ask fans for their input on matters the FA won’t deliver anyway.
Richard: The Thai League and FAT should set up fan groups across the country and consult them on how to improve the local game. I certainly believe that local fans have a good idea on how the team could improve, when I started Chiang Mai Fc English fanzine in 2010 it was at the request of the old Chairman of the club who wanted to tap in on the foreign supporters in Chiang Mai and we quickly grew it to 10k followers and it did bring in a lot of supporters on holiday and many expats. Unfortunately since Bangkok Glass took over they stop communicating with us and the attendances have dropped big style, being in touch with local fans is a massive part of the modern game.
Marco: Sounds like a good idea in principle but I feel it would be pointless. Anything put forward by fans would almost certainly fall on deaf ears. I can't see any meaningful changes coming from it.
Jim: Great idea. Only issue l can see comes when they're better run and outlast the local football club.
3. Thai TV companies should stop broadcasting matches from overseas – EPL, Bundesliga etc – in order to encourage fans to follow their local teams.
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All Things Thai Football: I don’t think stopping broadcasting matches from overseas would encourage them to follow their local team. They will do it if those local teams are worthy enough to follow. Sadly, only a few clubs in Thai football nowadays can give you that feeling.
Grant: I don’t see foreign leagues as the enemy. In terms of quality, the Thai league is on the opposite end of the scale compared to the European giants many Thai people support. Follow a team on your TV screen by all means, but it’s not the same as absorbing a live match day experience from the local team that you are proud represents you. We have something that the European leagues can’t offer.
Richard: I think that the EPL etc is a major part of football culture in Thailand and we should keep it in, I think local teams need to do more on a local level to get young fans involved. I remember as a kid Rotherham United coming to our school 3 or 4 times a year and giving the kids a free ticket if they were accompanied by a full paying adult and I went home and pestered my father to take me to the game, so the club had a paying adult and a potential new young fan for life, 40 years later I still go to Rotherham United when Im in Britain so it works.
Marco: I agree 100%. Might get more people watching Thai League football and I wouldn't have to watch Everton. A win-win situation.
Jim: Get the local football on free to air and give everything else to AIS. Half the viewing public won't be able to work out how to get the foreign stuff, so domestic viewership will explode.
4. The Thai league is fixed.
All Things Thai Football: Ummmm… maybe. Has it ever happened before? Right?
Grant: Honestly, it doesn’t necessarily matter whether it is or not, it is what people perceive that is important. If the general consensus is that the league is corrupt then that equates to the same thing anyway. Whilst political powerhouses are using the league as an ego boost, fans will continue to call foul play. These people help shape the fate of the country and their very presence jeopardises the integrity of the league, even if their intentions are positive.
Football fans are generally biased by nature, so when the prospective PM is turning up at a football stadium pleading for the political backing of a football team owner, it is no wonder rival fans scrutinise every 50-50 ruling that goes in favour of the aforementioned team. I think many officiating mistakes we see are genuine errors (although perhaps not all) but the notion that the game is rigged has been embedded into fans thinking to the point where the first rational thought is to assume the referee has received a sweetener. The FA needs to do more to address this loss of reputation….but they won’t.
Richard: 100%, Newin and Boon Rawd just pay more money than Pang.
Marco: I'd like to hope not...but it's not beyond the realms of possibility, that's for sure. There were two particular referees I used to hate with a passion, who clearly used to favour certain teams. Lo and behold, a few years later, they were both banned for life for match fixing.
Jim: Of course it isn't. When have you ever seen a questionable penalty given against Buriram?
5. Former Thailand international, Teereathep Winothai would make a great head of FAT.
All Things Thai Football: I love Leesaw very much. He is my childhood hero, but, frankly speaking, I don’t think so. Being a YouTuber is already a good choice for him. I am enjoying watching his channel. So much fun.
Grant: He literally couldn’t do any worse. The FA are currently hundreds of millions in debt with key projects being pimped out to any egomaniac with deep pockets. Having played and lived the game, Leesaw is infinitely more qualified to lead than anyone presently in charge.
Richard: Leesaw certainly has a lot of experience to draw from his playing days, he also has experience of football in bigger leagues from his time at Palace and Everton. Should ex-players get the Top Job? Why not. They know how the game works, the pitfalls and how it needs to improve from the ground up, it certainly wouldn’t be a bad decision.
Marco: My only concern is that is he downs tools mid-season to become head of the Thailand Boxing Association for a few weeks, misses some important FAT stuff, and then comes back as if nothing happened. Satire.
Jim: I suppose cancelling rounds of the leagues at short notice for a bit of charity boxing is at least new.
Please note: The opinions expressed in this article are those of each individual and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the blog. Thank you.
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