Udon Thani FC 2016-season

[kennyguk]

Franchising seems all part of the norm over here but the Thai fans are so fickle it doesn't seem to bother them about any kind of legacy or history.

I saw Khon Kaen United popped up last year and playing in front of packed houses of red fans. I bet the KK locals tossed their yellow Khon Kaen FC shirts in the bin as soon as KK Utd got some traction (until they were suspended midway through last season).

[kennyguk]

The latest I'm hearing tonight is the Pattaya Utd deal is dead but it might be BEC Tero (Lad Krabang) being taken over instead.

[Brian Davis]

Oh dear, yet more confusion. Svein and the Facebook page has the latest. BEC Tero has the same owners as Pattaya and Muang Thong!

[Drunk Monkey]

Oh dear, yet more confusion. Svein and the Facebook page has the latest. BEC Tero has the same owners as Pattaya and Muang Thong!

Blooming heck this gets dafter ... same owners 3 clubs , rest assured TIT so no fiddling going on ...LOY %. ERRR rethink this does go to show the sad state Thai Footy is in and just how bent it is ...and getting worse .. imagine the pure hypothetical senario BEC Tero playing in a title deciding fixture against Muaung Thong Utd that could stop Buriram winning the league AGAIN ... Makes for fun viewing ..

I watched the Chonburi game last week , the poor old ref made a penalty decision that was spot on and the opposing team players surrounded the ref pushed him around abused him then knocked him to the ground disgraceful ...then Chonburis Santos missed the pen to spark wild scenes .... and another brawl causing a 10 minute stoppage ...WTF .. its a joke .

OMO

[kennyguk]

MuangThong did stop Buriram winning the league last season....but that was mainly because Buriram lost so many games at the start of the season.

I've been following Port in Bangkok. It was a fun season watching them home and away until the riot at Muangthong in the cup. FA said both teams to play remaining fixtures behind closed doors....then the season got cut short anyway. Heard they were going to decide the D2 promotions by drawing lots!

[Brian Davis]

..... Heard they were going to decide the D2 promotions by drawing lots!

They did and I referred to that below. Nongbua, by beating Udon over 2 legs, were in the draw. They plus Kasetsart and Trat were the lucky ones, Surat Thani lost out. Shame it was decided that way and I really wonder if it would have presented serious problems just to promote all four.

[Brian Davis]

I watched the Chonburi game last week.....

The Nongbua - Udon tie provided lots of incidents and debates about penalties.
The biggest thing for me was the sending off of the Nongbua 'keeper in the first leg. Fully justified, I thought, others didn't. BUT, for this foul in the penalty area, there was no subsequent penalty awarded to Udon. (There was quite a delay as the Nongbua players surrounded/argued with the ref - so much for the 'respect' and fair play flags!) Nobody, but nobody, has been able to explain why not. There was no prior offside or the ball going out of play, which might have explained why. As it turned out, if subsequent events were the same, if the penalty had been given and converted, Udon not Nongbua would be in division 1! In truth, Udon only has themselves to blame for losing the tie.

[kennyguk]

They should have done that (promoting all 4 teams), D1 is short of teams after Khon Kaen got suspended halfway through and a couple of other teams were tossed out before the season began.

[vidmaster]

Where are U19's playing on Thursday?& what time do they kick off?

[Svein66]

Where are U19's playing on Thursday?& what time do they kick off?

Who?
As far as I know, UDFC don`t have a youth team. They don`t even have a first team at the moment, at least not officially. It`s rumoured that this year`s UDFC team will mostly include youth players from Muangthong United, but there is no official/confirmed news about anything yet. Except that UDFC have a new logo and that the new team shirts will be on sale soon.
The only thing we know about any games is that UDFC will play away to Phichit in the first league game of the season, on February 11 or 12.

[Brian Davis]

The only thing we know about any games is that UDFC will play away to Phichit in the first league game of the season, on February 11 or 12.

I'll jump in for Svein.

Phichit has just announced they have withdrawn from the league this season.
Perhaps it would be a sensible decision for the League to now schedule Udon to play Sa Kaeo, the latter, until Phichit's decision, not down to play first matchday, because of an odd number of teams in the division?
Obviously, Udon not to blame for above development, but I have to say that any news/rumours circulating concerning UDFC has seemed to be confused, messy, uncertain really since the early finish to last season, not helped by the Club failing to officially tell the supporters much at all!

[Drunk Monkey]

TOTAL SHAMBLES......... the best superlative to describe the current situation at UDFC ...in fact the whole league outside the TPL.

[Svein66]

This weekend the football starts again in Thailand.
UDFC is playing at home in their first 3 games, and this weekend they play on Sunday at 6pm vs Sakaeo.

Last month it didn`t look good for the club, at least from the fans` point of view, as we didn`t know anything about what was going on.
But then UDFC started to confirm players for the season, and even if there`s many new and young players, the squad started to look good. After the club had confirmed 13 players it all got quiet again, and we thought the rest would be more youngsters. But in the last couple of days we`ve seen several "grown ups" amongst the players that wasn`t confirmed in the first group, and the whole squad looks pretty good and exciting, at least to me.

