Bangkok United F.C.

True Bangkok United Football Club (Thai: สโมสรฟุตบอลทรู แบงค็อก ยูไนเต็ด) is a professional football club based in Pathum Thani province, Thailand. Known as Bangkok University Football Club until 2009, the club was relegated from the 2010 Thai Premier League only four years after winning their first league title in 2006. In 2012 they were promoted to Thai League 1, after finishing third in the 2012 Thai Division 1 League.

Bangkok United

Full name	True Bangkok United Football Club
Nickname(s)	แข้งเทพ (Bangkok Angels)
Short name	BUFC
Founded	1988 (1988) as Bangkok University Football Club 2009 (2009) as Bangkok United
Ground	Thammasat Stadium Pathum Thani, Thailand
Capacity	25,000
Owner	True Corporation
Chairman	Kachorn Chiaravanont
Head coach	Totchtawan Sripan
League	Thai League 1
2023–24	Thai League 1, 2nd of 16
Website	https://www.truebangkokunitedfc.com/
Home colours Away colours Third colours

Active departments of Bangkok United
Football (Men's)	Academy	eSports

The club has won 1 Thai League 1 title, 1 Thai League 2 title and 1 Thailand Champions Cup in their history.

History

Origins of the club: "Bangkok University": 1998–2008

The club was originally formed as Bangkok University in 1988 as a team for students at Bangkok University's Rangsit Campus in Pathum Thani province, just north of Bangkok, the club have gone from provincial football, and winning university-level titles, to being a professionally run outfit in the top flight in the Thai Premier League.

An era of titles

Bangkok University Shirt with sign of champions squads in 2006

Along the way to the Top flight, they won the Thai Division 1 League in 2003 and even captured the 2006 Thailand Premier League title against the odds, which has also enabled the club to taste life in the AFC Champions League.

The club appeared in the 2007 AFC Champions League but played their home matches in the group stage away from the club's home. The first match on 7 March 2007 against Korea's Chunnam Dragons was played at the Thai-Japanese Stadium in Bangkok and the second, on 25 April against Indonesia's Arema Malang, was played at the Thai Army Sports Stadium in Bangkok, where tickets cost 50 baht. Both matches ended 0–0. The third, against Japan's Kawasaki Frontale, was played at the Thai Army Sports Stadium. The team has failed to qualify for the next stage.

Slow down

Bangkok University always used the Bangkok University Stadium for domestic competitions until the end of the 2008 Thailand Premier League season. The stadium was based on the Bangkok University's Rangsit Campus and had a capacity of 5,000, currently used by the club as a training ground.

Development of club's name: 2009–present

Bangkok United in 2015 ahead of the game against Muangthong United

At the start of the 2009 season, the club changed their club name from Bangkok University to Bangkok United with a partnership with the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) to be in line with the Football Association of Thailand's (FAT) new regulations that all teams in the top flight must be registered as limited companies. They also changed their club nickname to 'Bangkok Angels', and were officially unveiled on 4 March 2009.

Also, with this name change, the club relocated to a new stadium, the Thai-Japanese Stadium which was based further center in Greater Bangkok. The stadium is for multi-use, such as athletics and football and holds a capacity of 10,320. The stadium was also shared by Thai Port whilst they waited for their stadium to be upgraded. On 31 May 2009, after 5 home matches, the club returned to using Bangkok University Stadium as a home ground again until the renovations of Thai-Japanese Stadium were finished before the start of 2009 season's second leg in August. Bangkok United narrowly escaped relegation in the 2009 Thai Premier League.

New owners

For the 2010 Thai Premier League season, Bangkok United was backed by Thai media company True Corporation. The early season optimism did not last long and the 2010 campaign ended in relegation. The Angels only won two home games all season. Rather surprisingly the two victories were against high-fliers Buriram PEA and Chonburi. Incidentally, both victories were achieved at the Bangkok University Stadium after they switched their home fixtures from the Thai-Japanese Stadium to the university midway through the season.

Return to prominence

Alexandré Pölking created history with the team by claiming 75 points – the club's highest points in a single season

In the 2015 season, the club move to the Thammasat Stadium to pass the assignment of AFC Champions League stadium regulation. Brazilian head coach Alexandré Pölking improved the club during the season before to finish fifth in the Thai Premier League. Since 2015, the club became one of big club in Thailand league. The team under Pölking has been widely praised for instilling an energetic, play with a galivanting style of attacking football reaching levels of intensity that are rarely seen in this league.

Entering the 2016 season, Bangkok United ended in second place in the Thai League 1 and created history by claiming 75 points – the club's highest points in a single season. The team missed an opportunity to qualify for the 2016 AFC Champions League by failing to beat Malaysian club Johor Darul Ta'zim in the qualifying play-offs match.

