Hua Hin City FC is a football club which was formed in 2007 as Hua Hin Municipality F.C, who are based in the seaside city of the same name 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 out of town 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.
A fourth
place finish in Group A meant that City remained in Division 2 Central &
West Region, where they finished in fifth place. 2016 saw the club in the
rebranded Division 2 Western Region.
2016 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.
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 third place in 2018 as Kaimook continued his fine form.
This took 'The Sailors' to the Champions League promotion play-offs where BGC were defeated to reach the group stage where Hua Hin's hopes of going up were extinguished.
Hua Hin City
will play in Thai League 4 (T4) Western Region in the 2019 season.
My visit
Hua Hin City
5 IPE Samut Sakhon United 3 (Sunday 26th 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 the 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 we headed out us lads 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 with 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 in we got
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
chauffer 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 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’s 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 to 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 were 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 led 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 being 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.
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