BANGKOK

Army United

Formed: circa 1964 (Renamed Army United in 2011)
Stadium: Army Stadium, Din Daeng, 02-271-2062.
Nickname: Green Army / Soldiers
Best Player: Tatree Singha
Website: www.rtafan.com
Main Sponsor: Acer
Army finished at the bottom in 2010, a full ten points from safety, but find themselves still in the TPL after sailing through the play-offs. There’s no reason to suspect they’ll do much better this season. Finishing in 15th place (one spot above the relegation zone) will be an achievement.

BEC Tero Sasana F.C.

Formed: 1992
Stadium: Thephasadin Stadium, Pathumwan, 02-262-3800.
Nickname: Fire Dragons
Best Player: Teerathep Winothai
Website: www.becterosasana.in.th
Main Sponsor: 3K Battery
Tero have signed a dozen players during the close-season as they try to assemble a squad capable of putting the club back among the big boys. The four-time champions have faded in recent years but should be able to improve on their ninth-place finish of 2010. Losing top scorer Anon Sangsanoi to Muang Thong is a big blow, though.

Thai Port F.C.

Formed: 1967 as Port Authority of Thailand F.C. (Renamed Thai Port in 2009)
Stadium: PAT Stadium, Khlong Toey, 02-671-9250.
Nickname: Port Lions / Khlong Toey Army
Best Player: Jirawat Makarom
Website: www.thaiportfc.com
Main Sponsor: FB Battery
There’s never a dull moment at Thai Port. The 2009 FA Cup and 2010 League Cup winners have been plagued by crowd trouble and distracted by a financial dispute between the club and the Port Authority. They finished fourth in 2010 largely thanks to Sarayoot Chaikamdee’s goals. But ‘Jo Five Yards’ has moved on to Bangkok Glass, and TP have lost several other key players. With their vociferous support, the orange and blues can beat anyone on their day—but they may have to settle for a lower league position in 2011.

Pathum Thani

Bangkok Glass

Formed: 2006 (bought out Krung Thai Bank F.C in 2009 to get a place in the TPL)
Stadium: Leo Stadium, Pathum Thani, 02-834-7000.
Nickname: The Glass Rabbits
Best Player: Kunihiko Takisawa
Website: www.bangkokglassfc.com
Main Sponsor: Leo
BG will look to improve on their fifth-place finish in 2010. They were the ante-post title favorites of many last year but they never came close to troubling Muang Thong. The close-season capture of Thai Port’s Sarayoot Chaikamdee will give them more potency up front and they should do better in 2011.

Insee Police United

Formed: 1960 as Royal Thai Police. (Renamed Insee Police United in 2010)
Stadium: Thammasat Stadium, Rangsit, Pathum Thani, 02-564-4425.
Nickname: The Policemen
Best Player: John Wilkinson
Website: www.pufc.co.th
Main Sponsor: Insee
The Policemen finished eleventh in 2010, seven points above the relegation zone. A host of close-season signings suggest that they are setting their sights higher in 2011. Hugely experienced and free-scoring midfielder John Wilkinson—a Singaporean international player with 30 caps—was a surprising yet inspired acquisition.

Nonthaburi

Muang Thong United

Formed: 1989
Stadium: Yamaha Stadium, Nonthaburi, 02-508-8100 ext. 8810.
Nickname: Twin Qilins
Best player: Kawin Thamsatchanan
Website: www.mtutd.tv
Main Sponsor: Yamaha
The 2009 and 2010 TPL champions are still the team to catch, but the Thai football world was rocked by the shock sacking of head coach Rene Desaeyere in early January. Clearly, it can’t be for what happened on the pitch and rumors suggest it was for behind-the-scenes disagreements over transfer policy. Whatever the reason, he’s gone, making retaining the title a stiffer challenge in 2011. The capture of the prolific Anon Sangsanoi is an important signing. If he can continue his scoring feats then MTU could be celebrating a third straight championship.

TOT-CAT F.C.

Formed: 1957 as Telephone Organisation of Thailand F.C (Renamed TOT-CAT in 2010)
Stadium: Chaeng Wattana Stadium, Lak Si, Bangkok / Yamaha Stadium, Nonthaburi), 02-580-6026.
Nickname: The Phoenixes
Best Player: Tomas Kozar
Website: www.tot-catfc.com
Main Sponsor: TOT-CAT
TOT is a club which seems to defy the laws of gravity in the TPL but can expect to seriously struggle this season. A messy legal wrangle between TOT Telecommunications and CAT Telecom—which saw TOT given full control over the football club—was only sorted out in late January. They’ve lost their president and some of their best players; they’ve signed no one and still don’t know where they’re going to be playing in 2011. Definite relegation candidates.
For analysis of the chances of all the TPL teams, don’t miss our new football blog at www.bkmagazine.com.