Beleive it or not, but the season that started last weekend is off! Now a new board will check all club`s rights to play in Regional League, that`s about 90 clubs, and the there will be new fixture lists. The 6 RL-regions might also be expanded to 8-12 leagues, so it might be a much shorter season when they finally figure out what to do.
Well, when we thought it couldn`t get any worse, it just did...

Why not cancel the season ..give Newins Buriram the EPL title and then the other league titles can be purchased to the highest bidder ....

This latest "idea" could uncover all sorts of strange things whilst wading thru the colossal amount of paperwork .

As previously stated ....... A TOTAL SHAMBLES

Drunk Monkey wrote:A TOTAL SHAMBLES

Well said...

As I said in the earlier post, there will probably be from 8 to 12 leagues in the new Regional League, instead of 6, when they kick off again in a couple/few weeks time. This might include a newly added 3rd Division. There`s currently approx 90 teams in Regional League and that`s too much for only 2nd Division, so a 3rd will be a great addition. With a 3rd Division, there will be more exciting games around the country, with more teams having something to play for. Not only promotion to 1st and 2nd, but also relegation from 2nd to 3rd. And there will be promotion play-offs in both 2nd and 3rd Division, with all the excitement that brings. It will also make it easier for Regional League to welcome new clubs each year.
But, with the season kicking off 6 days ago, this is a bad time to make the changes!

If Regional League was to ask me, which they probably won`t , I would tell them to have 3 leagues in 2nd Division this season, if they will add a 3rd Division now and not wait until 2017. I would have 16 teams in each league this season, going down to 14 from 2017.
To have 8-12 leagues in only 2nd Division this season would make it very difficult for teams to qualify for Champions League, with only 1 or 1,5 teams from each league getting a spot. That would not favour North-East, who had 3 teams in CL last season and was supposed to get the same (2,5) this season.
And for teams who would suddenly be relegated to 3rd Division, and maybe had hopes to qualify for CL, it would be a big blow to split Regional League into 2 divisions now.
Whatever they decide to do, let`s hope it will happen very soon, and that it will be a good decision, both in the short and long run.

The earliest new start of the season is most likely February 27, but it might of course be later than that. The first weekend of March had no games in Regional League, for an unknown reason, in the previous fixture lists, so that might be the case in the new one too. So no surprise for me if March 12 will be the opening day of the new season.

There seems to be talks about splitting the 17 teams from North-East (report actually say 18, but I don`t know who the last one is) into 2 leagues, with only 9 teams in each, to cut travelexpenses. That would probably mean that UDFC would be in the same league as Nong Khai, Loei City, Nong Bua Lamphu, Sakhon Nakhon, Nakhon Phanom, Khon Kaen, Mahasarakham and Kalasin. Splitting the league into two would probably mean that only the winner would qualify for Champions League, and with UDFC, Loei City, Nong Bua Lamphu and Khon Kaen in the same league, it would be very difficult for either side to qualify.

With only 16 games in a season, and only 8 at home, I would think that interest would drop several places. With 16 games in 52 weeks there`s not much to get excited about if not qualifying for Champions League, as you then have 36 weeks without football during a year.

I was hoping that the changes in Regional League would be for the better, but if they decide to go for only 9 teams, it will be a really poor change! But of course, how could I expect Thai football to make positive changes? Silly me...

Agree with you there, Svein.
There was certainly a feeling that the season was too long, perhaps by a month or so, if your team qualified for the Champions League and the extra games involved there. That left little time for preparation between the end of one season and the start of the next. But from what you say, it seems to be one extreme to the other. As one of the wealthier and best supported clubs, I cannot imagine Udon has concern over travel expenses, combined with accommodation costs. Perhaps the poorer clubs have to tolerate travelling on the day of a game (and nearer away games would help there) but, other than to very near clubs, Udon(and I'm fairly sure the new coach) has preference for travelling the day before and staying overnight. I don't know how much attendance income might be a factor. Again, would rich Udon really 'miss' the income from 4,000+ fans and say 8 less home games? Perhaps it's still significant? But, income at somewhere like Sakhon Nakhon where they struggle to to get a few hundred fans, can't amount to much anyway! I'm certain the Udon fans would rather have more football than less. Incidentally, I'm no fan of the Scottish system of playing teams four times, so hope that's not adopted.

