Chiang Mai Football Club (Part 1/3)

Over the next three posts, I'll be sharing my appreciation and love for my adopted football team- the mighty Chiang Mai Football Club. This first post will be about their home ground, 700 Year Stadium. 

Thailand vs. North Korea, 2012

Built in 1995 for the Southeast Asian Games, the stadium is set against a beautiful backdrop of lush, forest covered mountains. 

Matches kick-off in the evening, so you can enjoy seeing the sun setting behind the mountains before going in to watch the game.

The stadium itself is fairly large (with an official capacity of 25,000), though only the main stand is covered and has plastic seats. The rest of the stadium runs in tiered concrete steps around the pitch. 

In many ways, it's an unusual place for your typical British football fan. For a start, the stadium is typically well under capacity. With an average attendance of less than 5,000, the approach to the ground is an odd experience. Most of my memories of watching football in England come from my trips as a kid to Old Trafford to watch Manchester United, but I think that a lot of clubs are similar; if you drive to the game, you'll park miles away from the stadium. You'll then walk amongst a growing throng of supporters past terraced houses, fish and chip shops, and overflowing rubbish bins, until finally you round an inauspicious corner and BANG, there it is. The stadium.

Something like this.

Not so in Chiang Mai. The stadium is part of a massive sports complex on the outside of town (hence the beautiful backdrop), and so driving there is a must. Fortunately, if you take your motorbike, you can park less than a hundred meters from the stadium. Due to the relatively low attendance, after the full-time whistle you can also get out of the ground without even stopping. Again, this is kind of refreshing when bearing in mind the half-hour queue just to get out of the car park when I went to watch Northampton Town on one of my trips home.

It's not all that unconventional though, as there's one feature that's familiar to football grounds around the world: greasy fast food. Whilst in England this might be a greasy pie or sweaty burger out of a van, outside 700 Year Stadium you'll find a 5 Star Chicken vendor and various other instantly edible treats. Last time I went, I got a  ข้าวไข่เจียว (rice topped with omelette) for about 20 Baht (40p). 

Speaking of prices, that reminds me of possibly my favourite feature of Thai football: the cost! Whereas a ticket in England these days will typically set you back at least £25- that's how much it cost to watch Northampton in the fourth tier of English football, anyway- match tickets in Thailand are a little more economically priced. Depending on where you sit in the stadium, tickets cost between 60 Baht (£1.20) all the way up to a whopping 120 Baht (£2.40) if you want your own seat in the main stand. 

In search of refreshment? A large beer (just over a pint in size) is available in plastic cups for you to take in, complete with ice to keep it cool. It'll set you back 85 Baht (£1.70). Shirts, key rings and other merchandise won't break the bank either. 

Once you get inside, things again seem a little unusual for your average English football fan. Because the stadium is always well under capacity, you can pretty much pick your seat according to your whims. Want to sit high up and get a top-down view of the game? Want to switch at half-time to be nearer to the goal your team are attacking? Want to be at the end of the row to be in pole position for a half-time beer run? You've got it. Over the last few weeks, I've picked a favourite seat in line with the goal at the north end- you get an up close view of all the action at that end, plus you're near to the noisiest fans (who I'll be talking about in the next post).










Though not entirely uncommon in Europe, most British grounds have resisted adding a running track for fear that the fans would feel too distant from the game (there was a great furore about whether or not West Ham would tear up the running track when they move into the Olympic Stadium). Well, 700 Year Stadium not only has a running track- it also has a steeplechase barrier/water jump and a sandy long jump pit in front of the main stand.








Anyway, that's taken us up to kick-off! Next time I'll be writing more about the CMFC fans and, yes, the actual football itself.