Hua Hin City

 

Hua Hin City FC is a football club which was formed in 2007 as Hua Hin Municipality FC, who are based in the seaside city of the same name which is located on the west side of the Gulf of Thailand.

In 2011 the club changed their name to their current title and entered the Khǒr Royal Cup, a competition for non-league teams in Thailand, finishing as runners-up in 2012 to take up a place in the third tier for the 2013 season in Division 2 Central & West Region.

 

Playing at the remotely located Thanaratchata Camp Football Field, the team achieved a ninth-placed debut season, Hua Hin won the regional title in 2014 going on to the Champions League Round in the quest for promotion thanks to the goals of Anucha Chaiwong.

A fourth-place finish in Group A meant that City remained in the third tier for the following season, but that’s just part of the story. A vital game against Prachuap descended into fierce and violent battles instigated by the Prachuap chairman.

 

Hua Hin were punished for their part in the scenes and were forced to play some home games at Tha Yang the following season, where they finished in fifth place. This was after new owners came in and threw lots of money at new overseas signings including Andre Marques who topped the scoring.

This was after big talk of the building of a new super stadium near to the city’s by-pass. There were also rumours that the license for Bangkok club TOT had been purchased as coaching staff were dispatched.

 

2016 saw the club in the rebranded Division 2 Western Region and also saw Hua Hin City move into their new Khao Takiap Stadium to the south of the city as the team ended the campaign in eighth place, leading to a place in the fourth-tier Thai League 4 Western Region following league re-organisation.

The club was close to disbanding and even relocated for a time to Rajapruk University in the Bangkok district of Nonthaburi. A locally based French businessman bought the club and returned it to Khao Takiap as City finished the 2017 season in seventh place in the league under French head coach, Sébastien Roques, with Arnon Kaimook ending up as top scorer.

 

This was followed up with a third place in 2018 as Kaimook continued his fine form. Again, it was overshadowed by events off the pitch. The owner had been forced out by previous Thai custodians as he also lost his businesses in an unsavoury run of events. The players were forced out without payment before taking their cases and winning at the Thai FA and FIFA.

'The Sailors' reached the Champions League promotion play-offs in 2019 where BGC were defeated to reach the group stage where Hua Hin's hopes of going up were extinguished in a season in which Sutin Iamsa-ard put away the goals.

 

2020-21 saw league re-organisation once more and a return to the European season calendar. Hua Hin City were placed in Thai League 3 West, finishing in ninth place under head coach Jiradech Seangsang which was improved upon with third position being achieved twelve months later.

The 2022-23 campaign got underway with experienced Belgian head coach Rene Desaeyere in charge of the side. Again, the team finished third, with Chitsanuphong Phimpsang heading the scoring chart. Coach Jiradech then returned to the bench after a year away.

After a disappointing tenth-place finish, City kept faith with the head coach.

Hua Hin City will play in Thai League 3 West in the 2024-25 season.

My visit

Hua Hin City 5 IPE Samut Sakhon United 3 (Sunday 26^th March 2017) Thai League 4 Western Region (att: 200)

Having visited Hua Hin on many happy occasions over the years I wanted to see a match at Khao Takiap Stadium. My pals Steve Walker and Mark Dumnall had seen the team in action at Thanaratchata Camp and enjoyed the hospitality.

It was time for me to head to the Land of Smiles for a week of rest and socialising before the Chiang Mai International Cricket Sixes, arriving on Saturday evening. This was the chance I had been waiting for.

It was the international break weekend in Thailand so lower division football was the order of the day. My friend Dale Farrington, who runs the Chonburi FC English website deciphered the Thai language fixtures and confirmed that I was in luck.

Steve and his girlfriend Fah were accompanying me for a couple of nights in Hua Hin as we headed south in one of the smart luxury coaches from Suvarnabhumi Airport on Sunday morning before us lads headed out for lunch and a couple of beers.

We decided to head to Soi 80 for a few more bottles before it was time to try and find a way to the ground. I was a little surprised by Steve’s choice of destination. I was pretty sure of the way to the stadium, but I left it with him.

A local pulled up in his large car and offered us a lift for 100 Baht, so we got in with him and his infant. He seemed sure he knew where we wanted, so it was a bit of a shock to him when he pulled up at a small-sided complex and we shook our heads and said “Mai”.

Off we went again. I thought I saw some floodlights across from us. We were in an undeveloped part of the city with poor roads and no English signage. Our chauffeur seemed confident once again.

This time we ended up at Hua Hin Centennial Club; a lovely sports facility, but once again wrong. There was nothing left for it as I made the ultimate sacrifice and turned on the mobile data on my phone. Hey presto, we were pretty close and exactly where I’d initially thought the stadium was located.

The poor little lad in the back of the car must have been thoroughly fed up. We gave his Dad double money, which he appreciated as he dropped us off in the car park behind the main entrance on Nong Kae-Takiap just before the 5.30pm kick-off.

Entry cost us 50 Baht, which was around £1.10. There were no programmes but I picked up a fixture list. I thought that Steve had last learned to read Thai as he confidently told me the schedule, only for him to burst out in laughter. He hadn’t the foggiest.

Khao Takiap Stadium was pretty basic, with an open semi-permanent stand down our side, and a small covered stand opposite with two small sections of open stands on either side. There was nothing behind either goal. Indeed, the south end only had a wire net separating it from the alley.

It only took Hua Hin a couple of minutes to take the lead through midfielder Ratchapark Duangfa before doubling their lead just before the half-hour mark as Ghanaian striker Gimba Ali fired home.

The home fans were most happy. A Scottish ex-pat behind us offered his observations to the referee, who’d already booked two United players, who would have absolutely no idea what he was going on about? I mean Steve and I were struggling with him!

IPE Samut Sakhon United were the second team from the same town below Samut Sakhon FC who I’d seen play away from home in the past. The extension of the Thai League to four divisions was welcome in many ways, but it made deciphering teams a bit tricky at times.

Kovit deservedly reduced the arrears just before the break to the joy of the twenty or so away fans on the far side. By this stage manager Somboon Chiwprecha had already made two substitutions to try and change the game. His side was decent enough going forward, but woeful at the back.

At the break, Steve got the beers in while I went behind the goal and took some photos as the beautiful red sky formed a stunning backdrop to what was becoming a fantastic evening out.

After the interval, United pressed for an equaliser and looked the better team in parts. We both predicted that the next goal would be decisive, but little did we know just how many goals would be coming. It blitzed both our score predictions.

Hua Hin extended their lead after an hour as Arnon Kaimook scored. Gimba Ali netted his second to make it 4-1 on seventy-three minutes before United pulled back what looked like a consolation.

Three minutes before full time it was 5-2 as Hua Hin forward Panthakant Tiengnae scored. There was still time for the visitors to grab another goal and force some late pressure before full-time. It was fair to say that we’d received value for money.

We headed back up the main road and stopped for a beer at a neat bar showing Scunthorpe United v Bradford City on a big screen TV, before catching a sangtheaw back into town where we had a terrific bar crawl, ending with watching England v Lithuania in the Sand Inn Hotel & Bar as the Thai owner blasted out rock anthems.

It had been a fantastic start to my three weeks' holiday, and an experience that I would repeat at any time if visiting Hua Hin.