UDFC have 32 players, including 5 foreigners. 4 of them comes from countries outside Asia, so only 3 of those can be used in each game.
Most of the older half of the squad has played in Thai Premier League, or Division 1, for one or more seasons, while the younger half is coming from Muangthong United, BEC Tero and Bangkok United`s youth teams, so they are not just someone they picked up on the street.

I don`t know what the club`s goal is for the season, but with the quality that it look the squad might have, and that the capacity at the stadium is increased by the club to approx 8,000 fans, it should be amongst the best teams in the table.

If you are interested in more news, info and statistics about UDFC, you can visit http://englishudfc.com/. If you are new at Udon Thani, or to UDFC, you will find map of the stadium`s location there too.

Let`s hope for a good start to the new season this Sunday!

[mac1966]

Many thanks always enjoy the updates on this thread

Sent from my SM-G7102 using Tapatalk

[Brian Davis]

A good summary, Svein.
The lack of information from the Club literally over a couple of months gave fans concern whether there’d be a team at all. At this point, I’m sure fans’ enthusiasm takes over so let’s be positive and say that, albeit late in the day, the Club has got busy and organized and we’ve a T3 League team to follow. I guess a lot must have been happening in the background, but news not passed on to the supporters.
It will be interesting to see if a successful team can be put together, but it looks promising. It will have to ‘go some’ to match Udon’s teams of recent seasons, where they’ve been very successful in the League, but rather disappointed in the Champions League promotion finale. For example, referring to the excellent statistical info Svein maintains, Udon has not lost at home in the last 31 matches and has 19 consecutive home wins. That’s impressive. I hope just mentioning it doesn’t ‘put a spanner in the works’ for tomorrow!
Without getting into too much detail, I think I should mention that the apparent intention and effort of the Udon Club owners to buy a Thai Premier League Club and relocate it in Udon has gone quiet – at least for the moment? The complicated negotiations might explain why the Club held off giving fans much information about anything. Personally, I think there’s more chance of Udon retaining its’ soul and local identity by playing and winning football matches, gaining promotion ‘the hard way’ than by obviously buying success. May have to wait a few years! [-o< BUT, aware that there’s a new, large stadium, training pitch + enormous surrounding area being developed down Sam Phrao way (bizarrely, within a few hundred metres of the University’s satellite campus’s own nearly-completed stadium) and a couple of sources citing ‘Premier League Stadium’, I think there may be something still ‘bubbling’. We’ll see.

[Brian Davis]

"I hope just mentioning it doesn’t ‘put a spanner in the works’ for tomorrow! "

I needn't have worried. Udon 2 - Sakaeo 1.
And Americans will be pleased to read there's still Japanese-US co-operation. Saruta (Japanese) scored Udon's first and Obama the second.

P.S. Obama's actually from Cameroon.

[nickboyuk]

I see there is a Brazilian up front. Truly an international team.

[Brian Davis]

I'm not certain if you're referring to Dudu Lima, a forward who made his debut last week, or to the SECOND Brazilian forward signing, Valci Junior, now I believe cleared this week as available to play. The latter comes with a very impressive scoring record, although has moved Clubs regularly. He may well prove important for Udon to progress this season.Personally, I felt a recognised central striker/target was what was missing last week, although still managed the win.
A player from the Ivory Coast, plus those from Cameroon and Japan already mentioned, make up the international element.
Game tomorrow (SATURDAY, this time) again at home v Phrae, who has also won their opening two games. Phrae hold top position on goals scored, Udon second place. Who can retain the 100% record? Let's hope Udon can do it yet again with their great home record. [-o<

Keep updated on Svein's excellent http://englishudfc.com/

[vidmaster]

Do you get into the ground by going into University's main gate?
What time is kick off & is it Thai time- anytime they decide or is it on the dot?
Or do they wait until enough gate money has been collected

[Brian Davis]

Do you get into the ground by going into University's main gate?
What time is kick off & is it Thai time- anytime they decide or is it on the dot?
Or do they wait until enough gate money has been collected

Main entrance maybe your best bet at the moment, Vid. Some do enter by the Uni's 'auditorium' or the school at the rear of the Uni campus, park up, and then cross a stream over bridges. I understood that one of these bridges was out of use at present. If you are coming by car, lots of traffic and 'madness' after, particularly about the Prince Prajak roundabout, although some unlucky traffic police there to try and maintain some order.
There has actually been quite an improvement in getting games k.o'd and restarted on time. Players now seem to acknowledge their fans (although many still to arrive) after warming up, instead of just before k.o. We have to endure the rigmarole of management/team , then just team huddles before getting going (one would really think they have instructions should have got 'fired up' already), but think the ref is getting them out early enough to still make k.o. on time - um, usually. .
I would suggest you arrive perhaps 20-30 minutes before scheduled ko (6 pm tomorrow and usually), otherwise you may struggle a little to find space to sit.