Capacity: 8,000
Club Founded: 2009
League: Thai League 1 (current level)
Sukhothai FC was founded in 2009, initially playing their home games at the Sukhothai Institute of Physical Education Stadium. The club, coached by Chusak Sriphum, was awarded a place in the third-tier Regional League Division 2 North. The side remained in mid-table or lower positions for several seasons before ending third in 2013.
New Stadium
Big changes came in 2014 as the club moved into the new Thalay Luang Stadium. The regional title was clinched, followed by promotion from Group B of the playoffs, taking the Fire Bats to a place in the second-tier Division 1.
The prolific Felipe Ferreira scored the goals as Sukhothai won promotion at the first attempt, for the side led by Somchai Chuayboonchum, who had succeeded Somchai Makmool. Renan Marques was the top marksman of an incredible 2016 season.
AFC Competition
The side consolidated their league standing at the top level of Thai football, as well as lifting the FA Cup. The club were awarded the accolade when the competition was abandoned at the semifinal stage following the death of King Bhumibol Adulyadej. All four remaining sides became joint winners.
However, Sukhothai
won the draw to represent Thailand in the AFC Champions League in 2017, defeating Yadanarbon of Myanmar before losing the playoff round to Chinese
side Shanghai SIPG.
Relegation
The legendary John Baggio then began to make his mark in the team after coach Makmool was reappointed, before being replaced by Pairoj Borwonwatanadilok. Chalermwoot Sa-ngapol was then given the job as Nelson Bonilla put away the goals.
Ljubomir Ristovski was the next Sukhothai head coach before he was replaced by a returning Pairoj before the end of the 2019 season. Thai football changed to the European calendar in 2020-21, with the goals of Baggio not being enough to prevent relegation for the side led by Surapong Kongthep.
A Return to Thai League 1
Osman Sow made his mark up front for the Fire Bats in 2021-22 as the side won promotion back to Thai League 1 at the first attempt under the tutelage of coach Dennis Amato. The team stayed up before the German tactician moved on.
Chusak Sriphum and then Sugao Kambe were the next head coach appointments. A returning Bonilla scored the goals to help Sukhothai remain safe, despite some disharmony on and off the pitch, with fans being upset with the club owners.
Recent Times
Aktaporn Chalitaporn led the side from the bench as the consistent Baggio, in his second spell at the club, joined in the goalscoring effort by Matheus Fornazari. Ekalak Thong-am was appointed as the Sukhothai head coach in March 2026.
His team retained their top-flight status with a 3-0 final-day home win against Muangthong United.
My visit
One of the great pleasures of watching football across Thailand has been my involvement in A Thai Football Podcast. The weekly airing encourages all sorts of topics of conversation, with match reports from anyone who wants to contribute and send anything in being welcomed.
Dale, who does an incredible job putting it together, has found contacts from goodness knows where. This has led to friendships being made with other like-minded individuals when catching up whenever visiting different parts of the country. Bill Greaves is a prime example.
Bill, with his Aberdonian and Canadian drawl, sends in some cracking reports full of humour and smart observations. When my wife, Taew, looked at routes to return from the annual Chiang Mai Cricket Sixes, the fixtures, and destinations aligned perfectly, also offering the chance to see historic Sukhothai as part of our road trip.
Bill, through Dale, got in touch, and we enjoyed a phone chat a week before we met up, with his good lady, Dtoi, sorting out the match tickets. Taew drove us down on Sunday morning along a scenic route, before we checked into our rather underwhelming resort, much to her disappointment.
Not to worry, after a siesta, we were soon meeting our hosts in a noodle shop for a quick beer. Bill’s original suggestion to go for a burger was scuppered as AJ’s was shut, as was his alternative plan. He didn’t seem too upset as he enjoyed being at the Thalay Luang Stadium with lots of time to spare.
The couple could not have been more friendly or helpful. I had a wander about for photos before returning to the car, which had been parked next to by other hospitable regulars as a small tailgate party ensued with food and drink purchased from the decent choice of stores.
