Chonburi Football Club (Thai:สโมสรฟุตบอลจังหวัดชลบุรี) is a Thai professionalfootball club based in the city ofChonburi,Chonburi province, that competes in the first division inThai football,Thai League 1, after promotion in the 2024-25 season. The team lifted the league title in 2007 which became the most successful season in their history.[1]
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| Full name | Chonburi Football Club สโมสรฟุตบอลจังหวัดชลบุรี | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Sharks (team) (ฉลามชล) Blue Blood (supporters) | |||
| Short name | CHON | |||
| Founded | 2000; 25 years ago (2000), asChonburi-Sannibat Samut Prakan Football Club | |||
| Ground | Chonburi Stadium Mueang Chonburi,Chonburi,Thailand | |||
| Capacity | 8,680 | |||
| Chairman | Wittaya Khunpluem | |||
| Manager | Teerasak Po-on | |||
| League | Thai League 1 | |||
| 2024-25 | Thai League 2, 1st of 18 (Promoted) | |||
| Website | www | |||
 Current season | ||||
Chonburi were founded in 1997 and their main rivals wereSriracha who were also based inChonburi Province prior to their move and subsequent dissolution.[2] The team is widely known by their nickname"The Sharks" which can be seen in the crest of the club.
History
editEarly years
editIn its early years,Chonburi Football Club wasAssumption College Sriracha's football team. The team was managed by Annop Singtothong, Thanasak Suraprasert,Sontaya Khunpluem, andWittaya Khunpluem. The team competed and were victorious in many youth tournaments, one of them including the Institute of Physical Education's youth football tournament.[3]
In 1996, Sannibat Samut Prakan Association competed in theKhǒr Royal Cup and came in second place. The directors of the football team then negotiated for a merger which resulted in the creation ofChonburi-Sannibat Samut Prakan Football Club. The team then competed inThai Division 1 League orThai League 2 today.[4]
Provincial League
editLater, the Chonburi Sports Association had been given the chance to compete in theProvincial League in 2000. As a result, Chonburi's provincial football team was separated from Chonburi-Sannibat Samut Prakan Football Club which competed inThai Division 1 League. The team that competed in theProvincial League acquired their players fromAssumption College Sriracha and Chulabhon's College Chonburi. They ended their first season in theProvincial League in third place.[3]
First major success
edit
In 2005, Chonburi won theProvincial League title by beatingNakhon Ratchasima at theNakhon Ratchasima Municipal Stadium, and gained promotion to theThai Premier League in the 2006 season with the Provincial League runners up,Suphanburi. This title was the first major success of the club. Chonburi then finished 8th in the2006 Thai Premier League season.[5]
In 2006, Chonburi were invited byFootball Association of Singapore (FAS) to play in the2006 Singapore Cup and reached the cup final, defeating local sidesHome United,Albirex Niigata (S) andBalestier Khalsa along the way. In the final, they lost 2–3 toTampines Rovers in extra time after leading 2–0.[6]
In 2007, Chonburi were again invited to participate in the2007 Singapore Cup, but were defeated in the first round against Balestier Khalsa, in a replay of the previous season's semi-finals. Chonburi lost 3–2 in normal play. They have formed links withManchester City.[7] In the end of this season Chonburi become Thailand Premier League champions for the2007 season. This was the first trophy in major league for the club and head coachJadet Meelarp won the 'Coach of the Year' awards andPipob On-Mo got 'Player of the Year' awards. The club qualified to the2008 AFC Champions League after winning the league.
