Air Force Central F.C.

Air Force Central F.C.
แอร์ฟอร์ซ เซ็นทรัล เอฟซี

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Full name	Air Force Central Football Club สโมสรฟุตบอลแอร์ฟอร์ซ เซ็นทรัล
Nickname(s)	The Blue Eagles (อินทรีทัพฟ้า)
Founded	1937 (Royal Thai Air Force) 2010 (Air Force United) 2013 (Air Force AVIA FC) 2014 (Air Force Central FC)
Ground	Thupatemee Stadium Rangsit, Thailand
Ground Capacity	25,000
Chairman	Saran Suntipattanachai
Manager	Vitwarasak Uppathamnarakorn
Coach	Sasom Pobprasert
League	Thai Division 1 League
2014	19th (Relegated)
Website	Club home page
Home colours Away colours

Air Force Central Football Club is a Thailand professional football club based in Rangsit. They play in Thai Division 1 League. Their home stadium is Thupatemee Stadium in Rangsit.

Recent history

Historically, Air Force United have been one of the most successful Thai football clubs. However, since the turn of the century, they haven't achieved much success. The last silverware they won was the FA Cup back in 2001. Air Force haven't played in the topflight of Thai football since 2004.

In 2010 Thai Division 1 League, the season started off brightly for the Airmen, and by the midway point they looked strong candidates for promotion. In the second half of the season, they lost form and finished in 6th spot for the second consecutive season.

The 2011 & 2012 seasons both saw Air Force United flirting with relegation before they eventually finished in mid-table. The club had to relocate to Ramkhamheang University for the latter stages of the 2011 season because their stadium was flooded due to the 2011 Thailand floods. Despite returning home for the first half of the 2012 season, the club played the second leg of the campaign at North Bangkok University while their ground was being renovated.

The 2013 season under the stewardship of club legend Narasak Boonkleng, the team started out with two wins 1 goal victory followed by a frustrating 4 straight goalless draws which had the making of a long tough season. But, the Airmen went a nine-game winning streak with games of 1 goal victory which put the Air Force United in prime position to win promotion back to the Premier League after 10 years absence. The 2nd Leg saw them struggle a bit but, regrouped in pulled of a series of win to gain promotion and win the league in subsequent home games.

The 2014 season start was just a total nightmare unable to win the first twelve games until the 2–1 away victory at Singhtarua. Despite showing some sign of improvement, the club management decided to part ways with head coach Narasak Boonkleng. The club fortunes did not improve with a seven-game winless streak followed by a nine-game winless streak to end the season and relegated back to League 1 after just one season.

The 2015 season started with Sasom Pobprasert as full-time head coach, but it started poorly with one draw and two loses in the first three games. The next four games saw massive improvement with 2 wins and 1 draw pulling the out of relegation and into 13th place before the Songkran (Thai New Year's) break.
Another chance to show that the team have settled when they host Navy FC of Premier League in the 1st Round of 2015 Toyota League Cup but, the team took a 1–0 leading into injury time and gave up 2 goals to be eliminated from the cup. Since being eliminated from the League Cup, the team has a 6 games unbeaten streak with 4 wins and 2 draw placing them at 3rd place in the table right before the league goes on 40 day break for the 2015 Southeast Asian Games in Singapore.

Seasons

Season	League									FA Cup	League Cup	Queen's Cup	Asia	Top scorer
	Division	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts	Pos					Name	Goals
1996–97	TPL	34	14	12	8	54	48	35	7th	W	–	GR	–	N/A	N/A
1997	TPL	22	14	3	5	42	45	23	1st	N/A	–	Did Not Play	R2	N/A	N/A
1998	TPL	22	10	10	2	40	52	31	2nd	N/A	–	–	–	N/A	N/A
1999	TPL	22	11	6	5	39	43	27	1st	R2	–	N/A	–	N/A	N/A
2000	TPL	22	12	5	5	41	34	19	2nd	N/A	–	QF	R2	N/A	N/A
2001–02	TPL	22	8	8	6	23	21	32	4th	W	–	N/A	R2	N/A	N/A
2002–03	TPL	18	7	2	9	23	26	29	5th	–	–	QF	–	N/A	N/A
2003–04	TPL	18	4	4	10	16	14	38	9th	–	–	Did Not Qualify	–	N/A	N/A
2005	DIV 1	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	–	–	–	–	N/A	N/A
2006	DIV 1	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	–	–	Did Not Play	–	N/A	N/A
2007	DIV 1	22	12	6	4	41	22	42	3rd	–	–	–	–	N/A	N/A
2008	DIV 1	30	10	10	10	40	32	40	10th	–	–	–	–	Watcharapong Channgam	9
2009	DIV 1	30	12	6	12	42	45	36	6th	R2	–	Knockout Round	–	Pornchai Ardjinda	7
2010	DIV 1	30	13	9	8	48	33	48	6th	R4	R2	GR	–	Pornchai Ardjinda	15
2011	DIV 1	34	10	10	14	36	53	40	14th	R2	R1	–	–	Kouassi Yao Hermann & Anusak Laosangthai	12
2012	DIV 1	34	12	8	14	45	45	44	9th	R2	R2	–	–	Kouassi Yao Hermann	20
2013	DIV 1	34	20	9	5	51	28	69	1st	R2	R3	–	–	Kouassi Yao Hermann	16
2014	TPL	38	6	12	20	35	63	30	19th	R3	R2	–	–	Kouassi Yao Hermann	13
2015	DIV 1	38	14	10	14	53	50	52	9th	R3	R1	–	–	Julius Obioh	8

