(The above photo was taken at the Chonburi Stadium in the early part of last season when Samut Prakan were Chonburi's feeder / partner club. I didn't expect to see it again quite so soon)

When is a home cup game not a home cup game?

Answer - when it's an away game. Samut Prakan have handed the advantage in the Revo League Cup to premier league Chonburi FC, despite Samut Prakan being drawn at home.

Why?

The main problem is that the Samut Prakan Stadium doesn't belong to Samut Prakan City Football Club; they are only tenants. It belongs to the 'tessaban' (municipality) so it's a stadium completely available for public use. And if the tessaban wishes to hold a school football tournament in the daytime, which could potentially do all sorts of nasty things to the playing surface, there's nothing Samut Prakan can do about it. So in the best interests of football (but not the fans of course) the tie has been switched to Chonburi's stadium.

You're not happy about it then?

Certainly not. I'm part of British football culture. Who surrenders home advantage in a cup competition? Hey! but at least I can get to the game. Spare a thought for the Samut Prakan fans who have to work and won't get the chance to attend.

There's still a good relationship between the two clubs though?

Oh, for sure. There is not an ounce of bad blood between them and when the draw was made several weeks ago, the overall reaction was very positive and the general vibe was one of old friends meeting up again.   

So plenty of player reunions as well?

Actually, not that many. Although Samut Prakan had 7-8 Chonburi-owned players in their squad last season, effectively all on loan, most of those players have moved on to other clubs permanently or gone out on loan again. However, two Samut Prakan crowd favourites, Ratchata Moraksa and Yotsakorn Burapha, are both still in the Chonburi squad, so we might get the chance to say hello to them this evening.   

(Ready for kick off. Photo credit: Official Samut Prakan Facebook page)

A season of struggle

Even though this is a one-off cup tie, it's worth pointing out that Chonburi are having a tough time of it in the premier league and are currently one place from bottom, with just two wins from 11 games. Only four of those games have been at home though.  

A word from the opposition

It's been a while since we featured my great friend and fanatical Chonburi fan Dale Farrington on the blog, so let's put that right. I asked him a straightforward (ish) question - "do you think with Chonburi being at the wrong end of the premier league table and surely focused on winning league matches, they might not take the league cup so seriously and give Samut Prakan a fighting chance?"

Dale answered, "Chonburi have a habit of putting out full strength teams in cup competitions and I don't see any reason why that won't continue this season. The league position is extremely worrying and last weekend's defeat - away at Nakhon Pathom Utd - has me seriously concerned that we will go down this year. Wednesday's cup tie gives us a genuine opportunity for a morale boosting win - no offence, Phil - so I expect us to play the first choice XI. In my opinion, it would be a travesty not to. Additionally, defeat against Samut Prakan City could see the coach fall on his sword / be shown the door*.

Pre-match disappointments

After a customary stop at Cafe bon Saphan, our go-to Chonburi eaterie, we battled the rush hour and reached the Chonburi Stadium just before six. Last season, when Samut Prakan used the stadium for several home fixtures, Samut Prakan fans could use their season tickets to gain entry and could watch the game from the main stand. However, there was none of that hospitality this time around. Chonburi were classing this 'switched league cup tie' as very much their home game. The Samut Prakan away support were not only put miles behind the goal in the regular away zone, but had to pay 180 baht for their tickets and traipse to a branch of 7-11 to buy them. There was just something slightly unfair about it. As we mingled and chatted with the other thirty or so fans who had made the short journey down, we weren't the only ones feeling baffled and a little hard done by.

(The Chonburi Stadium is looking so much better now they've done away with the tatty blue running track. I was seriously impressed, although not with the view from the away end. Photo credit: Official Samut Prakan Facebook page) 

To the match itself

I'm going to make the match report extremely brief.

Chonburi named a distinctly 'second string' starting line-up (including both ex-Samut Prakan players Yotsakorn and Ratchata), a brave move by the manager considering his position was a somewhat precarious one. Samut Prakan were pretty much at full strength and obviously taking the competition seriously. 

There are very few chances for either side in a dull first half but you feel that the game might hinge on any Chonburi substitutions and perhaps the introduction of one or two first teamers for the second period. And that is exactly what happened. Brazilian striker Murilo comes on at the interval and breaks the deadlock on 55 minutes with a delightful goal, weaving his way past several Prakan defenders and planting a low shot into the bottom corner. It's then game over in the 73rd minute as Amadou latches on to a lofted through ball, rounds the goalkeeper and fires home from an acute angle.  

Watch the match highlights

(Our away support was not as large as previous Chonburi trips but we still made plenty of noise! Photo credit: Official Samut Prakan Facebook page) 

Overall thoughts

I guess there's no shame in going out of a cup competition away at a premier league side, despite them being a struggling premier league side, but you are left wondering if things might have turned out differently had we not surrendered home advantage.

The most worrying thing is that Prakan have now lost three consecutive games and the team looks leggy and low on confidence. There's also a strange unwillingness to have a pop at goal when a player finds themself in a shooting position, preferring to pass the ball sideways across the pitch, usually ending with a tame cross and catching practice for the opposing keeper. I spoke to several hardcore fans during and after the match, and we were all pretty much in agreement. Samut Prakan City need to rediscover their mojo.  

(As a special treat for Samut Prakan fans, our ex-manager, the much-loved Ishii-san, was attending the match and came over at the end to say hello. Photo credits: Official Samut Prakan Facebook page) 

The premier league clubs showed their strength

In the 16 league cup games, with the top flight clubs all playing away to lower league opposition (all except Samut Prakan of course) only Police Tero and Nakhon Pathom fell at the first hurdle. The other 14 premier league clubs all advanced to the round of 16 to be played in March. Congratulations to Songkhla FC and PT Satun FC, the two clubs left to carry the torch for lower league football.

Who's up next?

Back to league action as we host Lampang FC at the Samut Prakan Stadium this Saturday 9th December. Kick off 6.30pm

Samut Prakan fixtures 2023/2024