In July 2008, Chonburi made another important big step into the future. In addition, the previous sponsor, Hemaraj Land and Development PLC signed a major sponsorship deal which comes into force from 2009. The contract will run for three years and will amount to the sum of 18 million baht (about 350,000 Euros). This may indeed be the largest completed sponsorship of a Thai football club which was ever completed.[8]
At the end of the 2008 season, there was only enough for runner-up. The main reason for this was certainly the profligacy. With two games left in the season you still on the first place in the table, but a 0–0 draw againstSamut Songkhram made to naught in the penultimate round of the dream title defense.Jadet Meelarp was dismissed. His successor is officially announced in mid-December 2008.Kiatisuk Senamuang, known asZico, was appointed coach of Chonburi.[9]
AFC Champuons League debut
editIn 2008, the club played in their debut2008 AFC Champions League season where in its first game against the Japanese championsGamba Osaka on 12 March, where the team was seconds away from their first ever win on their debut match in the tournament, however opponentLucas Severino scored the equaliser for the opponent at 1–1 which would see Chonburi registered their first point in the tournament. On 20 March, the club achieved its first victory in theAFC Champions League againstMelbourne Victory.[10] The game was clouded by controversy whenMelbourne Victory scored their only goal whilst a Chonburi player was down injured and his teammates were calling for the ball to be played off the park. It mattered little whenCameroonian strikerJules Baga scored a goal from 35 yards out and then followed it up with a second goal inextra time to condemn theMelbourne Victory to their first loss in the competition 3–1.[11]
As the league runner-up in 2008, Chonburi qualified for the2009 AFC Cup and was drawn in a group withHanoi ACB (Vietnam),Eastern AA (Hong Kong) andKedah FA (Malaysia). Chonburi has to call to mind the Zeil set to be first in the group and win theAFC Cup inThailand. The group stage was confident survived with only one defeat in six games. In the second round ChonburiPSMS Medan inIndonesia defeated 4–1 before retired in the quarter-finals against theVietnam representativeBình Dương 2–4. The game against Medan was also the last game ofSurat Sukha, who moved toMelbourne Victory.[12]
During the ending of the 2009 season, the club ended up as the league runner-up again. At the end of 2008, they had 2 points behind the champions, 2009, there were 3 points.Kiatisuk Senamuang changed at the end of the season toHoàng Anh Gia Lai, the association in Vietnam where he was active as a player last. His successor in Chonburi wasJadet Meelarp, which had been released a year earlier. At his side, his former bossWitthaya Laohakul was provided as technical director of the club. Unlike other top clubs in the league but vorzuweisen Chonburi had hardly known commitments for the 2010 season. OnlyTherdsak Chaiman you can probably fit into this category. The 36-year-old was last in theThailand national football team his comeback from Singapore and moved to Chonburi. Although the club was again runner-up, but this is not automatically eligible in the 2009 season to participate in the2010 AFC Cup. Instead, the Cup Winners' Cup in Thailand directly qualified for the competition. Already in the second round of theThai FA Cup retired from the Chonburi.[13]
Academy & youth program
editChonburi is well known for producing football talent as well as using their youth players in the first team. In the2007 Thailand Premier League in which they have been crowned champions, over 80% of their first-team players came from their youth program. However, in the past, their youth players stayed at boarding schools inChonburi province such asAssumption College Sriracha and Chulabhon's College Chonburi.[14][15]
Today, Chonburi has a football academy where academy players train and live every day at. The idea of creating a football academy was spearheaded by former Chonburi head coach and current technical directorWitthaya Laohakul, who stressed the importance of creating and producing quality football players for the first-team. In 2009, Chonburi decided to remodel its academy and youth program by building an actual football academy inBan Bueng District. The new academy is located far away fromChonburi surrounded by paddy fields and was once rented out toJMG Academy.[16][15] In addition, this new football academy includes a dormitory and football training facilities for the academy players.
Chonburi recruits academy players by scouting them from tournaments as well as offering trials.Worachit Kanitsribampen is one of the first successful players to come out of Chonburi's newly restructured academy.[15] As of 2025, Chonburi Academy are one of only four academies in Southeast Asia to be conferred a Two-Star academy status alongsideJohor Darul Ta'zim Academy,NFDP Mokhtar Dahari Academy in Malaysia andLion City Sailors Academy in Singapore.
