UMT Stadium is a football stadium located within Eastern University of Management and Technology in the city centre of Ubon Ratchathani in northeast Thailand. It is an excellent little stadium which is not unlike a lower division venue in Holland.
Building on it began in 2015 and is the former home of the then topflight Ubon United when they finished in 2019 through financial problems. The stadium was inaugurated in 2017 with a game between Ubon UMT United and Nong Bua Pitchaya. The first goal in the stadium was scored by Ubon’s Brazilian striker Tiago Chulapa
Ubon Poly competed in the Semi-Pro League of 2022-23 out of the venue, that is often used by the various university sides such as Poly and North Eastern Polytechnic Vocational College who played in the 2023 Thailand Amateur League.
My visits
Ubon Poly 4 Ubon Kids City 2 (Sunday 5th March 2023) Thai Semi-Pro League Northeast (att: 432)
Read all about my most enjoyable first visit here.
Amnatcharoen City 6 NMSS FC 1 (Sunday 7th May 2023) Thailand Amateur League Northeastern Southern Zone (att: 140)
It was a hot weekend day and I had already been to a morning match in the Amateur League at Tung Burapha Stadium in the northern extremes of the city before returning for a spot of lunch before my second encounter.
This was much better than the first game, not least being in an excellent little stadium which I enjoyed on my previous visit, with its quaint stands and being close to the pitch on all four sides. The addition of plenty of covered accommodation pleased me greatly.
I got to see an enjoyable match, with the winners from the next-door province of the same name having 90% of the support in attendance, who were extremely enthusiastic and friendly folk.
The opposition Nahon Ratchasima Municipal Sports School, to give them their full title, had a five-hour journey either way, madness when you think about it for regional amateur football. They started the brighter until either bus, car, or coach lag got the better of them.
It was only the actions of the Amnatcharoen keeper, Parinthon Phothiphan who looked like he enjoyed his food and drink, which kept them level until his side upped the pace and went in at the break ahead with a goal in stoppage time from Sittisak Nimma who scored an absolute screamer from at least thirty yards.
It was great to be in the shade with plenty of
refreshments which I bought at a nearby store. ACC took the game by the scruff
of the next after the restart while I moved to a position behind the goal midway
through where my appearance caused some curiosity among the locals.
Nimma added a second before the impressive skipper Takoon Taothong made it 3-0 just after the hour mark. NMSS pulled one back through Ramet Bauchit offering slight hope, but it was all but extinguished when Taothong grabbed a second.
I was getting ready ready for another taxi ride as sub
Satapon Simuan added a fifth, while the Korat side’s goalkeeper Kittipong
Leeporphan and the woodwork played their part in keeping the score respectable.
Simuan made it 6-1 just after my departure.
I needed a getaway to catch the 3.15 train from the far side of the city, with my driver delivering me with a few minutes to spare. There was a 4pm game but my energy levels were running out quickly in the heat.
The later match featured a team called The North Eastern Polytechnic Vocational College, all but Ubon Poly except name, who had pulled a flanker by changing title to grab another opportunity of promotion. They ran out 7-0 winners and I hoped that they succeeded as UTM Stadium needed to be staging Pro League football and have a club challenging for promotion in a big city.
Sods Law decrees that if you want to sleep on a Thai train there will be women screaming and selling their wares through the carriages. If you are desperate for a cold drink, there will be none to be found, and so it was on the 7 Baht ride to Kanthararom where my wife was waiting to take me home and feed me.
I enjoyed terrific day helped later by watching
my favourite Thai side, Port beat Chonburi 3-1 on TV. It was still 35 degrees
at 10pm which necessitated some very cold beers before bedtime.
The Amateur League continued along filtering out teams through the knockout stages, as the eventual winner of each section hoped for promotion to Thai League 3. I was honestly not sure how promotion would work if at all and online information was scant.
It was a game that won’t live long for the quality on show, but many years of watching football have registered the importance of making a day of it so if let down by a game, all is not lost, which was certainly not short of incident.
Both sides travelled up to five hours from Korat in the west all the way to the farthest eastern city. Madness to me, but when in Rome etc. At least it afforded me a quality venue to view proceedings, especially with free admission.
A colour clash of sorts too didn’t help the spectacle. The victors in all red with blue trim, the other mob in an orange and blue striped outfit quite similar to that of Port FC in Bangkok. Indeed, BWS played like a bunch of Port fans after a sesh at a game at the PAT Stadium.
I thought I was going to see a proper drubbing, which it had been in all but the score. BWS were puffing like Boris Johnson out jogging and trying their unfit best to make it respectable. Their only attempts came from set pieces. They were simply a yard slower than their opponents
Mungdee added the fourth ten minutes after the restart after referee Phaithun Onkhamloon had hilariously waved away as stone wall penalty as I’ve seen in ages. He perhaps felt sorry for those taking the tonking. Or maybe he wasn’t very good either.
Immediately BWS pulled one back through Phawat Sakunkanchan and then scored in the final minute as Bandit Inmanop netted against the college side that were long since planning their quarter final tie.
There was a second game, between host side North Eastern Polytechnic Vocational College, and Roi Et PB Academy, which the Ubon side won on penalties. However, one game was enough for me as I headed off for some exercise.
A cracking day aside from the match. Up to feed the chickens out the front before 6am, a later lift with my wife to Kanthararom where I used the Post Office and then the railways station, both offering outstanding value for money and customer service. 14 baht return for a 40 minute each way journey.
Cheap lovely food outside Kanthararom station, and a school match on the way from a brief skeg. I eventually reached the stadium by songthaew and then taxi after I thought we were going the wrong way.
Post match a 50 minute walk to keep up the fitness
regime to Wrong Way Café. I’d have gone earlier but it didn’t open until 4pm,
an hour after my game finished. Some ice-cold bottles of San Mig Lite the
perfect medicine until it was time for a taxi to the station.
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