The bottom line, maybe, is that the poorer clubs are struggling to survive?

It`s confirmed that there will be 8 leagues instead of 6 in Regional League this season. All leagues will have 11-12 teams, they say. North-East will be split in two, North and South. The Southern North-Eastern League will hopefully be filled up with teams from Central-East and/or North, so the 2 leagues also will have 11-12 teams each, and not only 9 as mentioned earlier.

With 8 leagues, each league will have 1,5 spots for Champions League, meaning the 8 teams finishing in 2nd place will have to play for 4 spots.

The season might kick off (again) in early or mid-March.


Brian,
UDFC and other teams who want Champions League football, and Division 1, probably have enough money to travel. The travel cost is clearly much higher in North and North-East, where there is some long travels. And North-East specially where the league also has had more teams than the other leagues over the last few years.
For UDFC, 4000 fans at homegames this season paying 80 baht each + sale of merchandise and more, would probably give the club 500,000 baht on each game. I doubt they use more than that on average at awaygames, so I think they make money overall on the cost of games.
The smaller teams, with a few hundred people attending their games, are surely losing a lot of money overall on games, with up to 17 awaygames during a season, like last year.

I hope next season when they add Division 3, that they make the rules easier for new teams to enter. At least that 2 teams in the same province be allowed to play at the same stadium. Now they are not, and that make it difficult some places. Mukdahan probably one of those places.

It`s still very unclear when the season starts again, and how many teams there will be in the league, but it seems as it will (re)start on March 26 at the latest.
The latest news/rumour is that there will be 14 teams, down from 17 a few weeks ago. Nakhon Phanom has withdrawn from the league this season, while Loei City will be moved to the Northern league and Chaiyaphum United to Central/East.
But with the new crazy guy in charge of Thai football, nothing can be trusted until the season actually has kicked off. Or after 2-3 matchdays, just to be sure...

Tomorrow we will again get to know what teams UDFC will play this season, but it still looks as it will be the previous mentioned teams (14). The fixture list will hopefully be published shortly after the tams is confirmed. The season is said to be starting next weekend (March 19/20).
All UDFC`s homegames is said to be shown live on internet. Probably because the new stadium don`t have the capacity needed. The capacity will most likely be well below 4000, while there was up to 5500 in the stands last season.

Next weekend is the opening day of Regional League 2016. Hopefully!
UDFC will play at home to Sakhon Nakhon. Date not confirmed yet.
There`s 14 teams in the league, as expected, but Chaiyaphum is not moved to Central East, as previous mentioned. Nong Bua Pitchaya is moved to the Northern league instead, together with Loei City.
Nong Bua is not happy, as they didn`t know anything about it until today. Maybe a protest is coming? :-"

UDFC did not enter the League Cup this season. The cup started with 2 qualifying rounds 4-5 weeks ago. Earlier this week it was said that the cup will start again at a later date , so maybe we`ll see UDFC enter this time?

Here`s the teams UDFC will play this season:

Sometimes there`s mistakes when people says ok to translations without checking it.
Chaiyaphum is moved to the Central region, and Nakhon Phanom decided not to withdraw from the league, so here`s the correct list...

UDFC will play Sakhon Nakhon this Saturday at 1800 at Rajabhat University Udon Thani Stadium. That`s a NEW stadium, and not where they have been playing in previous seasons.
The rest of the fixtures will hopefully be published in a day or two...

How do they expect to be taken seriously after all this?! I just hope there's a home game during my son's visit as I promised to take him to a game.