In 2017, Bangkok United started winning 1–0 against Navy on the opening day in the league. Nevertheless, The team managed to end their season on a high note by finishing third in the Thai League 1 and reaching the 2017 Thai FA Cup final, losing 4–2 to Chiangrai United. Despite coming third, The club managed to be the league highest scorers with 97 goals from 34 games, making them the most productive team in the division by far and finishing just one short of breaking a record set by Buriram United themselves in 2015. A big contributing factor to this was the goals from attacking duo Dragan Bošković and Mario Gjurovski who netted 50 goals between them.

In the 2018 season, Bangkok United ended in second place with 71 points.

In the 2022–23 season, Bangkok United ended in second place with 62 points and also ended up as the runners-up in the 2022–23 Thai FA Cup.

Return to the AFC Champions League

In 2023, after a long 15 years absent, Bangkok United returns to the AFC Champions League group

Patiwat

Suphan

Everton (C)

Nitipong

Peerapat

Weerathep

Pokklaw

Thossawat

Rungrath

Vander

Soukouna

Bangkok United starting line during the 2023–24 Thai FA Cup final

stage being drawn in Group F with Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, Kitchee SC and Lion City Sailors. On 20 September 2023, the club plays its first AFC Champions League match away from home coming back from 1–0 down to eventually winning the game to 1–2 with goals from club captain, Everton and Thitiphan Puangchan at the Jalan Besar Stadium. On 4 October 2023, Bangkok United secured a famous 3–2 home victory against Korean champions, Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors taking them to the top of the group with 6 points on matchday 2. Bangkok United went on to become group leaders with 4 wins, 1 draw and 1 lost, being 1 point ahead of Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors thus seeing the club qualifying to the round of 16. Bangkok United then faced off against 2022 J1 League champions, Yokohama F. Marinos where both team settled for a 2–2 draw in the first leg. While in the second leg, Bangkok United managed to hold on Yokohama F. Marinos until extra-time where they conceded a late penalty in the 120 2th minute. Bangkok United lost 3–2 on aggregate and was knocked out by the eventual runners-up of the tournament.

2023–24 AFC Champions League group stage - Group F

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		UTD	JBH	LCS	KIT
1	Bangkok United	6	4	1	1	11	8	3	13	Advance to round of 16		—	3–2	1–0	1–1
2	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	6	4	0	2	12	9	3	12			3–2	—	3–0	2–1
3	Lion City Sailors	6	2	0	4	5	9	−4	6			1–2	2–0	—	0–2
4	Kitchee	6	1	1	4	7	9	−2	4			1–2	1–2	1–2	—

Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Bangkok United ended up the 2023–24 season in second place with 61 points where the club won the 2023–24 Thai FA Cup in a penalties shootout against Dragon Pathumwan Kanchanaburi. Bangkok United then qualified to the 2024–25 AFC Champions League Elite qualifying play-offs facing against Chinese club Shandong Taishan on 13 August 2024. However, Bangkok United failed to qualified to the 2024–25 AFC Champions League Elite after losing 4–3 on penalties shootout thus seeing the club entering the 2024–25 AFC Champions League Two being drawn in Group G alongside Singaporean club Tampines Rovers, Hong Kong club Lee Man and Vietnamese club Nam Định. Bangkok United went on to top the group in the AFC Champions League Two with 13 points seeing the team advance to the round of 16.

Academy and youth

Bangkok United signed a collaboration agreement with Surasakmontree School and Bangkok Christian College. These agreements resulted in the introduction of young players from these schools joining the first team such as Sasalak Haiprakhon, Sarayut Sompim, Jakkit Wachpirom, Anusith Termmee, Nattawut Suksum, Wisarut Imura, and Guntapon Keereeleang.

Bangkok United operate Youth and Junior Youth teams as part of their academy to nurture local talent under a big project "cp-dreams." (Thai lit. ซีพี สานฝัน...ปันโอกาส). In 2019, 7 youth players of "cp-dreams." project from Bangkok Christian College were call-ups to Thailand U-12 and they helped Thailand U-12 to finish in third place in U-12 Junior Soccer World Challenge football tournament. – beat Tokyo Verdy Junior, 2–0 beat FC Barcelona, 1-0 and beat JFA Training Center Osaka, 2–1.

Affiliated clubs

• FC Tokyo (2017–present)

Bangkok United signed a partnership agreement with J1 League, FC Tokyo in September 2017. There is the deal to work together at developing the academy players, strengthen the bond between two teams in order to improve the over all top team level and creating a new business.

Stadium

Main article: Thammasat Stadium

Thammasat Stadium

Thammasat Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in the city of Rangsit, Pathum Thani, Thailand. It is currently used mostly for football matches. The stadium holds 25,000. It is on Thammasat University's Rangsit campus. It is located close to Bangkok.

