2008 Thailand Premier League

The 2008 Thai Premier League had 16 teams. It was the twelfth since its establishment. The first matches of the season were played on 18 February 2008, and the season ended on 11 October 2008. Three teams would be relegated to Thailand Division 1 League. The Champion in this season would qualify for the AFC Champions League 2009 qualification stage and the runner-up would be enter the AFC Cup 2009. The official name of the league at this time was Thailand Premier League.

Thai Premier League

Season	2008
Champions	Provincial Electricity Authority
Relegated	Bangkok Bank Customs Department Royal Thai Army
2009 AFC Champions League	PEA
2009 AFC Cup	Chonburi
Top goalscorer	Anon Sangsanoi (BEC Tero Sasana) (20)
Biggest home win	Chula-Sinthana 5-0 Port Authority of Thailand
Biggest away win	Tobacco Monopoly 1-4 Krung Thai Bank Customs Department 1-4 Bangkok University Port Authority of Thailand 2-5 BEC Tero Sasana
Highest scoring	Chula-Sinthana 6-2 BEC Tero Sasana (8 goals)
← 2007 2009 →

Provincial Electricity Authority won their first championship after they changed their home stadium from Bangkok to Ayutthaya, where they have a bigger fan base. This season also saw the great successful team of Thai football league, Bangkok Bank relegated to Division 1 league after they were defeated by Chonburi in the final match of the season.

Defending champions Chonburi were pipped to the title after faltering against new Premier League side Samut Songkhram in the second to last game of the season. Samut finished in a creditable 7th place, one place above Chula United who also impressed in their first season back in the top flight.

Customs Department FC, the other newcomers along with, found life to difficult and dropped back into Division One at the first attempt.

Rules

• Teams play each other twice on a home and away basis
• 3 Points for a win
• 1 Point for a draw
• At end of the season the winners play the runners ups in the Kor Royal Cup
• Winner qualifies for Asian Champions League Qualification Round
• Runner-Up enters AFC Cup
• Teams finishing on same points at the end of the season use head-to-head record to determine finishing position.
• Bottom three teams are relegated to Thailand Division 1 League

Member clubs

• Bangkok Bank
• Bangkok University
• BEC Tero Sasana
• Chonburi
• Chula-Sinthana † (promoted from Division 1 Winner Group B)
• Coke-Bangpra (promoted from Division 1 Runner Up Group A)
• Customs Department (promoted from Division 1 Winner Group A)
• Krung Thai Bank
• Nakhon Pathom
• Osotsapa M-150
• Port Authority of Thailand
• PEA
• Royal Thai Army
• Samut Songkhram (promoted from Division 1 Runner Up Group B)
• Thailand Tobacco Monopoly
• TOT

† Chula-Sinthana changed to "Chula United" from August 2008 season

Stadium and locations

 

 

Chonburi

 

Coke-Bangpra

 

PEA

 

Samut Songkhram

 

Bangkok Metro

 

Bangkok Metro teams
Bangkok Bank
Bangkok University
BEC Tero Sasana
Chula-Sinthana
Customs Department
Krung Thai Bank
Nakhon Pathom
Osotsapa M-150
Port Authority of Thailand
Royal Thai Army
Thailand Tobacco Monopoly
TOT

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Locations of the Thai Premier League 2008 teams