Champions

Runners-up

Third Place

Promoted

Relegated

In Progress

• P = Played
• W = Games won
• D = Games drawn
• L = Games lost
• F = Goals for
• A = Goals against
• Pts = Points
• Pos = Final position
• N/A = No answer

• TPL = Thai Premier League

• DQ = Disqualified
• QR1 = First Qualifying Round
• QR2 = Second Qualifying Round
• QR3 = Third Qualifying Round
• QR4 = Fourth Qualifying Round
• RInt = Intermediate Round
• R1 = Round 1
• R2 = Round 2
• R3 = Round 3

• R4 = Round 4
• R5 = Round 5
• R6 = Round 6
• GR = Group Stage
• QF = Quarter-finals
• SF = Semi-finals
• RU = Runners-up
• S = Shared
• W = Winners

Current squad

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

No. Position Player 2 DF Sarawut Inpan 6 FW Apisit Soratha 7 MF Watcharin Sombatwattanakul 8 MF Sittipan Chumchuay 9 FW Somsak Muksikapan 13 FW Charoensak Vongkorn 14 DF Thammada Kokyai 15 DF Watcharakorn Chobtham 24 FW Rachan Kanjina

No. Position Player 25 GK Suppawat Srinothai 31 GK Kritsakorn Kerdpol (on loan from Chainat Hornbill) 32 MF Kittikrai Jantaraksa 33 FW Valdo 36 DF Natchanon Songduang 39 DF Netipong Sanmahung 40 DF Teerakorn Sunthornwed – FW Melvin Kicmett – DF Aleksandar Kapisoda

Domestic achievements

• Thailand Premier League: 2

1997, 1999

• Thai Division 1 League: 1

2013

• Queen's Cup: 3

1970, 1974, 1982

• Thailand FA Cup: 3

1995, 1996, 2001

• Thai League Cup: 2

1987, 1994

• Kor Royal Cup (ถ้วย ก.): 13

1952, 1953, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1996, 1999

• Khǒr Royal Cup (ถ้วย ข.): 16

1949-51, 1961, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1967, 1973, 1977, 1982, 1985–87, 1989, 1991

• Khor Royal Cup (ถ้วย ค.): 8

1966, 1970, 1971, 1983, 1985–87, 1990

• Ngor Royal Cup (ถ้วย ง.): 4

1966, 1984, 1986, 1988

Performance in AFC competitions

Season	Competition	Round		Club	Home	Away
1988–89	Asian Club Championship	Qualifying round		Pahang	2–1	–
		Qualifying round		Geylang International	9–0	–
		Qualifying round		Niac Mitra	2–1	–
		Qualifying round		Bandaran	9–0	–
1997–98	Asian Cup Winners' Cup	First round		Melaka Telekom	0–0	1–2
		Second round		PSM Makassar	1–2	0–0
2000–01	Asian Club Championship	Second round		PSM Makassar	6–1	0–5
2001–02	Asian Cup Winners' Cup	Second round		Home United	1–0	0–5

Notes

Royal Thai Air Force withdrew to Semi Final League round.

Sponsors

The following are the sponsors of AFU (named "AFU Partners"):

Title Sponsor

• Central

Kit/Shirt Sponsor

• Kela

Official Sponsors

• 7–11
• AIA
• AVIA Group
• CP Fresh Mart
• Leo Beer
• ICE LED
• Jotun
• Nestle Pure Life
• Thai AirAsia
• Unlock Idea

External links

• Club Official Website
• Official Facebook