Stadium and locations

Coordinates	Location	Stadium	Year
14°02′19″N 100°36′08″E	Pathum Thani	Bangkok University Stadium (Rangsit)	2007–2008
13°46′00″N 100°33′10″E	Bangkok	Thai-Japanese Stadium	2009–2015
14°04′04″N 100°35′55″E	Pathum Thani	Thammasat Stadium	2016–present

Continental record

Season	Competition	Round	Club	Home	Away	Aggregate
2007	AFC Champions League	Group F	Chunnam Dragons	0–0	2–3	4th out of 4
			Kawasaki Frontale	1–2	1–1
			Arema Malang	0–0	0–1
2017	AFC Champions League	Preliminary round 2	Johor Darul Ta'zim	1–1 (a.e.t.) (4–5 p)
2019	AFC Champions League	Preliminary round 2	Hanoi	0–1
2023–24	AFC Champions League	Group F	Lion City Sailors	1–0	2–1	1st out of 4
			Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	3–2	2–3
			Kitchee	1–1	2–1
		Round of 16	Yokohama F. Marinos	2–2	0–1 (a.e.t.)	2–3
2024–25	AFC Champions League Elite	Play-off round	Shandong Taishan	1–1 (a.e.t.) (3–4 p)
	AFC Champions League Two	Group G	Thép Xanh Nam Định	3–2	0–0	1st out of 4
			Lee Man	4–1	1–0
			Tampines Rovers	4–2	0–1
		Round of 16	Sydney FC

Season by season record

Season	League										FA Cup	League Cup	ACL	ACL2	Top scorer
	Division	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts	Pos.					Name	Goals
2002–03	↑ Division 1 (2)	22	13	8	1	42	10	32	47	1st			—	—	—
2003–04	Premier League (1)	18	9	4	5	26	22	4	31	4th					—	—
2004–05		18	5	7	6	16	21	−5	22	7th					—	—
2006		22	11	6	5	25	17	8	39	1st					Ubon Kaikaew	7
2007		30	14	5	11	39	36	3	47	4th			Group stage	—	Kittisak Siriwan	8
2008		30	9	8	13	28	36	−8	35	10th			—	—	Suriya Domtaisong	8
2009		30	5	15	10	24	34	−10	30	13th	Quarter-finals				Ubon Kaikaew	4
2010	↓ Premier League (1)	30	5	9	16	25	52	−27	24	15th	Fourth round	Quarter-finals			Sarif Sainui	5
2011	Division 1 (2)	34	15	6	13	54	49	5	51	6th	Second round	First round			Romain Gasmi	13
2012	↑ Division 1 (2)	34	23	5	6	57	29	28	74	3rd	Third round	First round				17
2013	Premier League (1)	32	8	7	17	38	61	−23	31	13th	Fourth round	First round			Sompong Soleb	9
2014		38	15	9	14	55	56	−1	54	8th	Quarter-finals	First round			Romain Gasmi	12
2015		34	16	9	9	59	47	12	57	5th	First round	Second round			Dragan Bošković	13
2016		31	26	2	3	72	36	36	75	2nd	First round	Quarter-finals				20
2017	Thai League (1)	34	21	3	10	97	57	40	66	3rd	Runners-up	Second round	Preliminary Round 2	—		38
2018		34	21	8	5	68	36	32	71	2nd	First round	Second round	—	—	Robson	14
2019		30	13	11	6	55	32	23	50	4th	Semi-finals	Quarter-finals	Preliminary Round 2	—	Nelson Bonilla	16
2020–21		30	15	6	9	57	39	18	51	5th	Semi-finals	—	—	—	Nattawut Suksum	12
2021–22		30	15	8	7	53	30	23	53	3rd	Third round	Quarter-finals			Heberty	15
2022–23		30	19	5	6	55	22	33	62	2nd	Runners-up	Quarter-finals			Willen Mota	11
2023–24		30	17	10	3	58	24	34	61	2nd	Champions	Second round	Round of 16	—		20
2024–25

Champions

Runners-up

Third place

Promoted

Relegated

• (1), (2). Brackets with numbers inside indicates the level of division within the Thai football league system
• N/A = No answer

Players

Current squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	THA	Patiwat Khammai
2	DF	THA	Peerapat Notchaiya
3	DF	BRA	Everton (Captain)
4	DF	THA	Manuel Bihr
5	DF	THA	Putthinan Wannasri
6	DF	THA	Nitipong Selanon
7	MF	THA	Anon Amornlerdsak
8	MF	THA	Wisarut Imura
10	MF	LBN	Bassel Jradi
11	MF	THA	Rungrath Poomchantuek
16	FW	OMA	Muhsen Al-Ghassani
18	MF	THA	Thitiphan Puangchan
19	FW	THA	Chayawat Srinawong
20	FW	THA	Guntapon Keereeleang
24	DF	THA	Wanchai Jarunongkran
25	GK	THA	Supanut Suadsong
26	DF	THA	Suphan Thongsong