Team	Location	Stadium ^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]	Capacity	Ref.
Bangkok Bank	Bangkok	Bangkok Bank football field	?	^[5]
Bangkok University	Pathum Thani	Bangkok University Stadium (Rangsit)	4,000
BEC Tero Sasana	Nong Chok, Bangkok	BEC Tero Sasana Nong Chok Stadium	?
Chula-Sinthana	Bangkok	Chulalongkorn University Stadium	20,000
Chonburi	Chonburi	Chonburi Municipality Stadium	?
Coke-Bangpra	Chonburi	Chonburi Municipality Stadium	?
Customs Department	Min Buri, Bangkok	Kasem Bundit University Stadium (Rom Klao)	?
Krung Thai Bank	Bangkok	Chulalongkorn University Stadium	20,000	^[6]
Nakhon Pathom	Nakhon Pathom	Sanam Chan Palace Sports Stadium	6,000
Osotsapa M-150	Bang Kapi, Bangkok	Klong Chan Sports Center	?
Port Authority of Thailand	Bangkok	Thai-Japanese Stadium	?
PEA	Ayutthaya	Ayutthaya Province Central Stadium	?
Royal Thai Army	Bangkok	Thai Army Sports Stadium	?
Samut Songkhram	Samut Songkhram	Samut Songkhram Province Stadium	?
Thailand Tobacco Monopoly	Samut Sakhon	Institute of Physical Education Samut Sakhon Stadium	?
TOT	Nonthaburi	Namkaejon Stadium	?

 

 

Bangkok Bank

 

Bangkok University

 

BEC Tero Sasana

 

Chula-Sinthana

 

Customs Department

 

Krung Thai Bank

 

Nakhon Pathom

 

Osotsapa M-150

 

Port Authority of Thailand

 

Royal Thai Army

 

Thailand Tobacco Monopoly

 

TOT

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Football clubs in Bangkok Metropolitan Region

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Replaced by	Date of appointment	Position in table
BEC Tero Sasana	Regis Laguesse	Sacked	Christophe Larrouilh	February 2008	3rd
Customs Department	Prapas Chamrasamee	Resigned	Chatchai Paholpat	July 2008	Post-season (16th)
Thailand Tobacco Monopoly	Gawin Kachendecha	Became manager of Thailand national under-20 football team	Prajak Weangsong	July 2008	Post-season (12th)

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	PEA	30	18	7	5	38	15	+23	61	Champion and Qualification for the 2009 AFC Champions League
2	Chonburi^[a]	30	15	14	1	34	14	+20	59	Qualification for the 2009 AFC Cup
3	BEC Tero Sasana	30	16	7	7	50	31	+19	55
4	Osotsapa M-150	30	13	12	5	37	25	+12	51
5	TOT	30	13	11	6	36	27	+9	50
6	Krung Thai Bank	30	13	7	10	47	36	+11	46
7	Samut Songkhram^[b]	30	11	10	9	35	31	+4	43
8	Chula-Sinthana (Chula United)^[b]	30	10	9	11	47	41	+6	39
9	Nakhon Pathom	30	11	4	15	24	38	−14	37
10	Bangkok University	30	9	8	13	28	36	−8	35^[c]
11	Coke-Bangpra^[b]	30	8	11	11	24	27	−3	35^[c]
12	Tobacco Monopoly	30	7	12	11	20	25	−5	33
13	Port Authority	30	7	9	14	30	47	−17	30
14	Bangkok Bank	30	6	11	13	23	35	−12	29	Relegation
15	Royal Thai Army	30	6	7	17	21	44	−23	25
16	Customs Department^[b]	30	5	5	20	18	39	−21	20

Source:^{[citation needed]}
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd head-to-head; 3rd goal difference; 4th goals scored
Notes:

1. Defending Champion
2. Promoted from last season
3. Head to Head: Bangkok Univ win 2-1

Season notes

• The Thai Premier League took a break between May 3 and June 28 due to national team world cup qualification matches in June
• On the 17 May, a Thai Premier League XI beat an experimental Manchester City team^[7] 3-1, in a Friendly match.^[8]
• It was announced this year that Thai clubs would no longer have direct entry into the Asian Champions League, they would have to play in a playoff match against other ASEAN members to enter the new format. Thai clubs would get one spot in the AFC Cup, potentially joined by another if unsuccessful in the playoff spot for the Champions League.^[9]
• National coach Charnwit Polcheewin announced on the 16th June 2008, that he would resign as Thailand National team manager.^[10]
• National team coach Charnwit Polcheewin formally resigned on June 25 after he failed to steer the national side to the fourth stage of World Cup qualification. Charnwit help the side win two King's Cup tournaments and runner up in the 2007 ASEAN Football Championship.
• The National team failed to progress past the third stage of the World Cup Qualifying campaign. They overcame lowly Macau and Yemen in the earlier rounds, but came bottom of the four team group stage.
• On July 1, 2008, the 2011 AFC Asian Cup qualification draw was made. Thailand got drawn into Group E with Iran, Jordan and ASEAN neighbours Singapore. Thailand were second seed in the draw process. The first matchday would be away to Jordan on January 14, 2009
• Peter Reid was confirmed as the new national team coach on July 23. Earlier reports had suggested that Holger Osieck was also in the running, but pulled out to leave Reid as the sole candidate. Reid would start his new role on September 1.
• On July 23, new national team coach Peter Reid was also put in charge on the Thailand national under-20 football team. Reid's first task was to prepare them for the forthcoming AFC Youth Championship to be played in Saudi Arabia in October 2008.
• At the beginning of August, Chula-Sinthana changed their club name officially to "Chula United".
• On August 27 Thailand were drawn in Group B of the 2008 AFF Suzuki Cup. Their opponents in the first round are; Vietnam, Malaysia and a qualifier from the Qualification phase.
• On September 4 Thailand announced that their new national team colour would be Yellow, changing from the previous Red home kit. Blue would continue to be used as the second kit. Yellow represents the Monarch. The change of kit colour was approved by FIFA.
• Customs Department were relegated to the Thailand Division 1 League on September 20.
• Muang Thong NongJork United was promoted from Thailand Division 1 League on September 21.
• Sriracha and Royal Thai Navy were promoted to the Premier League from Thailand Division 1 League on September 28.
• Royal Thai Army were relegated to the Thailand Division 1 League on October 1 without kicking a ball, due to Port Authority of Thailand beating Bangkok University in a re-scheduled match.
• PEA were crowned champions on October 11. Bangkok Bank FC were relegated to the Thailand Division 1 League on the same day
• The national team came runners up to Vietnam in the 2008 AFF Suzuki Cup, losing 3-2 in the two match final.

Asian Representation

• Chonburi & Krung Thai Bank both took part in the 2008 AFC Champions League campaign. Both sides failed to make it out of their tough Group Stages. This was Chonburi's first season in Asian Competition.
• Bangkok University and Thailand Tobacco Monopoly entered the Singapore Cup. Both teams made the Quarter-Final stage, where 'The Students' got beat by Young Lions 1-0 over two legs, conceding in the last minute of the first leg, whereas Thailand Tobacco Monopoly would get beat 4-2 on penalties by Woodlands Wellington.

