Stockport County Photography: 2012

I spent my summer in Thailand meaning I missed a decent chunk of the season for the first time in over 10 years. A link with my team, no matter how tenuous, was for a temporary exile like me an oasis in a personal County desert. Hopefully what has been my desperate attempt to get my ‘fix’ will make for an entertaining, if not a little epic, read.

Firstly a brief insight into how I found myself in the small town of Takhli in Nakhon Sawan province, central Thailand. Back in the real world I am a year away from qualifying as a teacher. When offered the opportunity to spend my summer teaching in Thailand, it was too good to turn down. I saw it as a great life experience and also a decent ‘look-how-I-stand-out-from-the-other-applicants’ cherry on the top of my CV. I applied, was accepted and a couple of weeks later was sat on a coach being transferred to my hotel, trying to take in the craziness of Bangkok. After an orientation process that lasted a few days I was taken to my school located a couple of hours north of Bangkok.

When it dawned on me that I would be missing over a month of the season, I knew I would have to take in some Thai football just to scratch the inevitable itch. Thailand has two professional leagues, the Thai Premier League and Division One both with 18 teams. Below that football is regionalised with teams reapplying for entry into their respective leagues at the end of each season. I looked for my nearest team and it turned out Chainat FC, a newly promoted premiership team, were based in the neighbouring province and only a 20 minutes drive away. Taking a look at their website I discovered one-time County player Michael Byrne was on their books, I remembered reading an article about him as he was the first British born player to play in Thailand, but I had to rack my brains to remember his County career.

In truth ‘one time County player’ is accurate in both senses of the phrase. His County career wasn’t much to write home about (I am anyway), he was largely a substitute and really did make only one appearance for the club scoring the consolation goal in a 4-1 defeat away at Notts County. It turns out since arriving in Thailand he has been a bit of a journeyman playing for 4 different clubs. I got in touch with him and he kindly agreed to answer a few questions about his time at County and his move to Thailand. Before discussing my personal Thai football experience I’ll refresh your memories about Michael Byrne.

Michael Byrne

Byrne, originally from Ashton-under-Lyne, came through Bolton’s youth system before being signed to County by Carlton Palmer in August 2003. He never played under Palmer or his short-term successor John Hollins. It was under Sammy McIlroy that he received his one and only County appearance.

“Sammy Mac was good to work for, but I felt he was unfair with me having scored on my debut, playing 90 minutes and I got MOM as well. The next week he said you’re not even on the bench. They called me into the office on the day of game and said I wasn't involved. I asked why and they said we need experience. I said how can I get experience if you don't play me. No reply!”

Michael was eventually loaned out to Leigh R.M.I where he also scored on his debut. On his return Sammy Mac released him before being ‘released’ himself a few weeks later. Byrne played a couple of seasons for Northwich Vics before making the move to South East Asia.

“An agent contacted me and said he could get me a team here [Thailand] and would I be interested? The money was really appealing and obviously the change in culture and lifestyle was what I was intrigued about.”

Chainat FC is Byrne’s fourth Thai team and he has continued the impressive record of scoring on his debut at every club he’s been at.

“Yes I’ve been very lucky scoring on all my debuts, maybe it's a confidence thing I'm not sure.

I remember my County goal well. When you play you can’t hear anything but the ball hit the net. 2 seconds later I heard the roar of the fantastic away support we had that day. I ran over jumped in to show my appreciation and remember smelling a lot of booze hahahahaha.”

Former County favourite Andy Welsh is a good friend of Byrne’s as they went to school together.

“Yes I went to school with Welshy, he's my best mate, he's visited me in Thailand a couple of times. I also keep in touch with James Spencer, Ash Williams and Mark Robertson as well.”

So that is how a former County player ended up playing down the road from where a County fan was staying half way around the world. With so many schools in a country roughly four times the size of England, it really is quite a coincidence that with only 36 professional football clubs I could end up placed so close to his current team.

