Udon Thani

Udon Thani FC was a professional football club that was formed in 1999 by the inaugural Chairman, Mr.Sathaporn Kotabut, in the northeastern Thailand city of the same name. The club was dissolved at the end of the 2022-23 owing to financial issues.

The club entered into the Thailand Provincial League; which was the third tier of Thai football at the time, for the 1999-00 season finishing in fourth place. The club continued competing in the same competition for a further three campaigns.

The best finish came in 2001 as ‘The Orange Giants’ finished fourth once again. Udon Thani withdrew from competitive football between 2005 and 2008 before re-emerging as a club playing in Regional League Division 2 North Eastern Region.

Home matches were played at the Institute of Physical Education Udon Thani Stadium, as the team weighed in with a third-place finish in 2009 with coach Phithaya Santawong at the helm. Two mid-table finishes followed as several coaches had spells in charge of the team.

Another third spot arrived in 2012 with Ousmanou Mohamadou leading the scoring under the stewardship of the Korean Park No Bong before the returning Santawong took control once again to take control for the 2013 campaign.

Two consecutive runners-up berths followed in 2013 and 2014 as Oyewole Yemi Joseph and then Tomiwa Bolarinwa banged in the goals under coaches Santawong, Voottivat Daengsamerkiat and  Somkait Fongpach.

Promphong Kransumrong scored on an incredible 32 occasions in 2015 as Udon Thani finished in third place as Worradet Phuprapri, Hannarong Chunhakunakorn and Somkait Fongpach were employed throughout the season by a frustrated owner.

The club moved to the Udon Thani Rajabhat University Stadium for the 2016 campaign, and the change worked, as Udon Thani romped to the league title as striker Natthaphat Somsri led the way under the tutelage of coach Choketawee Promrut.

This led to the team qualifying for the knockout Champions League playoffs to strive for promotion. Nara United were defeated before Udon Thani went out to local rivals Nongbua Pitchaya on away goals.

The 2017 season saw the league system re-organised in Thailand, with Udon Thani being placed in Thai League 3 Upper Region. A runners-up place under Paniphon Kerdyam, and fired by the goals of Valci Júnior led to a place in the playoffs.

Trang were defeated on away goals to send the club up to the second tier Thai League 2. The club returned to the Institute of Physical Education Udon Thani Stadium under the team management of Uthai Boonmoh.

The Thai coach was replaced by Darren Read in April 2018 who lasted just a couple of months before Watcharapong Klahan took over. The team ended in a disappointing seventh place as Paniphon Kerdyam was appointed head coach ahead of the 2019 season.

The club moved into the newly built SAT Stadium, a few miles northwest of the city in Sam Phrao for the new campaign. Bruno Correa led the scoring for the Orange Giants as they ended in seventh place before the Thai League reverted to the European calendar for the 2020-21 season.

Jakarat Tonhongsa had been put in charge of the team during the long break but departed to Muangthong United and was replaced by Jetsada Jitsawad as the season got underway. In a season of struggle, João Paulo Sales top scored.

Another Brazilian, Thales Lima starred in 2021-22 as the side improved their league standing. The club went through an alarming number of coaches, as Sirisak Yodyardthai, Fernando Sales, Daniel Blanco, Jörg Steinebrunner and Reuther Moreira all had spells in charge of the team before the appointment of Chalermwoot Sa-ngapol.

New ownership caused much upheaval, especially when it was revealed that the money that was claimed to be in place wasn’t there. The club moved back to their previous home in the city for the 2022-23 season. Paniphon Kerdyam, Mavi Lopes, and Akbar Nawas in a couple of spells, led the team that finished bottom of Thai League 2 despite the goals of Greg Houla.

Udon Thai FC was dissolved after the end of the season and didn’t take its place in Thai League 3.

My visits

Udon Thani 1 Army United 1 (Sunday 8^th April 2018) Thai League 2 (att: 4,534)

There is nothing I enjoy more in life than visiting new places. The amazing Chiang Mai International Cricket Sixes had drawn to an end the previous evening and I was ready to relax and enjoy myself without any alarm calls for the final few days of my trip.

My good pal Steve Walker was to join me on another adventure and I’d done all the bookings in eager anticipation a few weeks previously. Just taking the journey down to Udon Thani proved to be an interesting experience.

My mate turned up at my hotel the worse for wear, after enjoying a few too many bars in great company. We boarded the small plane with just two seats on each side of the aisle for the flight southeast. He was still merry and wouldn’t shut up for an hour's flight. We were about the only westerners onboard.

We quickly got a cab into town where we found our excellent UD Residence Hotel and grabbed lunch at the impressive Good Corner and a quick recce of the area before a siesta. We reconvened and plumped for the brilliant Restaurant Da Sofia.

The pizza was as good as I could remember tasting and the service first first-class. We headed to the Day & Night bar area where the locals were most helpful. After a couple of beers at incredibly agreeable prices, it was time to hail a tuk-tuk to the match.

A vehicle was commandeered for us; presumably with the driver knowing where he was going. If only things were so simple in Thailand! We were about to have a tour and my patience was severely tested.