Affiliated clubs
edit
Vissel Kobe (2012)[17]
- Chonburi announced a business partnership betweenVissel Kobe of theJ1 League in 2012. The deal will facilitate player and staff exchanges both at the professional and youth level, as well as friendly matches, the creation of new football schools, and marketing opportunities.[18]
Stadium
edit
At the start of the2008 season, Chonburi used theChonburi Municipality Stadium plays in the 5,000-seater in Chonburi. Due to disagreements with the local authorities, the club wore its home games from 2008 of thePrincess Sirindhorn Stadium. For the games of the2008 AFC Champions League you had to dodge into theNational Stadium, which was also used for matches in the2009 AFC Cup Bangkok. For the 2010 season, the club will return to Chonburi and will host its home games at the renovated Chonburi Sports College Stadium.[19]
In 2010 season they moved toIPE Chonburi Stadium. In 2011 season they move toChonburi Stadium after renovate the stadium for played in theAFC Cup, andThai League.[20]
Stadium and locations
editContinental record
edit
Season by season record
edit| Season | League[21] | FA Cup | League Cup | Queen's Cup | Kor Royal Cup | AFC Champions League | AFC Cup | ASEAN Club | Top scorer | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | Pos | Name | Goals | ||||||||
| 2006 | TPL | 22 | 5 | 12 | 5 | 29 | 28 | 27 | 8th | – | – | GR | – | – | – | – | Pipob On-Mo | 7 |
| 2007 | TPL | 30 | 19 | 6 | 5 | 50 | 25 | 63 | 1st[22] | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | Pipob On-Mo | 16 |
| 2008 | TPL | 30 | 15 | 14 | 1 | 34 | 14 | 59 | 2nd[22] | – | – | SF | W | GR | – | – | Pipob On-Mo | 5 |
| 2009 | TPL | 30 | 18 | 8 | 4 | 50 | 30 | 62 | 2nd | R4 | – | SF | W | – | QF | – | Mohamed Koné | 14 |
| 2010 | TPL | 30 | 17 | 9 | 4 | 57 | 28 | 60 | 3rd | W | R2 | SF | – | – | – | – | Pipob On-Mo | 10 |
| 2011 | TPL | 34 | 20 | 9 | 5 | 58 | 29 | 69 | 2nd | R5 | SF | – | W | – | QF | – | Pipob On-Mo | 15 |
| 2012 | TPL | 34 | 21 | 7 | 6 | 65 | 33 | 70 | 2nd | R3 | QF | – | W | Play-off | SF | – | Pipob On-Mo | 14 |
| 2013 | TPL | 32 | 18 | 8 | 6 | 61 | 35 | 62 | 3rd | R3 | QF | – | – | – | – | – | Thiago Cunha | 13 |
| 2014 | TPL | 38 | 21 | 13 | 4 | 62 | 33 | 76 | 2nd | RU | R3 | – | – | Play-off 3 | – | – | Thiago Cunha | 20 |
| 2015 | TPL | 34 | 15 | 12 | 7 | 62 | 44 | 57 | 4th | QF | R3 | – | – | Play-off | – | – | Thiago Cunha | 19 |
| 2016 | TL | 31 | 14 | 9 | 8 | 52 | 33 | 51 | 5th | W | R3 | – | – | Play-off | – | – | Rodrigo Vergilio | 12 |
| 2017 | T1 | 34 | 15 | 8 | 11 | 59 | 59 | 53 | 7th | R1 | R2 | – | – | – | – | – | Renan Marques | 27 |
| 2018 | T1 | 34 | 13 | 7 | 14 | 45 | 53 | 46 | 9th | QF | QF | – | – | – | – | – | Worachit Kanitsribampen | 12 |
| 2019 | T1 | 30 | 11 | 7 | 12 | 43 | 45 | 40 | 7th | R1 | R1 | – | – | – | – | – | Lukian | 11 |
| 2020–21 | T1 | 30 | 9 | 5 | 16 | 30 | 47 | 32 | 12th | RU | – | – | – | – | – | – | Caion | 6 |
| 2021–22 | T1 | 30 | 12 | 8 | 10 | 50 | 40 | 44 | 7th | R2 | SF | – | – | – | – | – | Yoo Byung-Soo | 12 |
| 2022–23 | T1 | 30 | 13 | 4 | 13 | 46 | 38 | 43 | 6th | R2 | R1 | – | – | – | – | – | Danilo Alves | 14 |
| 2023–24 | T1 | 30 | 7 | 9 | 14 | 33 | 52 | 30 | 14th | QF | R2 | – | – | – | – | – | Willian Lira | 15 |
| 2024–25 | T2 | 32 | 19 | 6 | 7 | 56 | 30 | 63 | 1st | R2 | R1 | – | – | – | – | – | Derley | 14 |
| Champions | Runners-up | Third place | Promoted | Relegated | In Progress |
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Players
editCurrent squad
editNote: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Note 1: The officialclub website lists thesupporters as player12th man.Note 2: Players who areAFC Champions League quota foreign players are listed inbold.
Out on loan
editNote: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Former players
editFor details on former players, seeList of Chonburi F.C. players andCategory:Chonburi F.C. players.
List of Chonburi F.C. managers
editChonburi F.C. managers by Years (2004–present)
Witthaya Laohakul2004–2006- Jadet Meelarp2007–2008
- Kiatisuk Senamuang2009
- Jadet Meelarp2010–2011
- Witthaya Laohakul2011–2013
- Masahiro Wada2014
- Jadet Meelarp2015
- Therdsak Chaiman2016–2017
Goran Barjaktarević2018- Jukkapant Punpee2018–2019
- Sasom Pobprasert2019–2023
- Adul Lahsoh (interim)2023
- Makoto Teguramori2023
- Nutthawut Vijitwetchakarn (interim)2023–2024
- Witthaya Laohakul (interim)2024
- Pipob On-Mo2024
- Sinthaweechai Hathairattanakool (interim)2024
- Thawatchai Damrong-Ongtrakul2024–2025
- Teerasak Po-on2025–
Honours
editLeague
edit- Thai League 1
- Thai League 2
- Winners (1):2024–25
- Provincial League:
- Winners (1): 2005
Cups
editReferences
edit- ^"The Nation".nationmultimedia.com. Archived fromthe original on 21 June 2017. Retrieved4 January 2017.
