Army United Football Club () was a Thai defunctย้อนกรณี "บิ๊กแดง" พักทีม "อาร์มี่ ยูไนเต็ด" หรือทำเพราะปกปิดบางอย่าง?'อภิรัชต์' ล้างบางธุรกิจฟุตบอล ปิดตำนาน 103 ปี 'อาร์มี่ ยูไนเต็ด' professional football club under the stewardship of the Royal Thai Army based in the Din Daeng District of Bangkok. It was one of the oldest football clubs in Asia, until it was discontinued at the end of the 2019 season after 103 years in existence.ก่อนปิดตำนาน 103 ปี! เจาะถุงเงิน ‘อาร์มี่ ยูไนเต็ด’ขาดทุน 2 ปีติด 20 ล.
The club was founded in 1916 and was known as Royal Thai Army until November 2010. Their home stadium was known locally as the Thai Army Sports Stadium and was more widely known around Asian circles as the Royal Thai Army Stadium, which had been host to numerous international youth matches due to its central Bangkok location. The club played in red shirts with red shorts and red socks. Despite finishing bottom of the Thai Premier League in 2010, they managed to regain their top-flight status after winning Group B of the Thai League Play-off in 2011.
History Army United represented the Royal Thai Army and had traditionally been Thailand's yo-yo club along with the Navy and Police clubs. Up until 2010, and the name change from the Royal Thai Army to Army United, the club lacked support and had dwindling crowds, and were mainly supported by Army personnel shipped in for the games.
The Army team had always been a mid ranking Thai team with their biggest successes coming in the Thai Division 1 League with a championship in the 2004–05 season and 2nd place in 2009. Both of these successes had of course come after relegation from the Thai Premier League.
The club were based in the Din Daeng District of Central Bangkok, which is the area that bases the Royal Thai Army. Up until the 2011 season, the club operated a policy of only playing homegrown talent, but ditched this as the game became more professional and foreign players were brought into the team. Previously, the players would work for the Army during the week and play football on weekends, somewhat different from most clubs who operated on a full-time basis.
In the 2010 season, they were reprieved from relegation after an end of season relegation/playoff system was announced to expand the Thai Premier League, and thus escaped relegation despite finishing 16th.
In 2011, rebranded Army United signed five Brazilians and surprised all expectations as they topped the TPL in the early weeks of the season, with Leandro Dos Santos scoring regularly. Crowds rose from a few hundred to a season average of 5,580. However, the early season form petered out and Army finished in 13th position.
In 2012, most of the Brazilians had moved on but were replaced with other highly rated foreign stars. Daniel Blanco was the most impressive performer as Army flirted with the Top 6 for long periods before eventually finishing in 10th position.
The 2012 season also coincided with Army reaching the 2012 Thai FA Cup final. On the way to the final, Army was given a reprieve after they lost a penalty shoot-out to regional league side Trat. It turned out that Trat had fielded an unregistered player and was booted out of the cup with Army reinstated. Army United then defeated runaway TPL leaders Muangthong United on the way to the final. However, Army lost the final 2–1 to Buriram United.
In 2013, the club signed a strategic partnership deal with Thai-owned English club Leicester City.
In 2019, Army United decided to dissolve the club, ending the history of the club after 103 years.
Stadium
Thai Army Sports Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium on Vibhavadi-Rangsit Road in the Din Daeng District of north Bangkok, Thailand. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home stadium of Army United F.C.Army United Clubinfo on thai-fussball.com The stadium holds 20,000 and has a single stand with covered seating on one side and terracing on three sides. An athletics track surrounds the pitch. It is often used by Thai club sides in international football competitions and was used by Bangkok University in the 2007 AFC Champions League and Osotsapa in the 2007 AFC Cup. Additionally, it has been used for matches involving national sides in international tournaments hosted by Thailand where the hosts are not involved. Stadium and locations by season records Coordinates Location Stadium Capacity Year Bangkok Royal Thai Army Stadium 15,000 2007–2019
Season by season domestic record SeasonLeague Select link to season required from chronological list.FA CupQueen'sCupLeagueCupKor RoyalCupAFC Champions LeagueTop scorerDivisionPWDLFAPtsPosNameGoals1996–97TSL34141286050548th – – – –1997TSL2274113145259th – – – –1998TPL2275103542267th – – – –1999TPL22741125302511th – – – –2000DIV 1 – – – –2001–02DIV 1 – – – –2002–03DIV 1 – – – – –2003–04DIV 1 – – – – –2004–05DIV 11st – – – – –2006TPL227963138306th –GR – – –2007TPL3013894033475th – – – – –Jakkraphong Somboon92008TPL30671721442515th – – – – –Jakkraphong Somboon42009DIV 13018445518622ndR2GRR2 – –Tatree Seeha172010TPL30571827542216thSFQFR2 – –Tatree Seeha82011TPL301091539403913thSF –R1 – –Leandro Dos Santos182012TPL3410131134384310thRU –R1 – –Björn Lindemann62013TPL32139104840486thR4 –QF – –Aron da Silva112014TPL381411135255539thR3 –R1 – –Raphael BottiTanakorn Dangthong92015TPL341181543474110thSF –SF – –Mongkol Tossakrai72016TL31861734463016thR3 –R1 – –Josimar162017T232109135357399thR3 –R1 – –Marcos Vinícius182018T22871383841348thR2 –R1 – –Erivelto142019T23415 10 9564355 5thR2 –QF – –Tanakorn Dangthong16
ChampionsRunners-upThird placePromotedRelegated
P = Played W = Games Won D = Games Drawn L = Games Lost F = Goals for A = Goals Against Pts = Points Pos = Final Position N/A = No answer
TPL = Thai Premier League TL = Thai League 1
QR1 = First Qualifying Round QR2 = Second Qualifying Round QR3 = Third Qualifying Round QR4 = Fourth Qualifying Round RInt = Intermediate Round R1 = Round 1 R2 = Round 2 R3 = Round 3
R4 = Round 4 R5 = Round 5 R6 = Round 6 GR = Group stage QF = Quarter-finals SF = Semi-finals RU = Runners-up S = Shared W = Winners
Coaches Coaches by Years (1996–2019)
NameNatPeriodHonours Amnart Chalermchaowarit 1996–97, 2007Thai Division 1 League:Winner 2004–05 Watcharakorn Antakhamphu 2008 Thanadech Phooprasert 2009–10Thai Division 1 League:Runners-up 2009 Pongphan Wongsuwan 2011 Adul Rungrueng 2011 Amnart Chalermchaowarit 2012 Paniphon Kerdyam Sept 2012 – Nov 20122012 Thai FA Cup Runner-up Alexandré Pölking 31 Oct 2012 – Nov 2013 Matt Elliott Jan 2014 – Jun 2014 Gary Stevens Aug 2014 – May 2015Issara Sritaro May 2015 – October 2015 Watcharakorn Antakhamphu October 2015 – November 2016 Thanis Areesngarkul November 2016 – March 2017 Rangsiwut Chaloempathum (interim) March 2017 – July 2017 Daniel Blanco July 2017 – November 2017 Nascimento November 2017 – June 2018 Adul Luekijna June 2018 – October 2018 Daniel Blanco October 2018 – November 2019
Honours Domestic competitions Thai Division 1 League Champions (1): 2004–05 Thai FA Cup Runners-up (1): 2012 Kor Royal Cup Winners (1): 1983 Queen's Cup Runners-up (1): 1997
References
External links
Army United at Thai Premier League official website