I was pretty sure that we were heading in the wrong direction, but I left it to our pilot. This was not one of my greatest ever decisions. Within fifteen minutes we’d fought through the heavy traffic to arrive at a municipal facility with a stand, but definitely no professional football.

We headed down a side road where the driver got out and spoke to some locals; two of whom wore Udon Thani replica shirts. Surely they would know? All was looking well as we joined the cross-city traffic, some more were decked out in club colours.

All of a sudden, for reasons best known to himself, our driver took a left turn. He looked back to us with pride, only to be met resounding “mai” from the pair of us. He’d taken us to the former home at Udon Thani Rajabhat University.

Off we went again. He obviously had two options on his list. Time was getting on, so I was more than a little relieved to see the shining floodlights of the correct stadium from the main Thanon Pracha Raksa.

We did a left down Ban Lueam to the entrance of the Institute of Physical Education. We jumped out and gave our new close smiling friend a substantial tip on top of the arranged fare. We must have been in a good mood!

I’d contacted some western fans of the club through their Facebook page and was aware that the club got good attendances. Indeed, the stadium had been extended in recent weeks. Rather than going in the best seats, we decided to go with the masses on the far side.

On the way around we saw fans playing instruments and generally getting into a party atmosphere. Thai's really did make an effort around the match. The ever-amiable Steve ended up playing the tambourine with one group!

To see the atmosphere outside and during the game, click here for a homemade video.

Our tickets cost 80 Baht (around £1.70) which allowed us access to any of the three sides opposite the main area. Water costs just a few further Baht. It was encouraging to see so many youngsters in attendance. The fair pricing made it affordable.

Initially, we tried to get in the main area down the side, but it was absolutely mobbed from around thirty minutes before kick-off. We ended up in one of the new sections near the corner flag, with a tree of all things restricting the view slightly.

The Main Stand had covered seating on the far side. Opposite were open deep steps to allow sitting, with extensions on either side. The ends around the running track had open deep steps, with the visiting fans being plonked in a small section in the corner.

The Army fans were well regimented. It was as though they were still on duty. They remained silent but then chanted in unison; whereas the home support had several little groups around the arena all playing their own instruments and singing their own songs.

The match got underway and soon became clear that it wasn’t going to be a classic. Army’s tactics were extremely obvious. They’d come north to frustrate the hosts and to try and grab a winning goal. Udon Thani did not look to have many ideas how to counteract this tactic.

The hosts Milan Bubalo looked most disappointing. We quickly came to the conclusion that Udon were not playing with enough width to try and get around the disciplined United defence. Indeed, it could have been the Bangkok side who took the lead.

On ten minutes Brazilian midfielder Diego Lima saw a header go just over the bar. Udon were frustrated when they thought they’d sprung the offside trap. We thought it a poor decision at the time, and later highlights confirmed it.

Army came close again halfway through the opening period, as Brazilian forward Erivelto saw his effort go narrowly wide. The half closed with a challenge that bordered on an assault on Army’s Brazilian skipper Rodrigo Frauches. The referee either didn’t see it or made a shocking decision not to take action.

At the interval, we decided to move places and sat behind the goal Udon were hoping to attack. The view wasn’t the best, but we were around a decent atmosphere as fan groups on either side of us tried to raise their side.

The first half had been frankly awful, and we were hoping for some quality after the restart. It was Army who took the lead three minutes after the break. A free kick went wide and found Frauches who lobbed it back into the box where Erivelto headed home.

Udon keeper Witsanusak Kaewruang went down as though shot by a sniper when he had made a real mess of things from the cross. He hadn’t impressed us too much, and his actions smacked of trying to restore his pride.

We thought that would have been a call for Army to defend even more resolutely, but Udon levelled things up ten minutes later. A very good inswinging cross from Kasidech Wettayawong found the head of Danusorn Wijitpanya to glance home.

Army responded with a fine move and low cross from Tossakorn Boonpeng for Suradet Thongchai to stoop and head goalwards, only to be denied by Kaewruang who made a decent stop to redeem himself.

Udon returned fire when a fine jinking run put in a forward who struck the post; alas from an offside position. A long-range effort from an Army player caused confusion for Kaewruang after it deflected off one of his defenders.

The match was into the fourth minute of stoppage time when United’s Kanok Kohyangphueak was shown a harsh red card for a robust challenge. His side had one last opportunity to snatch all three points when Erivelto’s misguided free header nearly set up Diego Lima.

We headed back to the main road and then started walking down Thanon Pracha Raksa towards the city centre when we flagged down a tuk-tuk heading in the other direction. We were soon dropped at Central Plaza and headed back to Day & Night.

We went on to have a fantastic evening in a vibrant and most agreeable area for nightlife. It certainly received the thumbs up when we gathered our thoughts the following morning.

Udon Thani 2 Customs United 2 (Sunday 7^th April 2019) Thai League 2 (att: 2,985)

It was back down to Udon from Chiang Mai after a most enjoyable Sixes competition. I was in absolute top form and Steve was in far better nick on arrival than the previous year. Our flight arrived at 3pm leaving not much time before kick-off.