Thai Football

Grasping the tenuous link the County Gods had bestowed upon me with both hands, I gently hinted to my hosts that it would be great for me to experience a Thai football match. My Thai hosts have been the most hospitable and generous strangers I have ever come across and of course a week later we were making our way to The Khao Plong stadium in Chainat Province.

Rich hues of green stretched as far as they eye could see in either direction as the road between my small town and our destination dissected the paddy fields in this largely agricultural region. The verdant landscape and bright blue skies overhead made me feel as if I was in ‘Nam circa 1969. As the wind suddenly picked up, sending leaves spiralling across the road in front of us, I half expected to look up and see helicopters descending upon us with the opening refrains of The Ride of The Valkyries ringing out. I did look up and saw rapidly darkening skies, the kind of rich black and blue sky that somehow amplifies the golden light just before dusk and makes every colour seem so much more vibrant. The kind of sky that in this neck of the woods, marks the beginning of some spectacular rainfall.

At this time of year, the early rainy season, heat and humidity continuously rises culminating in a pressure releasing downpour that restarts the cycle. It can build for 3 or 4 days, some days may be overcast although still very hot, others bring glorious blue skies (although never clear, there is always a scattering of clouds). The outcome however is always the same, an hour or so of heavy rainfall and then normal service resumes.

As we arrived at the ground the sky had darkened to the point where even the bright pink shirts worn by the Chainat fans were dulled. The rain began as we left the car and didn’t let up until deep into the second half. We passed a long row of stalls selling the amazing street food for which Thailand is famous and made our way towards a small marquee that served as a ticket office. The 150 Baht admission price (£3.12) allowed us entry into the stadium’s only covered stand.

Away fans coach

Next to the ticket tent was a merchandise tent that I perused while lining up to buy our tickets. Chainat’s shirt is predominantly, what I think they refer to as cerise, vivid pink to you and me. It has a gaudy hornbill bird on the badge and I’m sure most football fashion connoisseurs would find it flawed in almost every aspect. The team was only founded in 2009 and this shows in a kit that has no tradition or history to take some much needed inspiration from. Having said all of that I love it, largely because it reminded me of the kits in the early Pro Evolution Games. I purchased one smiling to myself as I imagined, in a parallel universe, Asian football fans buying the latest shirt on their day trip to ‘The Theatre of Dreams’. That is what I’d become and I was actually quite enjoying the experience.

The fact that at home the clothes I wear are generally large, but by Thai standards I am XXL was slightly disappointing. Even more so when I realised I was paying more for my XXL shirt than someone who could fit into a large. At 570 Baht (£11.87) I couldn’t be too upset though and I began warming to the idea of charging by the quantity of material used, I could just imagine how it would go down at County.

We had just enough time to grab a beer in a plastic bag and made our way into the ground. Now if you are picturing a few cans clinking in a plastic bag remove that image from your mind, think beer emptied into plastic bag and you have the idea. I’d experienced this already in Thailand with numerous soft drinks, but drinking beer through a straw was certainly a new experience. This seems to be standard practice with any drinks purchased from a stall. I guess it means the stall holder can cash in on the empty glass bottles. Needless to say, beer in a bag with a scoop of ice doesn’t really make for the most enjoyable pint, but to be fair it isn’t much worse than the stuff they serve in the Cheadle End and I could at least drink it in view of the pitch.

The Khao Plong stadium is small by Thai Premier League standards with a capacity of only 5574. We had tickets for the one covered stand running the length of the pitch and then there were also three uncovered stands about 6 rows deep around the rest of the ground. Walking in I immediately saw a ‘Byrne’ shirt, this one was worn by a young lad who was excitedly awaiting kick off. It didn’t take me long to spot more people sporting Byrne 23 on their backs, he was obviously a popular player and I looked forward to seeing what he could do. As we chose our seats the two teams came out onto the pitch, they lined up and the crowd stood for the King’s anthem. As I scanned the line of players I realised Byrne was not starting, never mind, I was looking forward to the game regardless.

A slightly creepy face in the crowd.

Couldn't imagine Jim sporting a poncho.