Thai Premier League All-Star Exhibition game

See also: Thai Premier League All-Star Football

Results

Home \ Away	PAT	PEA	CKB	CHS	CHO	ARM	TOT	BKB	KTB	NPA	BEC	TOB	BKU	CUS	SSK	OSO
Port Authority of Thailand		0–2	0–0	2–2	1–3	1–0	0–1	0–0	2–2	2–0	2–5	0–0	2–1	1–1	2–1	1–2
Provincial Electricity Authority	1–0		2–1	2–0	0–0	2–0	1–1	2–0	2–1	4–0	1–3	2–1	1–1	1–0	1–0	0–0
Coke-Bangpra	1–1	1–4		2–3	0–1	0–1	2–1	1–0	1–0	1–0	1–1	3–0	1–2	1–0	1–1	0–0
Chula	5–0	0–0	2–0		0–0	3–1	2–0	1–1	2–2	1–2	6–2	1–1	5–1	0–0	0–2	0–1
Chonburi	0–0	1–0	0–0	4–1		1–1	2–2	0–0	1–1	0–0	0–1	1–0	2–1	2–0	0–0	1–1
Army	2–1	0–1	2–1	3–2	0–0		0–2	0–3	0–2	1–2	2–3	1–1	1–1	0–2	1–2	1–3
TOT	3–1	2–0	0–2	2–1	1–1	0–0		2–1	1–0	3–2	2–3	0–0	2–1	1–0	1–1	0–0
BKK Bank	2–1	0–4	0–0	1–3	1–2	2–0	0–0		3–4	1–1	1–1	0–0	1–1	1–0	0–1	0–0
Krung Thai	1–0	1–1	1–1	0–1	0–2	3–1	4–1	2–0		2–0	0–0	1–2	2–0	2–0	0–1	2–3
N Pathom	2–0	1–0	0–1	2–1	0–2	1–0	0–2	2–0	1–1		0–2	0–2	0–0	1–0	1–0	1–2
BEC tero	1–2	1–0	1–0	5–1	0–1	0–1	1–1	2–1	3–2	3–1		0–1	3–0	2–0	1–1	2–1
Tobacco	2–3	0–1	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–2	1–0	1–4	2–0	0–0		0–1	1–0	3–0	1–1
BKK Univ	0–1	0–1	0–0	1–0	2–3	0–2	0–2	0–0	1–2	1–2	1–0	1–0		1–0	0–0	2–2
Customs	3–2	0–1	1–0	0–0	0–1	1–0	0–0	1–2	1–2	0–1	0–3	2–1	1–4		2–3	2–3
S Songkhram	3–1	0–0	2–1	2–0	1–2	4–0	1–1	1–2	1–3	2–0	1–1	0–0	0–2	2–1		1–3
Osotsapa	1–1	0–1	1–1	2–4	0–1	0–0	1–0	2–0	3–0	2–1	1–0	1–0	0–1	0–0	1–1

Source: ^[11]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top scorers

Scorer	Goals	Team
Anon Sangsanoi	20	BEC Tero Sasana
Ronnachai Rangsiyo	16	Provincial Electricity Authority
Sarayoot Chaikamdee	12	Osotsapa M-150
Teerathep Winothai		BEC Tero Sasana
Wuttichai Tathong		Chula-Sinthana (Chula United)
Kone Kassim	10	Krung Thai Bank
Ajayi Gdenga Samuel	9	Krung Thai Bank
Pipat Thonkanya		Provincial Electricity Authority
Sompong Soleb		Chula-Sinthana (Chula United)
Phuwadol Sankla	8	TOT
Suriya Domtaisong		Bangkok University

Annual awards

Coach of the Year

•   Prapol Pongpanich - PEA

Goalkeeper of the Year

•   Sinthaweechai Hathairattanakool - Chonburi

Defender of the Year

•   Nattaporn Phanrit - Chonburi

Midfielder of the Year

•   Narongchai Vachiraban - PEA

Striker of the Year

•   Teeratep Winothai - BEC Tero Sasana

Young Player of the Year

•   Ronnachai Rangsiyo - PEA

Top scorer

•   Anon Sangsanoi - BEC Tero Sasana

Champions

The league champion was PEA. It was the team's first title.

See also

• 2008 Thailand League Division 1
• 2008 Thailand League Division 2
• Thailand 2008 RSSSF

References

1. ตารางการแข่งขันฟุตบอลสัปดาห์นี้ (in Thai).
2. ฟุตบอลลีก ภายในประเทศ ในสุดสัปดาห์นี้ (in Thai).
3. เจ้าท่าซดบัวหลวง แย่งหนีตายไทยลีก ชลบุรีซดปลาทู ไฟฟ้ารออัดหมูป่า (in Thai).
4. แผนที่สนามเหย้าไทยลีก 2551 (in Thai).
5. แผนที่สนามฟุตบอลทีมธนาคารกรุงเทพ (in Thai).
6. "กรุงไทย-บีอีซีฯ" เฮ "ฉลาม" เจ๊าศึกไทยลีก (in Thai).
7. . Archived from the original on 2012-03-12. Retrieved 2010-09-20.
8. Thailand League XI - Man City Report
9. New Look Champions League
10. Chanvit Quits
11. . Archived from the original on 2008-04-26. Retrieved 2008-04-06.

External links

Preceded by Thai Premier League 2007

Thai Premier League 2008 Provincial Electricity Authority

Succeeded by Thai Premier League 2009