- ^Anderson strikes as 'Dolphins' hold league leadersArchived 2 January 2010 at theWayback Machine
- ^abย้อนรอย 'กว่าจะเป็นฉลามชล' 1. Teerapatra Rundhasevi. 19 December 2012.Archived from the original on 18 November 2020. Retrieved5 October 2021 – viaYouTube.
- ^http://www.thailandsusu.com/webboard/index.php?topic=31143.0;wap2Archived 13 April 2021 at theWayback Machine ทำไมต้องเป็น ชลบุรี สันนิบาตร สมุทรปราการ - ไทยแลนด์สู้ๆ
- ^"ชลบุรี เอฟซี กับแชมป์ไทยลีกที่จะกลายแค่เป็นตํานาน".Archived from the original on 6 August 2017. Retrieved6 August 2017.
- ^"ส่ง2สโมสร แข่งสิงคโปร์คัพ". Archived fromthe original on 6 August 2017. Retrieved6 August 2017.
- ^"เจ๋งเป้ง! ผลผลิต'ฉลามจูเนียร์'จ่อเทสต์ฝีเท้าแมนฯซิตี้".
- ^chonburifc.net:Bericht auf der VereinswebseiteArchived 28 August 2009 at theWayback Machine
- ^"หลายคนไม่รู้! เปิดสถิติปี 52 "ซิโก้-โค้ชเฮง" ร่วมงานในทัพฉลามชล".Archived from the original on 6 August 2017. Retrieved6 August 2017.
- ^"AFC Cup of hope for Thai teams".Archived from the original on 26 June 2009. Retrieved28 January 2010.
- ^"Victory downs Chonburi in Melbourne". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 21 May 2008. Archived fromthe original on 5 July 2008. Retrieved4 January 2017.
- ^"'เจ้าปาน' สุรัตน์ เตรียมเซ็นเมลเบิร์นฯไม่เกินพ.ค.นี้้".Archived from the original on 6 August 2017. Retrieved6 August 2017.
- ^""เทิดศักดิ์" ติวเข้ม ช้าง เอฟเอ คัพ ฟุตบอล คลินิก".
- ^ย้อนรอย 'กว่าจะเป็นฉลามชล' 2. Teerapatra Rundhasevi. 19 December 2012.Archived from the original on 18 November 2020. Retrieved5 October 2021 – viaYouTube.
- ^abc"THE CLASS OF '18 : เจาะเบื้องหลังการสร้าง "ฉลามเลือดใหม่"".Archived from the original on 25 September 2020. Retrieved17 March 2020.
- ^"อะคาเดมี่ชลบุรี สร้างนักฟุตบอลไปเล่นยุโรป".Archived from the original on 20 June 2019. Retrieved17 March 2020.
- ^"J-League's Vissel Kobe announces business partnership with Thailand's Chonburi FC". Goal.Archived from the original on 31 March 2019. Retrieved17 March 2020.
- ^"'ฉลามชล' รุกคืบจับมือ 'วิสเซล โกเบ' ร่วมพันธมิตรลูกหนัง".Archived from the original on 26 January 2023. Retrieved17 March 2020.
- ^PCL., Post Publishing."Bangkok Post".bangkokpost.com. Retrieved4 January 2017.
- ^"OFFICIAL : ฉลามชลเปลี่ยนชื่อรังเหย้า 'ชลบุรี ยูทีเอ สเตเดี้ยม'".Archived from the original on 29 December 2023. Retrieved29 December 2023.
- ^King, Ian; Schöggl, Hans & Stokkermans, Karel (20 March 2014)."Thailand – List of Champions". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation.Archived from the original on 26 July 2022. Retrieved29 October 2014. Select link to season required from chronological list.
- ^ab"Thailand – Chonburi FC – Results, fixtures, squad, statistics, photos, videos and news".soccerway.com.Archived from the original on 30 September 2017. Retrieved4 January 2017.
External links
edit
- Official WebsiteArchived 1 November 2020 at theWayback Machine(in Thai)