LIFE IN A SECOND DIVISION WILDERNESS
by Phil Williams
The quality of the football
Grabbing a chat with one of Samut Prakan’s ex-midfield players at a recent game, I asked him a simple question - “is it tougher to play in the premier league or in the championship?” Without hesitation, he responded with “the championship is harder. You just haven’t got enough quality players around you. You work hard to win the ball from an opposing player, pass it to a team-mate, and then he goes and loses it and you’re back to square one. A game can be 90 minutes of pure frustration”. I know exactly what he means because I’ve watched my fair share of of dross from the stands. I’ve been genuinely shocked at the gap in standards between the two divisions. I won’t mention names but I’ve seen players who quite honestly shouldn’t be anywhere near a professional football team. They don’t even possess the basics.
Access to players
Championship players aren’t the ‘superstars’ of the top flight. They’re good honest lads whose parents tend rice farms, breed shrimp and manage ramshackle home-stays. They might be dreaming of a big money move to a top club or they’re simply at the fag end of their career, but for now, Championship players know exactly where they stand in the Thai football hierarchy. But they are still heroes to us fans and one of the great advantages of following football in the second tier are the opportunities to get up close and personal. There is no elbowing hordes of screaming teenage girls out of the way as players clamber off the Buriram club bus just to grab a blurred selfie with the good-looking but slightly flustered captain.
At a recent match in Trat, I bravely knocked on the home dressing door to grab a photo standing alongside my favourite Thai league player. Moments later, he emerged into the daylight, somewhat bewildered but only too happy to oblige. On the drive home after the match, my wife said “It was brilliant that you got the opportunity to take a photo and chat with your favourite player, but think about what it meant to him as well – a foreign fan hanging around outside the dressing room and asking for him by name. I bet that doesn’t happen to him very often”
I’m sure it doesn’t. Which leads me nicely to…
Less heavy-handed security
I’ve generally found the stadium security staff who check bags, put that funny little ink stamp on your arm, point you in the direction of the toilets and yank players out of dressing rooms, far more personable and agreeable than their premier league counterparts. After a recent Samut Prakan home match, I brazenly strolled onto the pitch to get a photo with the winning goalscorer. No one stopped me, no one cared. And it wasn’t because I was a foreign face either. There were plenty of Thai fans enjoying the moment as well. I’d never have gotten away with that at the likes of Bangkok FC or Port. The moment I set foot on the pitch, they’d have set the dogs on me.
Ticket prices
Thai football is cheaper to watch in the second division. OK it might only be 50-100 baht a ticket cheaper but it’s still worth a mention. And I’m betting few clubs can match Samut Prakan for value. My season ticket cost me 1,500 baht and included in that was a free shirt and scarf worth 800 baht. If you divide the remaining 700 baht by let’s say 20 league and cup games, it works out at 40 baht a match. Less than a quid. Now that’s a bargain.
Travel opportunities
If you’re someone who likes to mix football with travelling around Thailand (and who doesn’t?) then the second division is the only place to be. Towards the end of Samut Prakan’s 2022 relegation season, I asked the official club photographer his thoughts on what life might have in store in the lower division. He described it as ‘a grand tour of Thailand’, rolling his eyes at the same time. But what incredible opportunities the fixture schedule represents with jaunts to far-flung places such as Nakhon Si Thammarat, Ranong, Phrae and Udon Thani. Places you would never venture to without good reason. It’s just such a shame we still have to schlep to fucking Suphanburi!
The fan camaraderie
For a foreigner, undoubtedly one of the most appealing aspects of following Thai football is being able to interact with opposing fans outside the stadium. It saddens me to say so, but by and large that camaraderie dwindles when you’re down in the second division. I guess it’s purely a numbers game. I suppose you’re far more likely to be asked for a selfie or given a simple thumbs up in a 4,000 crowd at Ratchaburi or Chiang Rai than you are as one of the 150 hardy souls at Customs United. However, I will exclude the fans of Uthai Thani and Ayuthaya United from such a sweeping generalisation, the former who came over in a large group to offer us snacks and free tickets before the match and the latter who upon seeing a foreign face, called me over to put their arm around me. Judging by the fumes, alcohol played a huge part in the proceedings but it’s still those welcome gestures of friendship that count.
Food, glorious food!
Again, I think numbers has a lot to do with this one. Footy scran has always been part and parcel of the match day experience wherever you are, be it a balti pie, a hot Bovril or meatballs on a stick. I’ve perused some wonderful pre-match food selections at grounds like Port and Bangkok United, but in the second tier, the selection can be minimal at best. At Samut Prakan there is now just one solitary food vendor, who mainly sells beer and soft drinks, but will sometimes lay out a tray of sausages-on-sticks depending on their availability or whether or not she can be arsed.
The parallel universe
While Buriram fans discuss which of their players will earn a call-up to the national team, second division football followers are looking at Google maps trying to decipher how the fuck to get to Phrae United’s ground (if indeed it’s even in Phrae). While Port fans wonder if the club owners are going to stump up the cash for yet another 20-goals-a-season foreign striker, second division fans are trying to find out the name of their new arrival from Muang Loei, with little to go on other than he has a beard. It’s simply a different world. It may only be a difference of one division but it’s like the difference between supporting Manchester United and Leyton Orient. The only people you can talk to, the only people who care about your plight, are other second division football followers. And there aren’t that many of us around.
More chances of glory
My wife asked me if I could slip this one in (oooh, matron!) and I quote “T1 feels like Buriram and 15 other teams. It’s too easy for them because they’ve got so much money. In the second division every team is pretty even so anyone has a chance to be the champions” For a man supporting a team who are currently hovering just five points above the relegation zone and facing the frightening prospect of third division football next season, that’s music to my ears.
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