Police United FC are a professional football club based in Lak Si to the north of the Thai capital of Bangkok. The club were formed in 1960 as Police United, under the management of the Royal Thai Police.
United won the League Cup in 1989, 1991 and 1993 before league honours followed. The club were crowned champions of Division One, and gaining promotion to the TPL in 1999 and 2005 before the club were taken over by the Insee concrete company after league regulations required all clubs to be private franchises and the club moved from the Royal Thai Police, or Bunyajinda Stadium to the Thamassat Stadium in Rangsit.
Another promotion was clinched in 2009 following another League One championship win. Three seasons of mid table finishes followed 'The Silver Shields' elevation.
Police
suffered a poor 2014 season and were relegated to Division One. Head coach Attaphol
Buspakom was given the task of restoring their former status as the club
decamped to their traditional Bunyajinda Stadium home next to the police
headquarters as Insee ended their sponsorship in the club.
Police United will play in the Thai Division 1 League in the 2015 season.
My visit
Insee Police United 0 Suphanburi 2 (Wednesday 27th March 2013) Thai Premier League
I was on a free day before meeting up with my team mates for the cricket the following week in Chiang Mai and I'd made the most of it in temperatures up to forty degrees as I'd visited several stadiums as well as the first half of the Regional League game between Luk Tapfah and Futera Seeker.
A taxi took me up the main road towards Ayutthaya before pulling off at Khlong Nueng to the Ransit Campus of the Thammasat University. My driver dropped me right outside the entrance for the VIP seats, which cost 200 Baht, which equalled around £4.50, and was quite expensive compared to other prices. I jogged up the stairs into the sparsely occupied seating area.
Thammasat Stadium was a fine arena. I'd wanted to visit for some time after seeing photos of it, and flying over it one day before landing at the nearby Don Mueng Airport. It had been constructed for the 1998 Asian Games, resembling a scaled down Rajamangala Stadium, with dipping open ends but with roofs down both sides. The dramatic floodlights hovered over each corner of the arena. United's move there as well as a joint tenancy with Regional League Luk Isan - Thai Air had kept the stadium in use. Once more it was nice to be in a stand with plentiful leg room.
There were far more fans on the far side. The home ultras away to my left totalled only around fifty fans, but the away ends behind the other goal were there in large numbers and were making a lot of noise as well. The game was a decent standard on a snooker table like surface.
Suphanburi went one up following what look like a dive earned them a penalty. The spot kick was slotted away as the visiting support went wild. In fairness their heroes had been the better side up until then. The Police side started throwing themselves to the floor as they detected a weak referee.
Suphanburi almost doubled their lead as the home keeper made an awful hash of a free kick, before United had a superb set piece of their own come back off the woodwork. The game flowed from end to end as Suphanburi's African forward lobbed the keeper but saw his effort brilliantly headed off the line. Police's import forward decided that falling over and acting was the order of the day.
At half time I walked round the back of the away end and visited the plentiful refreshment stands behind the far side, as well as purchasing a Police away shirt for around £15. I decided to go in with the majority of the home fans for the second period in the Crimson Cops Stand.
United piled on the pressure for much of the second half, but they couldn't find a way to equalise. The visitors rode their luck and still carried danger on the break. Frustrations were growing around me as the game grew towards its conclusion. A Suphanburi forward ran unchallenged at the Police rearguard and finished with aplomb to seal the victory.
At full time I went back to the main gates by the duel carraigeway and after ten minutes of concern managed to get a taxi to take me back to the city centre. I could only guess that my driver was desperate to get home for his favourite TV show, as we showed everything a clean pair of heels as he weaved in and out of any traffic at great speed.
I'd had a great day out and was happy to get to my hotel for a proper nights sleep after the rarity of an alcohol free day on holiday!
To catch some of the atmosphere of the evening, please go to:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3YQ1khZc7k&feature=youtu.be
Wednesday
1st April 2015
On
a steaming hot April Fools Day I declared to Steve that I wanted to visit a
couple of stadiums I’d never previously been to; but by local transport.
We
set off from my hosts’ home at Samakorn in Minburi on foot before catching the
local Songtheaw; a type of open backed van with wooden seats at either side. In
Minburi town centre the market was thriving and the area was a general hive of
activity. We crossed the road and soon found a mini bus heading in the right
general direction. It would eventually go to Chattachak but we needed to be
towards Lak Si. We alighted once it headed down Phahonyothin Road.
We
weren’t exactly sure how much further along Chaeng Wattana we needed to be but
we decided to walk and find out.
Under
normal circumstances this would have been a wise idea, but the temperatures
were touching 40’. Fortunately we were in the shade or under cover through
ramshackle settlements as the tight pavements were shared with mopeds. After a
walk of over two miles we bought some drinks and sunk into a seat at the open Bunyajinda
Stadium.
We
were dripping in sweat but happy to see that a junior match was just about to
take part on the pitch. Steve made enquiries and deducted it was a final of a
junior tournament involving a Japanese side and the local Sistamon team. Even
smaller kids played on the running track surrounding the pitch.
Bunyajinda
Stadium had three stands down one side with roofing, all next to each other
with the outer two at an angle to be closer to the pitch. The far side had a
section of open seating, while there was no spectator accommodation behind
either goal.
After
around fifteen minutes we made a move as we wanted to visit the home of BBCU, a
couple of kilometres west across a golf course and major roads. We decided to
take the journey by taxi once we could find one!
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