Air Force United Football Club () was a Thai defunct professional football club based in Lam Luk Ka, Pathum Thani province. Defunct after 2019 season, the club was renamed to Uthai Thani and was relocated to Uthai Thani province. The team formed the football section of the Royal Thai Air Force until 2019 where then the club would then formed under a new club called Royal Thai Air Force.
History Historically, Air Force United had been one of the most successful Thai football clubs. However, since the turn of the century, they hadn't achieved much success. The last silverware they won was the FA Cup back in 2001. Air Force hadn't played in the topflight of Thai football since 2004.
In 2010 Thai Division 1 League, the season started off brightly for the Airmen, and by the midway point they were strong candidates for promotion. In the second half of the season, they lost form and finished in 6th spot for the second consecutive season.
The 2011 & 2012 seasons both saw Air Force United flirting with relegation before they eventually finished in mid-table. The club had to relocate to Ramkhamheang University for the latter stages of the 2011 season because their stadium was flooded due to the 2011 Thailand floods. Despite returning home for the first half of the 2012 season, the club played the second leg of the campaign at North Bangkok University while their ground was being renovated.Sports blogtrueplookpanya.com
In the 2013 season under the stewardship of club legend Narasak Boonkleng, the team started out with two 1 goal victories followed by a frustrating 4 straight goalless draws which had the making of a long tough season. But the Airmen had a nine-game winning streak with 1 goal victories, which put the Air Force United in prime position to win promotion back to the Premier League after 10 years' absence. The 2nd Leg saw them struggle a bit, but they regrouped to pull off a series of wins to gain promotion and win the league in subsequent home games.
The 2014 season start was just a total nightmare unable to win the first twelve games until the 2–1 away victory at Singhtarua. Despite showing some sign of improvement, the club management decided to part ways with head coach Narasak Boonkleng. The club's fortunes did not improve with a seven-game winless streak followed by a nine-game winless streak to end the season and relegated back to League 1 after just one season.
The 2015 season started with Sasom Pobprasert as full-time head coach, but it started poorly with one draw and two losses in the first three games. The next four games saw massive improvement with 2 wins and 1 draw pulling out of relegation and into 13th place before the Songkran (Thai New Year's) break. Another chance to show that the team had settled down was when they hosted Navy FC of Premier League in the 1st Round of the 2015 Toyota League Cup, but the team took a 1–0 lead into injury time and gave up 2 goals to be eliminated from the cup. Since being eliminated from the League Cup, the team had a 6-game unbeaten streak with 4 wins and 2 draws placing them at 3rd place in the table right before the league went on a 40-day break for the 2015 Southeast Asian Games in Singapore.
Renaming and relocation to Uthai Thani At the end of season 2019, the club owner decided to change the club name to Uthai Thani and relocated to Uthai Thani Province.
Stadium and locations Coordinates Location Stadium Capacity Year Pathum Thani Thupatemi Stadium 25,000 2007–2011 Pathum Thani North Bangkok University Stadium (Rangsit) 3,000 2012 Pathum Thani Thupatemi Stadium 25,000 2012–2019
Season-by-season record
SeasonLeagueFA CupLeagueCupQueen'sCupAsiaTop scorerDivisionPWDLFAPtsPosNameGoals1996–97TPL34141285448357thWThai FA Cup–GR –1997TPL2214354245231st–Did Not Play R21997–98 Asian Cup Winners' Cup1998TPL22101024052312nd – – –1999TPL2211653943271stR2 – –2000TPL2212554134192nd –QFR22000–01 Asian Club Championship2001–02TPL228862321324thW –R22001–02 Asian Cup Winners' Cup2002–03TPL187292326295th – –QF –2003–04TPL1844101614389th – –Did not qualify –2005DIV 1 – – – –2006DIV 1 – –Did Not Play –2007DIV 12212644122423rd – – – –2008DIV 13010101040324010th – – – –Watcharapong Channgam92009DIV 130126124245366thR22009 Thai FA Cup –Knockout Round –Pornchai Ardjinda72010DIV 13013984833486thR42010 Thai FA CupR22010 Thai League CupGR –Pornchai Ardjinda152011DIV 13410101436534014thR22011 Thai FA CupR12011 Thai League Cup – –Kouassi Yao Hermann & Anusak Laosangthai122012DIV 134128144545449thR22012 Thai FA CupR22012 Thai League Cup – –Kouassi Yao Hermann202013DIV 13420955128691stR22013 Thai FA CupR32013 Thai League Cup – –Kouassi Yao Hermann162014TPL386122035633019thR32014 Thai FA CupR2 – –Kouassi Yao Hermann132015DIV 1381410145350529thR3R1 – –Julius Oiboh82016DIV 12611964429424thQRR2 – –Valdo122017T23218866140622ndR1QF – –Kayne Vincent132018T134442632781618thR2QF – –Kayne Vincent82019T234971839533414thR2R1 – –Kayne Vincent6
ChampionsRunners-upThird placePromotedRelegatedIn Progress
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
DQ = Disqualified 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
Performance in AFC competitions
Season Competition Round Club Home Away1988–89Asian Club ChampionshipQualifying roundPahang2–1 –Qualifying roundGeylang International9–0 –Qualifying roundNiac Mitra2–1 –Qualifying roundBandaran9–0 –1997–98Asian Cup Winners' CupFirst roundMelaka Telekom0–01–2Second roundPSM Makassar1–20–02000–01Asian Club ChampionshipSecond roundPSM Makassar1–60–52001–02Asian Cup Winners' CupSecond roundHome United1–00–5
Notes
Royal Thai Air Force withdrew to Semi-final League round.
Achievements
Domestic League Thai League 1: 2 titles 1997, 1999
Thai League 2: 1 titles 2013
Khǒr Royal Cup (Tier 2 when contested): 16 titles 1949-51, 1961, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1967, 1973, 1977, 1982, 1985–87, 1989, 1991
Khor Royal Cup (Tier 5 when contested): 8 titles 1966, 1970, 1971, 1983, 1985–87, 1990
Ngor Royal Cup (tier 6 when contested): 4 titles 1966, 1984, 1986, 1988
Cups Queen's Cup: 3 titles 1970, 1974, 1982
FA Cup: 1 titlesThailand FA Cup 1996
League Cup: 2 titlesThai League Cup 1987, 1994
Kor Royal Cup: 12 titles 1952, 1953, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1967, 1987, 1996
References
External links
on Facebook (archived)