Nongbua Pitchaya Football Club ( Thai: สโมสรฟุตบอลหนองบัว พิชญ) is a Thai professional football club based in

Nong Bua Lamphu province Nong Bua Lamphu ( th, หนองบัวลำภู, , ) is one of Thailand's seventy-six provinces (''changwat'') lies in upper northeastern Thailand also called Isan. Neighbouring provinces are (from north clockwise) Udon Thani, Khon Kaen ...

. The club participates in

Thai League 2 Thai League 2 ( th, ไทยลีก 2), commonly known as the T2, formally called Thai Division 1 League, is the second-tier professional league in the Thai football league system. The top 3 are promoted to Thai League 1 at the end of the ...

, the second tier of

Thai football league system Cup eligibility Being members of a league at a particular level also affects the eligibility for Cup competitions. *Thai FA Cup: Levels 1 to 5 *Thai League Cup: Levels 1 to 3 Current system Former system Before 1996 season Before the top l ...

. The club was founded in

Mueang Nong Bua Lam Phu district Mueang Nong Bua Lam Phu ( th, เมืองหนองบัวลำภู; ) is the capital district ('' amphoe mueang'') of Nong Bua Lam Phu province, northeastern Thailand. Geography Neighboring districts are (from the south clockwise): ...

in 2010. They played their home matches at Nong Bua Lamphu Province Stadium. They were first entered to the Thai football league system in 2010, competes in

Thai Division 2 League Thai League 4 ( th, ไทยลีก 4), commonly known as the T4, was the fourth level association football league in Thailand. In 2009, it was divided into five groups by geographic region. Each group contained 16 clubs except for the Southe ...

(North Eastern Region), the third tier of Thai football league. In 2017 the club were first promoted to the

, after winning 2016 Regional League Division 2. The club has won the 2020–21 Thai League 2 thus seeing them promoted to the

2021–22 Thai League 1 The 2021–22 Thai League 1 is the 25th season of the Thai League 1, the top Thai professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1996, also known as Hilux Revo Thai League due to the sponsorship deal with Toyota M ...

season for the first time in their history.

History

The beginning and professionalism at the club

The club was formed by ''Sports Association of Nong Bua Lamphu Province'' in 2010; Watchara Leeprasert

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

Nong Bua Lamphu Nong Bua Lam Phu () is a town in Thailand, capital of Nong Bua Lamphu Province. It is on the central eastern border of the province, approximately 45 kilometers south-west of the city of Udon Thani and from there, accessed by route 210. The town ...

became the first club chairman, Suthin Srithong was the first coach and

Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) ( th, การไฟฟ้าฝ่ายผลิตแห่งประเทศไทย; ) is a state enterprise, managed by the Ministry of Energy, responsible for electric power ge ...

(EGAT) was the club sponsor. The club entered

(North Eastern Region) 2010 season, the third tier of

with the name EGAT Nongbua Lamphu United and received the nickname ''Phu Phan Kham Thunder''. On 14 February 2010, the club played their first ever game against Udon Thani F.C. at Institute of Physical Education Udon Thani Stadium, which ended in a 0–1 win. After the end of 2010 season

(EGAT) not renew a sponsorship agreement, the club changed their badge and name to Nongbua Lamphu F.C. in 2011 season and received the new nickname ''

Electric eel The electric eels are a genus, ''Electrophorus'', of neotropical freshwater fish from South America in the family Gymnotidae. They are known for their ability to stun their prey by generating electricity, delivering shocks at up to 860 volt ...

''. The club have first-ever match in the

Thai League Cup The League Cup ( th, ไทยลีกคัพ) is a football cup competition in Thailand. It is also known as Toyota League Cup for sponsorship reasons. It was re-formed during the 2010 domestic football league season in Thailand and runs alon ...

on 18 May 2011 and lost to Yasothon United 7–4 in first qualifying round (northeastern region), in the league they finished twelfth on the table. In 2012 season they have a financial problems and not have a sponsorship but still finished twelfth again, during the 2013 season, a dismal run of form saw the team go down to the bottom of the league table with only 24 points from 30 games, they lost 14 games, won only 4 games and finished fifteenth on the table. Because of a lack of liquidity the club was forced to search for new owners. During the 2014 season Suthep Poomongkolsuriya, owner of Pitchayabundit College, a

private university Private universities and private colleges are institutions of higher education, not operated, owned, or institutionally funded by governments. They may (and often do) receive from governments tax breaks, public student loans, and grants. Dep ...

completed his

takeover In business, a takeover is the purchase of one company (the ''target'') by another (the ''acquirer'' or ''bidder''). In the UK, the term refers to the acquisition of a public company whose shares are listed on a stock exchange, in contrast to ...

of the club, and the club finished twelfth in 2014 season.