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
27	MF	THA	Weerathep Pomphan
28	MF	THA	Thossawat Limwannasathian
30	FW	CUW	Richairo Zivkovic
34	GK	THA	Warut Mekmusik
39	MF	THA	Pokklaw Anan
44	MF	THA	Natcha Promsomboon
51	DF	THA	Kritsada Nontharat
52	DF	THA	Wichan Inaram
54	MF	THA	Suntha Hasegawa
58	DF	THA	Warakorn Huatwiset
59	FW	THA	Chukid Wanpraphao
72	DF	THA	Surachai Boonchare
77	FW	SRB	Luka Adžić
88	GK	THA	Supanut Sudathip
93	FW	PLE	Mahmoud Eid
96	DF	THA	Boontawee Theppawong

Under-23s and Academy

True Bangkok United U-23 Squad For PEA U23 Youngster League 2024

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	THA	Supanut Sudathip U21
2	DF	THA	Kittisak Dangsakul U21
3	DF	THA	Anaphat Nakngam U21
4	DF	THA	Wichan Inaram U21
5	DF	THA	Warakorn Huatwiset U21
6	MF	THA	Sirayos Dansakul U21
7	MF	THA	Chonlachart Tongjinda U21
8	MF	THA	Natcha Promsomboon U23
9	FW	THA	Guntapon Keereeleang U23
10	FW	THA	Chukid Wanpraphao U23
11	FW	THA	Nopparat Promiem U21
12	GK	THA	Naphol Wongboon U21

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
13	FW	THA	Napat Kuttanan U21
14	MF	THA	Shunta Hasegawa U21
15	DF	THA	Nontapat Ploymee U21
16	MF	THA	Philip Bijawat Frey U21
17	DF	THA	Surachai Booncharee U21
18	MF	THA	Aekkarat Sansuwan U21
19	FW	THA	Krit Klangpan U21
20	DF	THA	Kongpop Sodsong U21
21	FW	THA	Putharapol Sanprasit U21
22	MF	THA	Pichaiya Kongsri U21
23	MF	THA	Patchara Wangsawat U21
24	FW	THA	Thanawat Deeloed U21
25	GK	THA	Phattharaphon Kaewwongthong U21

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
21	MF	THA	Chayathorn Tapsuvanavon (at Ayutthaya United)
—	GK	THA	Phuwadol Pholsongkram (at Ayutthaya United)

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	FW	THA	Pasakorn Biawtungnoi (at Ayutthaya United)
—	DF	THA	Pakkapol Maimard (at Ayutthaya United)
—	DF	THA	Bhumchanok Kamkla (at Ayutthaya United)

Coaching staff

Position	Staff
Team Manager	Suradej Anandapong
Head coach	Totchtawan Sripan
Assistant coach	Panupong Wongsa
	Sarif Sainui
Goalkeeping coach	Peerasit Mahothon
Assistant goalkeeper coach	Kittinan Chockcharoenlarp
Physical & Fitness coaches	Watcharachai Rajphaetyakhom
	Tosaphon Doungjai
Head of Medicine	Janilson Quadros da silva
Physiotherapist	Mongkhon Saethao
Interpreter	Nuttapat Lertchanapisit
Team's Staff	Chatchai Phuengthong
	Ayuwat Duangin
Director of academy	Danny Invincibile
Under-23s lead coach	Jirawat Lainananukul

Managerial history

List of Bangkok United managers

Managerial history (2001–present)

Name	Period	Honours
Somchai Subpherm	2001–2009	1 Division 1 1 Premier League
Worakorn Wichanarong	2010
Prapol Pongpanich	2010 – October 2011
Suwaroch Apiwatwarachai	October 2011 – January 2012
Sasom Pobprasert	January 2012 – January 2014
Rui Bento	January 2014 – April 2014
Thawatchai Damrong-Ongtrakul	April 2014 – June 2014
Alexandré Pölking	June 2014 – October 2020
Danny Invincibile (interim)	October 2020 – November 2020
Totchtawan Sripan	November 2020 – March 2022
Aurelio Vidmar	March 2022 – December 2022
Totchtawan Sripan	December 2022 – present	1 Champions Cup 1 FA Cup

Honours

Domestic competitions

League

• Thai League 1
  • Winners (1) : 2006
  • Runners-up (4): 2016, 2018, 2022–23, 2023–24
• Thai League 2
  • Winners (1) : 2002–03

Cups

• FA Cup
  • Winners (1): 2023–24
  • Runners-up (2): 2017, 2022–23
• Thailand Champions Cup
  • Winners (1): 2023

External links

• Official website