About last night.

Port F.C. playing host to Thai Honda down at the PAT Stadium. The Thai experience feels excellent. Chanting is very musical, a huge amount of drumming. It’s like being at a West Indies Cricket match; you can’t help wanting to bounce around. But B Block of the PAT Stadium houses Ultras behind the goal. They know what they’re doing, it feels much more legitimate than the rather artificial Chinese support. Shirts off. Arms up. Tattoos, muscles and bucket hats, we got in moshing among them, memories of Hertha away.

One of the best features was a big Thai-style tailgate outside on the training pitch, with vendors serving street-food, fried chicken, squid and curries and coolboxes filled with ice and beers. Gonna take this opportunity to propagate a new phrase, “Thaigate”. A litre of iced-out beer will come for under £2, making for the best half time pints I’ve ever had. Post game and it’s the same, members of the Klongtoey Army taking me to a night market with make-shift bars of wooden beams and tin roofs, sampling more excellent cold beer and spicy food until the wee hours of the morn.

This is real community-based Football.

A more detailed and analytical post to follow, after a little more research.

fbtg