2015–present – First title and the Pitchaya stadium

In 2015 season the club changed their badge and name to Nongbua Pitchaya F.C., the new chairman made the club more liquid and gave more transfer-wage budgets. The club had their first-ever match in the

Thai FA Cup The Thai FA Cup ( th, ไทยเอฟเอคัพ), known officially as The Football Association of Thailand Cup, is a football cup competition in Thailand. Thai FA Cup is an annual knockout association football competition in men's domest ...

on 24 June 2015; in the second round and they drew against Kamphaengphet F.C. 1–1, before losing in a penalty shoot-out. In the league they finished eighth in Division 2 northeastern region. In 2016 season the club relocated from the northeastern to the northern region and qualify to the second round in

and

, the club made a good performance in northern region including a 5–0 win over

Phetchabun Phetchabun is a town (''thesaban mueang'') in Thailand, capital of Phetchabun Province. It covers the ''tambon'' Nai Mueang of the Phetchabun District, along the Pa Sak River. As of 2005, it had a population of 23,823. Phetchabun lies north o ...

and lost only 3 games. They qualified to Division 2 Champions League round as winner of northern region zone. In the Champions League round they qualified to semi-final, but following the death of King

Bhumibol Adulyadej Bhumibol Adulyadej ( th, ภูมิพลอดุลยเดช; ; ; (Sanskrit: ''bhūmi·bala atulya·teja'' - "might of the land, unparalleled brilliance"); 5 December 192713 October 2016), conferred with the title King Bhumibol the Great ...

the

Football Association of Thailand The Football Association of Thailand under Patronage of His Majesty the King ( th, สมาคมกีฬาฟุตบอลแห่งประเทศไทย ในพระบรมราชูปถัมภ์), or FA Thailand for s ...

cancelled the remaining match on 14 October 2016. To find 3 of 4 teams to promoted to

made by draw lots, and the club was promoted after the drawing of lots with Kasetsart and

Trat Trat ( th, ตราด, ), also spelt Trad, is a town in Thailand, capital of Trat province and the Mueang Trat district. The town is in the east of Thailand, at the mouth of the Trat River, near the border with Cambodia. Etymology ''Trat'' ...

. The Gamecocks continued to grow as a sports club and also began acquiring more assets. Nongbua Pitchaya's first football stadium started construction in 2019 and started to be used for the

in 2020. Nongbua won the M150 Championship in March 2021, earning them promotion to Thai League 1 for the first time in their history.

Academies

Nongbua Pitchaya opened its first academies in 2016. The club is one of the leading youth football development academies in

Northeast Thailand Northeast Thailand or Isan (Isan/ th, อีสาน, ; lo, ອີສານ; also written as Isaan, Isarn, Issarn, Issan, Esan, or Esarn; from Pali ''īsānna'' or Sanskrit ईशान्य ''īśānya'' "northeast") consists of 20 provin ...

same level as Buriram United academies – The club's youth team Under-13 and Under-15 are the Northeastern Upper reginal winners of

Thailand Youth League Thailand Youth League ( th, ลีกเยาวชนแห่งชาติ) is a tournament of Thai youth association football for development Thai football to compete in the international level and advance to FIFA World Cup, what are ones o ...

in 2017-18 and 2018-19 season. The club also sends youth teams to compete in the country's major youth football events, such as the cp-meiji cup held in Buriram province. The club's youth team performed well in CP-meiji Cup U-14 International Champions, in 2018 semi-final round beat

Aspire Academy Aspire Academy ( ar, أكاديمية أسباير, Akādīmiyat 'Asbāyr) is a sports academy based in the Aspire Zone in Qatar, founded in 2004 with the goal to scout and help develop Qatari athletes, whilst also providing them with secondary ...

. The achievements in the development of the youth academy of Nongbua Pitchaya in the country causing football players to join the Thai national youth team such as Thawatchai Aocharod. The Academy coaches are supported by the club to send professional coaching lessons according to the

Asian Football Confederation The Asian Football Confederation is the governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal in some countries/territories in Asia and Oceania. It has 47 member countries most of which are located in Asia. Australia, formerly i ...

curriculum to develop the potential of the instructors to acquire knowledge subjects under the concept of Pitchaya academies by playing developed under the name "Nong Bua Lona" style that focuses on - agility, movement, effective passing of the ball. In 2019, the Academy of Nong Bua Pichaya has more than 200 children, divided into 9 generations according to age (11–19 years), whose production begins to bloom in the third year of the academy.

Affiliated clubs

Shonan Bellmare is a Japanese professional football club based in Hiratsuka, in the west of Kanagawa Prefecture, part of the Greater Tokyo Area. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. Their home stadium is Hiratsuka ...

(2022–present) :Nongbua Pitchaya have entered a ground breaking alliance with Japanese club Shonan Bellmare in 2022. This agreement to be of benefit to both clubs through the exchange of young players and coaching staff, shared knowledge on technical–training methods and playing friendly matches together. :Nongbua Pitchaya youth teams was invited to join the competition "Copa Belmare International tournament" held in Japan that Shonan Bellmare hold this tournament every year.

Stadium and locations

Nongbua Pitchaya's first football stadium was built in 2019 was called Pitchaya stadium.

Season-by-season record

*P = Played *W = Games won *D = Games drawn *L = Games lost *F = Goals for *A = Goals against *Pts = Points *Pos = Final position *QR1 = First Qualifying Round *QR2 = Second Qualifying Round *R1 = Round 1 *R2 = Round 2 *R3 = Round 3 *R4 = Round 4 *R5 = Round 5 *R6 = Round 6 *QF = Quarter-finals *SF = Semi-finals *RU = Runners-up *W = Winners

Current squad

List of Managerial history

Honours

Domestic leagues

: **Winner: 2020–21 *

Regional League Northern Division Regional League Northern Region is the 3rd Level League in Thailand. It was formed in 2009 along with other four other regional leagues, all playing at the same level. The winner of each regional league enter the Regional League Championships to ...

** Winner :

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

References

External links

* * {{Thai League T2 Association football clubs established in 2010 Football clubs in Thailand Nong Bua Lamphu province 2010 establishments in Thailand