Chiang Mai Football Club (Part 2/3)

Last time, I wrote about 700 Year Stadium, the unique home of Chiang Mai F.C.

Today, I'll be writing about the fans.

Leading the cheers.

As I mentioned before, the average attendance at 700 Year Stadium is roughly 1/4 of the capacity of the ground. You'd perhaps imagine then that the atmosphere is muted; not a bit of it.

Though a lot of the fans do watch the game quietly, there are large pockets of noise all over the stadium. In the picture above you can get an idea of how it works: a couple of guys, fuelled by nothing but Leo lager and testosterone, lead the chanting for an entire section through the liberal use of a megaphone and tom-tom drums. They seems to go from the first minute to the last, and spray a cloud of glittery confetti in the air if Chiang Mai grab a goal.

Note the giant shirt hanging over a stadium entrance.

Not to be confused with this section of die-hard supporters are the Chiang Mai Ultras, who quite frankly look a bit adorable.

Bless 'em

I'm not sure why they sit there. They're halfway between the large cheering section above and the most populated/vocal part of the stadium in the East stand. To put it another way, the cheering section are the People's Front of Judea, the East stand is the Judean People's Front, and the Chiang Mai Ultras are the Popular Front.

Of course amongst these die-hard groups you get the other fans. There's always a healthy contingent of foreigners such as myself (often with even less hair, occasionally even bigger guts). There's a lady-at least, I hope it's a lady- somewhere within the stadium who screams bloody murder any time the ball breaks in the box. Not encouragement, you understand, but a blood-curdling scream that I've yet to hear outside of the famous scene from Pyscho. It's partly hillarious and partly disturbing; you laugh, but you also want to make sure she's actually ok and not being forced to watch the game against her will. There are plenty of families and kids running about, which is especially lovely considering that football in Europe often isn't safe for young fans. Everybody there is generally friendly and in a good mood, like the lovely semi-pissed guy who sat in front of me for the end of the first half last week. He was only on the row in front of me for ten minutes, in which time he'd

• given me a double high-five
• joined me in a hearty "oh-ho" (the standard noise of appreciation here after any particular skill) after we'd blasted a long-range shot just over the bar
• offered me a meat ball from the food carts outside
• asked me in English where I was from, and when I told him replied: "NO! Now, you come from...Thailand!"

Before I finish, I have to make a special mention of the away fans. Again, though few in number they're unbelievably passionate and committed. Last week, I watched CMFC play Air Force Central. It was a pretty meaningless game between two teams in the middle/lower end of the Thai second tier, and yet 50 people travelled all the way from Pathum Thani (literally halfway across the country). They brought with them a full drum kit, including snares and symbols.

You might not be able to see too much detail in the picture above, but that's what the away end looked like when Thai Honda showed up, again having travelled halfway across the country. They brought drums, flags, cheerleaders and a small electronic board to display messages cheering their team. Now if that's not passion, I don't know what is!

Next time, I'll be making my last post about CMFC as I talk about the players, manager, and yes...the actual football being played.