We checked into our rooms at @Home at Udon before heading to the bus station to sort out our arrangements for Tuesday morning when he headed to Buriram. This was not as straightforward as it sounds; as there was no direct service.

A meal was taken at The Good Corner as we digested the news and tried to think of alternative options. Never mind. There always had to be a way to get there. I had other priorities, like how we would get to the newly built SAT Stadium and back.

After depositing our dirty laundry, we went to the Central Plaza to get a taxi. We managed to sort a fare for the 15km journey. Steve tried to negotiate it in such a way that our driver would receive more for a return journey than the way out if he picked us up.

He chatted away on his phone but in the end, he decided that he couldn’t take us back. We were pushing it for the start. The national anthem was audible as we were dropped in the car park. After purchasing our 80 Baht (£2) tickets, we went upstairs to the Main Stand.

SAT Stadium was certainly an improvement from the Institute of Physical Education Udon Thani Stadium, but surely the location would prove problematic to attract crowds? I guess that nearly every Thai has access to a car or motorbike/scooter?

Our stand had a roof and was raised well above pitch level, running most of the full length of the touchline. The centre section was for VIP’s. Opposite was a similar-sized structure, only open to the elements.

A running track surrounded the pristine playing surface, with no spectator accommodation around either of the curves around the goals. If ever required there was lots of room for expansion beyond the current perimeters.

The match was not dissimilar to Udon’s game with Army United on our previous visit. The home side was playing too narrow and struggling to forge out any opportunities of note. Their best chances were to get wide, but they didn’t do it nearly often enough.

The hosts certainly had more of the pressure and played some good stuff without any real end product against their bottom of the table opposition. The fans on the far side were doing their best to raise their side; albeit in clusters of different supporter groups.

Warut Supphaso wasted a decent chance when he fired across goal when played in before skipper Prakit Deeprom fired a speculative shot over the bar. As often happens, a side is punished for not taking advantage of their dominance.

In first-half stoppage time, Customs were awarded a free kick wide on the left which Anusorn Sricaloung planted past home keeper Kittipun Sansuk, who made a shocking misjudgement to let the curling effort over his head and in to make it 1-0 at the break.

We decided to have a walk at the interval and watch the second half from the far side. Who knows, we may have bumped into some other Farang fans who could offer us a ride back, or at least offer us advice. The stadium certainly wasn’t on a regular bus route!

We surveyed the numerous catering outlets. Fried maggots? No thanks! In the end, we grabbed a bottle of water each for 20 Baht and a bowl of Dim Sum, which was outstanding value with seven pieces in sauce costing just 20 Baht.

The middle sections were pretty busy, so we took up a spot near the end of the open stand, just above one of the splinter fan groups, with plenty of locals smiling and intrigued at the presence of two westerners.

Udon continued to press but were undone on the break on fifty minutes as the Cameroon striker Isaac Mbengan capitalised on some reluctant defending to double Custom’s lead with a rasping left-foot drive. The away following of around a hundred fans opposite were ecstatic.

Big Brazilian forward Bruno Correa had come on for Udon just before halftime and began to use his physical presence and nous to good effect. His flicked header helped his side back into the game just before the hour mark as Jetsada Badcharee scored at the back post.

Udon poured forward looking to get at least a point out of the game. Attacks were thwarted, and players on both sides went down too easily trying to fool the referee. The board went up for additional time. Steve and I were on the verge of leaving to look for a taxi.

Then the ref was indeed fooled; at least it looked like it from our position. He pointed to the penalty spot for the softest of handball decisions against a dejected Chakrit Rawanprakone. Correa made no mistake with his kick to make it 2-2.

There was no sign of any taxis anywhere around the perimeter as we made our way out. The security by the stadium entrance onto the main 2410 road couldn’t help. We started to walk along the road, praying to see a taxi. Our hopes were not high.

Then out of nowhere, we received a huge boost. A large car pulled up. A gent in a Udon shirt asked where we were going? His English was certainly better than our Thai as he told us to get in. Suk was to become the hero of the hour.

He took us all the way back to the Central Plaza and we had a lovely chat. He was a lecturer at one of the local colleges who loved English football, with Liverpool being his team. He went well out of his way having rung his wife to tell her he’d be late home.

Suk couldn’t understand why we were at the game. He drove along in a state of disbelief as I explained my hobby and the other Thai clubs that I’d visited for matches. He was over the moon that we’d checked out his club. It seemed like a form of honour.

He refused to take anything in return for his astonishing kindness. It epitomised why I love Thailand and its people so much. We’d experienced a lift from a Muang Thong in Bangkok several years previously in Bangkok, but this time it really was appreciated.

Steve and I went on our way, enjoying yet another top night in Udon and its various establishments. The following day we sourced out the train option to Buriram as well as sampling some fantastic food in the Sports Bar on Soi Samphan.

Udon hadn’t let us down. In fact, it could have done with being a little less inviting when I got the taste on the Monday evening, but that’s another story.