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FC Yala is a professional football club from the southern Thai city of the same name. The club was formed in August 2018, as Jalor City FC, going on to win the Thailand Amateur League South at the first attempt to win promotion to the Thai League.
The new club sensed their opportunity following the demise of Yara United FC, a club formed in 2009, that played in Regional League Division 2 Southern Region. Yala Province Stadium was their initial home ground, where fifth place was achieved in 2013.
They moved to Jura Stadium, also known as Yala City Municipality Stadium the following year. Their best performance came in 2015 when they finished third, before being allocated a place in Thai League 4 in 2017 when they ended in seventh spot with Pithak Abdulraman topping the scoring.
United failed to meet the club licensing regulations and were banned from playing in the Thai League for two seasons. They didn’t reappear to take the opportunity to try and win promotion through the Amateur League when their suspension ended.
By this time, Jalor had finished their debut 2019 season at Jaru Stadium in fifth place with Suttichai Doungead and Muhammadsalfadee Jehteh finishing as joint top scorers. The Thai League was restructured ahead of the 2020-21 campaign with it reverting to a European playing calendar.
Ayu Lateh topped the scoring while Firhan Masae remained reliable in goal as the side finished seventh in the extended Thai League 3 South under head coach Muklis Tahetasae. Home games in the 2021-22 campaign were played at The Thai National Sports University Yala Campus, which can be viewed by clicking here.
The season ended again in midtable for Jalor with former United forward Pithak putting away the goals for the “Jigsaw”. They remained at the same venue which ended up in a disappointing finish third from the bottom of the table in 2022-23, as Sakeereen Teekasom played his part playing up front. Jalor City were renamed FC Yala before the 2023-24 season.
With the name change came a new coach, with Wirat Kaeyihwa appointed. Home games were played at Yala Rajabhat University in a new stadium devoid of a full-sized running track. Attendances grew enormously showing the potential of a successful club in the city.
This was despite the team only ending in eighth position, with Abdelaziz Said El Shaer and Jehhanafee Mamah sharing the goals. Nirun Assawapakdee was given the coaches role for 2024-25 before he was replaced by Adul Muensaman as Yala pushed for a place in the playoffs.
FC Yala will play in Thai League 3 South in the 2024-25 season.
My visits
Jaru Stadium
Friday 3rd January 2025
The dangers of visiting the southern provinces had been explained to me by my wife Taew as we journeyed with her cousin and his family, with our destination being Betong on the Malaysian border for the night.
We had made a compromise. While it looked unlikely that I’d be venturing alone to football when visiting relatives in Hat Yai we agreed the driver Q would stop if the venues were on our route. Fortunately, he was delivering coffee in Pattani and Yala so at least I’d get some photo opportunities.
The internet is only as good as those who update it. And if a person cannot find out the right information, then it will be prone to errors. This was certainly the case regarding Jaru Stadium, which according to Wikipedia had a capacity of 25,000.
It is fair to say that when we rolled into the car park, I was more than a little underwhelmed. The venue only had one raised stand with the rest open standing, with no access around three sides alongside the running track.
There was little wonder that Jalor City, as FC Yala were called when they used the venue, looked for somewhere else. Its location wasn’t very convenient for the city centre, and it was extremely basic.
There was a junior match just about to kick off on the artificial pitch when we arrived. Indeed, the gents outside thought that we had gone to watch. They were most welcoming as I wandered about to get my snaps.
Later research by checking social media showed that FC Yala still used it for training and some friendly matches. We headed off through the city, me slightly disappointed that we didn’t go to see the new stadium, but that would have to wait.
Rajabhat University Stadium
Saturday 4th January
The wait was just one day as we made our return towards Hat Yai. Q wanted to visit a shop in the city where he had ordered some sweets for us to try before we cut across in the direction of Rajabhat University.
Before that, we arrived outside the gates of The Thai National Sports University Yala Campus, which had been the home of FC Yala and more recently Yala City FC. A description and photos of the stadium can be seen by clicking here.
The new stadium was just across Tesaban Soi 5, in an area very much geared up for students, with lots of coffee shops, street food, and restaurants. There was plenty of signage on the back of the stand that ran the full length of the pitch, so nobody was in doubt as to who played there.
I thought that my luck was going to be out as the gates at the rear of the stand were locked, despite hearing activity inside on the pitch. Thankfully, a gate in another corner was open so I could pop inside while the team trained.
The stand was extremely impressive, while the rest of the ground had an enclosed feel with high fences, university buildings, and housing surrounding it. It was the perfect size for a Thai League 3 club.
Once done, I
met up with the rest of the carload who’d been shopping before we headed back
to our base in time for Q to take me downtown in Hat Yai which was another
excellent experience.
