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

kennyguk wrote:..... 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.

Drunk Monkey wrote: 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.

Svein66 wrote: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Phichit has just announced they have withdrawn from the league this season.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!

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.

"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.

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 wrote: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.