Chonburi FC - Season Statistics: 2004

Fixtures & Results

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Final League Table

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Statistics

League : P18 W5 D6 L7 F27 A26 Pts21

Home : P9 W5 D2 L2 F19 A9 Pts17

Away : P9 W0 D4 L5 F8 A17 Pts4

Biggest Win : 5-1 v Udon Thani (H) 18/5/04

Biggest Defeat : 0-5 v Sisaket (A) 25/4/04

Longest Sequence Without A Defeat : 5 games DWDWD

Longest Sequence Without A Win : 4 games LDLD & LDDL

Average Goals Scored Per Game : 1.5

Average Goals Conceded Per Game : 1.44

Chonburi FC Coaching Staff Shirt: 2004

"Chonburi" v Home Utd by Steve Darby: 2004

Home Utd of Singapore used to tour Thailand every year as preparation for our S League season. It must have worked as we won the league and cup twice in three years (2003-5) and got to the knockout stages of the Champions league and the AFC Cup semi finals. All done with a squad of 16 players due to S League salary cap rules.

The Thai pre season always guaranteed us tough friendlies and a chance for talent spotting. We normally played the established clubs like BEC, Thai Port etc, but one year we were offered "Chonburi", as we were told, an up and coming provincial team. As it involved an overnight stay in Pattaya it didnt take long to convince the Singaporean and Brazilian players!

It took us hours to get to the venue (Coke Stadium in Bang Phra - ed), as we got lost in what seemed like a new housing estate.Then suddenly we entered a side road and saw a few wooden stands on the side of what was an excellent pitch. There was a crowd waiting and a large number of kids in scout uniforms.

The "Chonburi" team we played had the hugest African players I had ever seen playing, fortunately they were not that good! We also used the game to trial a foreigner who confirmed my belief that CVs of players are useless and you have to see them play.He said he had played for national youth teams in Yugoslavia...a flexible truth I think, as he was hopeless!

However, we had asked if a Thai player could play for "Chonburi" as a trial for us...after about 5 minutes, 3 crunching tackles and 2 great passes, I signed Anurak Sitterand and what a great player he was! I can't remember the score, as I take very little notice of scores in friendlies. I just look at individual players. But I remember we were taken to a private house by I believe a politician after the game ,and were treated superbly, excellent hosts and great hospitality.

Another time we played a Thai selection for J Surachai's testimonial.That was a bit special! Zico, Tawan, Dusit, Choko, Boy, Issawa all featured and we were happy just to get out of our own half! What magnificent players and it's a pleasure to see some of these great players coaching now. I signed three Thai players at Home Utd, Sutee,Surachai and Anurak, all were top class professional off and on the pitch.

The S League then had players like Niweat,Tawan Santi, Choko. I also tried to sign a former Chonburi player, Therdsak Chaiman, but that never materialised and became like a Thai soap opera! But he did a magnifcent job for our opposition, Singapore Armed Forces!

Pro League Memories by Ian Alexander: 2004-2005

PRO LEAGUE MEMORIES
by Ian Alexander

It was midway through the 2004 season that I was finally persuaded to visit the Princess Srindhorn Stadium for my first ever Thai League match and an introduction to the mighty Chonburi Sharks. Kick off in those days was always at 4pm on a Sunday and, after a particularly heavy night in town, I nearly managed to talk myself out of the twenty mile bus journey to Sri Racha. I also had to contend with the disdainful comments of my (English) girlfriend of the time, who could not understand why I would want to watch Thai football.

But I put all these doubts aside and took the first step on the road to a beautiful and lasting friendship. On arrival at Robinsons I met Dale and we purchased the necessary supplies of beer and crisps. We made our way to the ground on foot and I was filled in with a few important details such as players to look out for, where we were in the league, who the opponents were and what colour we played in. Inside the stadium we found two seats, without too much trouble, and settled down for a fantastic afternoon’s entertainment.

I remember the football to be exciting, if a little naïve, and the result of the first match I saw was a comfortable 3-2 victory over Suphanburi. Being a life time Southampton supporter, this was a new and happy experience for me. The bug was caught and I became a Srindhorn regular. In those days, the average crowd must have been about 80-100 people, mostly students and teachers from the college, with the odd member of the public thrown in for good measure.

One of my abiding memories of those early days is of the old lady who used to sit behind us shouting 'bang born' throughout the match - the only person who was at all vocal in their support, the rest just sat around applauding politely at various intervals. I saw three or four more games that season and thoroughly enjoyed them all. The following season was my first full season as a bona fide Sharks fan and it was also the year that Chonburi won the Thai Provincial League.

We won most of our matches that season, as we vied for the top spot with the reigning champions, Suphanburi, right up until the last game, when we were sitting in second place. Dale and I were among the twenty or so Chonburi fans who made the long journey to Nakorn Rachisima for the deciding match of the season. Although this was more in hope than expectation until we found out that Suphanburi had had points deducted during the preceding week. Neither of us were really sure why but we now knew that a win would guarantee us the title.

The team duly obliged and we celebrated with a very swift pint before starting out on the long trek home. Another lasting memory from the 2005 season was when we turned up at the usual time on the Sunday, only to find an empty stadium. The match had been played the day before, seemingly without telling anyone about this change of date. Following Thai football was never dull. I now live and work in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, but still consider myself a supporter of Chonburi and usually make it to 2 or 3 matches a season whenever I am able to get back to Thailand.

The difference in the crowd, size, atmosphere and the much more professional approach is a world away from those early days when we would joke about such things, whilst sitting on the terraces with a few enthusiastic Thais, a few Changs and many opinions. Oh, and I still have my original red Chonburi home shirt from the championship winning season.

Chonburi FC Squad Photo: 2004

Football Siam Thai League Review: 2004/2005

The Football Siam Thai League review magazine and free VCD of all the goals from 2004/2005.