Chainat FC’s opponents were Thai Port FC a relatively small Bangkok outfit dwarfed by a couple of bigger neighbouring teams in the capital city. Although fairly small they have a much more illustrious history than Chainat having been founded way back in 1967 and enjoying some success in the 60s and 70s. Both Chainat FC and Thai Port FC were at the wrong end of the table sitting just outside of the relegation places before kick off. Although only mid way through the season, it really was a bit of a 6 pointer. The game kicked off and in spite of the torrential rain, both teams passed the ball around surprisingly well and as the half progressed there were more and more chances. Each chance was greeted by a shriek from a crowd that contained a much larger proportion of female fans than we generally see in the UK. A group of drummers at one end of the ground kept an incessant rhythm going throughout the match, which kept the toes tapping and genuinely added to the atmosphere. Although the game had attracted just under 2000 supporters the noise levels were quite impressive; while many of the tunes were familiar I unfortunately haven’t a clue what the chants were about. As the half drew to a close a combination of poor finishing, brave keeping and some ill-timed slips left the game goalless. Chainat had spurned the most promising chances and had largely dominated proceedings, but Thai Port FC had come close from a couple of corners just before the whistle and the break came just in time for Chainat who were beginning to look a little jittery.

The smell of those amazing street food stalls hung on the air and drew us out of the ground during the half time break. With a simple system involving a stamp on the hand we were able to leave the ground, stock up on food and drink and then re-enter in time to catch a glimpse of the elusive Michael Byrne warming up on the pitch with the other substitutes before the second half commenced.

As the game progressed I noticed how little contact the referees allowed and as the yellow card tally rose and I lost count of the number of blatant dives I had seen, I began to become a little frustrated with the constant interruptions. The turning point in the game came as a Chainat FC player conned the ref, theatrically diving on the edge of the box, and in so doing earning a Thai Port player his second yellow card of the game. Chainat took control from then on, soon taking the lead when the keeper spilled a shot into the path of the grateful Chainat captain who calmly slotted the ball away. The second came when a Thai Port player slid the ball past his own keeper. Chainat tightened up at the back and the game played out finishing with a 2-0 victory to the home side. There was no need for an attacking midfielder when seeing the game out so Byrne stayed on the bench and in keeping with his County career, he remained a player I never saw play.

In my opinion the football I saw was somewhere between League 1 and League 2 level when compared to our game. There are some very skilful players, but I think they would struggle with the physical side of the game in England. Byrne tended to agree saying “I've played in the two top teams in Thailand and for me the technical side is nicer to watch then the football league, it's a less direct style of play which they tend to use in the lower divisions at home. Obviously the physical side is a big thing, but the league is very up and coming now and a lot of big names and players who've played at a high level are coming over from all over Europe. Give it another couple of years and it will be very high standard. For me the influx of good foreign players and coaches has helped the Thais so much, I don’t know if they think that but that's a major reason as to why the league and the players have got stronger.”

I had enjoyed my experience at a Thai football game, I enjoyed seeing how football is practised in another country. I enjoyed the differences without the cynicism that I often view an English Premier League match with. I had seen a different denomination of the same religion, the game was more or less the same, the people were just as passionate, but the subtle differences had made for a totally different experience. It had been a tourist attraction and I had willingly become the archetypal day tripper.

Afterword

A week later I was surprised by my hosts as they decided we would return to Chainat FC to see them face second in the league Chonburi FC. This time the rain held off and the stadium was close to full, the atmosphere was electric and I actually felt a bit of a buzz as the game kicked off.
In the first half Chainat FC gave as good as they got and were unlucky to go in 1-0 down. The 2^nd half was a bit of a disaster however and after a Chainat player was sent off for kicking an opponent in the face, Chonburi grabbed a second. Michael Byrne was finally brought on just in time to make a lung-busting run back to see the ball slotted past him and the keeper for a third. He played very deep and was a bit of a playmaker for Chainat breaking up play in a defensive midfielder role and then carrying it forward and trying to make things happen. He looked a decent player and used his strength advantage to good effect against the diminutive Thais. However it was too little too late and the game ended 0-3 to Chonburi FC.