I think all of us have wondered what the hell is going on - not so much UDFC itself, although they've had their moments, but those responsible for administering Thai football as a whole.
Anyway, it looks like for UDFC the season will restart properly again on Saturday with the home game against Sakhon Nakhon. At the new venue, it will be interesting to see how things are organised. An obvious concern is that if anything like the numbers turn up normally attending a home game, there won't be enough seats. My understanding is that the installation of additional seating has NOT happened yet. Parking might be another issue. On the positive side, the playing surface looks good and I'm pleased that the Club has arranged training involving actually kicking a ball to take place elsewhere, thus protecting this pitch.
If you're planning to attend Saturday, early arrival might be wise.
I don't think it's been mentioned here yet, but for those who cannot attend, Udon's home games this season will be shown on the internet. Follow this link:... http://fb.me/X75c6d0U.
In the interim, for those who fancy a trial run or haven't seen the stadium, there's a warm up game arranged against Rajabhat University itself tonight 16th at 5 pm. Only a training exercise, so smallish crowd? Mind you, many students might look in.

Students and football you say? Tell me they sell beer and I won't leave.

neeemu wrote:I just hope there's a home game during my son's visit as I promised to take him to a game.

Not a lot of games at home in the coming weeks. More than a month from the 1st to the 2nd. Here`s the list for first leg:
(PS!! The 1st game is of course on SATURDAY MARCH 19!!)

Results yesterday:
UDFC 4-0 Sakon Nakhon
Khon Kaen 0-0 Yasothon
Kalasin 3-1 Mukdahan Lamkhong
Nong Khai 1-1 Surin City

Matches today:
Mahasarakham vs Nakhon Phanom
Amnat Poly United vs Sisaket United
Ubon Ratchathani vs Roi Et United

Nice occasion at Saturday's game, so well done to Udon FC which tried to organise things well.
I think I heard there was an official attendance of 4,000 +. There was quite a number standing around the perimeter fencing, not trying to find a seat and, presumably, not buying a ticket either. The Cheer section has opted for the 'open' seating, already well organised and making the usual row.
There were some food and drink outlets. I didn't notice any hot food sales (I may be wrong, perhaps some fans doing their own thing) and I understand, because it's a University campus, no alcohol is allowed, although I suspect quite a few of the ice buckets were filled with more than water. I did wonder how some Udon fans might cope without! Also, some UDFC shops, selling shirts etc. Parking seemed to be ok, helped by the fact that one can use the access via the University auditorium (behind the clock/scoreboard) and park there, walking through to the stadium. And, perhaps someone does read what farangs have to offer - it seemed all the floodlights were working and the clock/scoreboard too.
On the pitch, comfortable win. Udon played some 'pretty' stuff at times, but let's not get too excited. Sakhon Nakhon is one of the smaller clubs and , I think I'm correct in saying, usually struggling at the bottom of the league.
I'd like to see a clinical finisher - you know, a striker who finishes/hits the target more often than missing. Udon might have had a few more. As an Englishman, I hate to say it, but any German strikers about?

Not much action in this topic, but if someone has missed it, there`s a big local derby this coming Wednesday. UDFC vs Nong Khai. KO 18.00.
UDFC is top of the table and will most likely win the league this season. Nong Khai might go 2nd if they win tomorrow.

There is cause for local celebration, because Udon has won something for the first time in its' history, I think! The Club is very clear Champions of the Division 2 NE Regional League. There is one league game left next week, but presently 7 points clear of second placed Ubon, the team was presented with the trophy at Sunday's home win over Surin.
It really has been very impressive. The team has scored the most goals, whilst conceding the least. ALL 13 home games this season were won. The team is unbeaten in its' last 29 home matches, of which the last 19 matches have ALL been won. Great stuff.
Away form is not so impressive (well, it couldn't be!) and gives some cause for concern as Udon qualifies for the play-offs for promotion to division 1 - the real prize everyone's after. Here, Udon will match up against the top two teams from other regional leagues, plus Ubon.
Should be exciting and we wish the team well. =D>