Yala City FC is a professional football club formed in 2023 that is based in the city of the same name in the south of Thailand. Their arrival on the scene could not have been better timed as they were accepted into the 2023-24 Thai Semi-pro League.
The ‘Potentate of Killer Roosters’, to give them their nickname, got lucky as they and Phuket Rajabhat University were the only two entrants into the Southern Zone competition, meaning the sides played each other four times to see who would be promoted to Thai League 3 South.
Adilif Chesor scored three times in the matches for the side coached by Ibrohim Kasirak who played their home games at the Stadium of Thailand National Sports University, Yala Campus as they went up to join neighbours FC Yala.
As City were soon to find out, life was tougher in the higher echelons coming up against clubs and players of experience. Samart Chankachang took over as head coach while crowds were extremely encouraging for a new club in the league.
In November 2024 the club switched venues to share Rajabhat University Stadium with FC Yala, before returning to their original venue the following February. The side was involved in a relegation battle in their debut season, trying desperately to retain their status.
My visit
Saturday 4th January 2025
The tour embarked upon by my wife and her relatives from Hat Yai in the south had reached the Malaysian border at Betong, which proved to be a very enjoyable place to spend an evening.
On our way back, Q, Taew’s cousin, had said that he would take me to the stadium in Yala after visiting Jaru Stadium the previous day. Sure enough, after collecting a sweet order from a shop in the city with a reputation for making unique items, we cut back towards the university area.
I’d have been happy with parking at the back of the Rajabhat Stadium and maybe got a glimpse of the Stadium of Thailand National Sports University located over the road, but my driver was having none of it.
We entered the car park, where many were keeping fit and running around the track. The stadium was no thing of beauty, but perfectly adequate for Thai League 3 football, with a raised stand complete with a roof on one side and an open raised enclosure opposite.
Once I had got my snaps, we went round to the home of
FC Yala before heading back to Hat Yai for food and then Q and I headed
downtown in Hat Yai, my host ever eager to impress me.
Phang Nga FC was formed in 2009, to represent the province of the same name which is in the south of Thailand north of Krabi and Phuket. They were accepted into the third-tier Regional League Division 2 Southern Region for the 2010 season as an extension club.
In their debut campaign the ‘Dredgers’ finished eighth, playing home games at the Phang Nga Provincial Administrative Organization Stadium in the main town of the province. Their performance was backed up by fifth place twelve months later.
The improvement continued as Phang Nga ended 2012 in fourth which was replicated a year later. Other details of their successful time are unobtainable as the Thai League system gradually developed.
A disappointing tenth position ensued in 2014 which got worse as the team ended 2015 in the bottom spot. An improvement of one place in 2016 saw the club evade automatic relegation but all was not well off the pitch as well as on it.
Thai football restructured for the 2017 season with clubs who finished in the lower half of the table the previous season being placed in Thai League 4 with several expansion clubs. However, Phang Nga failed to meet the licensing criteria and were omitted, initially for one season to get their house in order.
This failed to materialise. A club called Phangnga United entered the Thailand Amateur League in 2020-21 and again in 2022 where it lost all of its three matches under head coach Theerapong Apichatbut.
The Phang Nga stadium was well maintained despite no regular club playing there as tenants, with it presumably being a facility for those who want to keep fit running on the track and the pitch being hired out.
It got another taste of pro football when it hosted the home games of Phuket Andaman FC in the second half of the 2024-25 season while the Surakul Stadium was undergoing refurbishments.
Thursday 9th January 2025
When an opportunity knocks, I am not the type to let it go begging, and so it was on this glorious Thursday lunchtime as I was sitting in the back of a car driven by a local man who was offering a taxi service.
He had delivered us to the boat pier so that we could enjoy the incredible delights of Panyee Island which included a floating football pitch before he collected us once again. This time he took us somewhere that sold the best type of local food, which my wife Taew bought for our tea.
Our driver wanted to visit somewhere on the way back to our hotel when I sensed my chance. I asked my good lady to tell him to take us to the stadium and I would give him a tip in return. With both parties happy we were soon outside the arena.
Like so many in Thailand, it was for all the community to use. But this one was a bit special. It had covered stands facing it each other across the track and pitch, both in pristine condition, but the outstanding feature was the backdrop.
The stunning
steep faces of the mountains which enclosed the far side were simply
incredible. It must be up there with any venues anywhere in terms of scenery
and aesthetic value. I was so happy that we visited.
Our man
could not have been more helpful, taking us back to our hotel. I nipped back
along the main road to have my head shaved and talk to more marvellously
friendly locals in a town that didn’t have much happening but the scenery more
than made up for it.