I did my stuff for the podcast with Bill offering his thoughts before he and Dtoy went inside a little before us, so that he could manage the steps to our seat before it got busy. The atmosphere was building once we joined them, with beers and the spicy local thin sausage, which I quickly took a liking to.
The stadium was also to my approval, with magnificent views of the mountains in the distance and seats close to the pitch without a running track. The locals were out in force and made a proper din against the big boys of Thai football, who were firm favourites to win against their mid-table opposition.
Love or dislike Buriram, they are an outstanding example of what money can provide with star players, by far the biggest club stadium in the country, and honours galore. The way that referees seemingly bend towards them is another matter, but not unique to Thailand in the way the most powerful are accommodated.
The first half saw almost incessant Buriram pressure. A couple of scrambles in the home area somehow saw the ball being kept out by a mixture of desperation, luck, brave defending, erratic goalkeeping from understudy Supazin Hnupichai, and poor finishing. It was not dull.
The home Fire Bats were either about to be eaten up or come up with the greatest ‘rope a dope’ performance ever. The tiny John Baggio and giant Matheus Fornazari formed an unlikely double act, but on occasions, they caused concern to the visiting rearguard.
It was like an FA Cup tie back home, watching a non-league side take on a team from several divisions higher. That’s how much of a gulf there can be at times in Thai football. That said, at 0-0, Sukhothai always had a chance of a breakaway to snatch a win that would have made for the perfect evening.
Soon into the second half, Supazin made a super save from which Supachai Chaided blasted the rebound over. A local friend of Bill was not enamoured by the number of foreigners taking the field for Buriram. They are not a Thai club was the gist of his observations.
The deadlock was broken in the fiftieth minute, as the impressive Jefferson Tabinas went on another forceful run down the left-hand side. His powerful cross was put away by substitute Suphanat Mueanta for star-studded Buriram. Shortly after, Goran ฤauลกiฤ saw a shot smash off the top of the crossbar.
In the sixty-fifth minute, the reigning champions doubled their advantage. Sukhothai lost the ball in midfield, where it was quickly swept wide on the right. The cross was chested home by Martin Boakye, with my thoughts being on the rest of the game being a case a damage limitation.
The man beside us was further narked when Buriram introduced another foreign star, Guilherme Bissoli, into the action. His team didn’t stop believing and grabbed a goal in stoppage time when the ball was dragged back for Hikaru Matsui to fire past goalie Neil Etheridge.
However, there was not enough time to raise any more attacks, with the result being about the right outcome. Nobody could accuse the Sukhothai players of not giving their all, but they were beaten by a better side, who edged closer to the title.
A Stormy Ending
We still had plenty to look forward to. Our match tickets gave free admission to a concert in the park behind the goal, which would see the extremely popular Thai band, Clash, playing. Off we went as best we could through the crowds, losing our hosts when we got split up.
Eventually, we were inside the fenced-off area, but just as the band began to play, the heavens opened, and huge winds blew across the open space. It got very cold, wet, and dangerous, very quickly. It was scary for a while.
Particularly as the poles holding the large Chang beer banners began toppling over, and Bill, in a seat, would not be able to get out of the way. We protected him as best as we could with my large body attempting to perform as a wind break while Taew used an umbrella over him as Toy went to retrieve the car.
The gig was abandoned, leading to chaos as everyone wanted to leave at the same time. Dtoi managed to get the car near, and I forced open the fencing so my friend could access it quickly. We had a giggle inside the vehicle, but it had been quite an experience.
The traffic back towards the main roads was horrendous, taking us well over an hour before Dtoi deposited us at the end of the lane by our accommodation. I had a coffee to warm up before bed.
Onward Journey
The following morning, we had breakfast and covered the sites of the historical park without paying to go inside them. It was a pleasant little tour offering me some excellent video footage, before we headed to Kamphaeng Phet to meet more friends for another lovely few hours.
Our thanks go to Bill and Dtoi for their hospitality and for making the visit so special.
