Chainat Hornbill Football Club ( Thai สโมสรฟุตบอลชัยนาท ฮอร์นบิล) is a Thai professional

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

club based in

Chai Nat province Chai Nat (, ) is one of the central provinces (''changwat'') of Thailand. Neighbouring provinces are (from north clockwise) Nakhon Sawan, Sing Buri, Suphan Buri, and Uthai Thani. The town of Chai Nat is 188 km north of Bangkok. Geograp ...

. The club plays in

Thai League 2 Thai League 2 (), commonly known as the T2, formally called Thai Division 1 League, is the second-tier professional league in the Thai football league system. Seasons typically run from August to May, with each team playing 34 games : two agai ...

. The club has won 1

title and 1

Thai FA Cup The Thai FA Cup (), 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 domestic football. It was held between 1974 a ...

in their history.

History

Foundation

Chainat Hornbill Football Club is a professional football club founded in 2009 by Anucha Nakasai, a former Thai politician. The club was placed in the best management class as a result, and it has developed rapidly since its first season. In the 2009 Northern Regional Division 2 Regional League the club came third, playing 20 matches and winning 12, drawing 3 and losing 5 for a total of 39 points. Their top scorer was Sanogo Abou, with 15 goals. In 2012, the club was promoted to the top league,

Thai League 1 The Thai League (, pronounced as ') or Thai League 1 (, pronounced as '), often referred to as T1, is the highest level of the Thai football league system. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with Thai L ...

, for the first time.

Dennis Amato era

In 2016, club chairman, Anucha Nakasai announced the appointment of Dennis Amato as the new head coach of the club. In October 2017, the club came first winning the

2017 Thai League 2 The 2017 Thai League 2 (known as the M-150 Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the 20th season of the League since its establishment in 1997. It is the feeder league for the Thai League T1. A total of 18 teams will compete in the league this ...

with 67 points and was promoted to the

2018 Thai League 1 The 2018 Thai League 1 is the 22nd season of the Thai League 1, the top Thai professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1996, also known as Toyota Thai League due to the sponsorship deal with Toyota Motor Thaila ...

. After Chainat Hornbill's promotion to the top tier of Thai football, Amato briefly left the club to take up a role as a director of football at

Ang Thong Ang Thong (, ) is a town ('' thesaban mueang'') in Thailand, capital of Ang Thong Province. The town covers the entirety of ''tambon'' Talat Luang and Bang Kaeo as well as parts of tambon Sala Daeng, Ban Hae, Ban It, Pho Sa, and Yansue, all of ...

. The club announced the appointment of

Drago Mamić Drago Mamić (born February 9, 1954) is a Serbian-born Croatian retired football player and manager. Managerial career He last managed Bangladesh Premier League side Saif Sporting Club. He is also the former manager of Maldives. He has a UEFA ' ...

as the new head coach of the club but Mamić left the club for personal reasons. However, Amato return to Chainat again, but was faced with many problems, including a squad with a limited number of players, and strict financial constraints.

A Thai League Survival Campaign: Giant-killing

In 2018, after a win against defending FA Cup champions Chiangrai United, the Hornbills defeated the defending Thai League 1 champions

Buriram United Buriram United Football Club () is a Thai professional football club based in Buriram. The club has played at the top level of Thai football for the majority of their existence and competes in the Thai League 1. The club was founded in 1970 as P ...

1–0 at the

Chang Arena The Buriram Stadium (known for sponsorship purposes as Chang Arena) is a 32,600-seat association football, football stadium in Buriram province, Buriram, Thailand. The stadium is the home of Buriram United F.C., Buriram United. Chang Arena is t ...

, which was the first time that Buriram United had failed to win a league game on their own home ground since the return of Bozidar Bandovic as coach. In the 2018 season, the club became well known as ''"giant-killing."'' (Thai: จอมล้มยักษ์). Under Amato's management, the Hornbills play a style of football based on maintaining possession, and trying to win the ball back after losing it, instead of regrouping into a defensive position. In 2019, the Hornbills beat many Thai League 1 giants. In a home game at Khao Plong Stadium they beat

Muangthong United Muangthong United Football Club () is a Thai professional football club based in Muang Thong Thani, Pak Kret district, Nonthaburi province. The club plays in the Thai League 1, the top-flight football league of Thailand. Muangthong United has pa ...

3–0, won against

Bangkok United True Bangkok United Football Club () is a professional football club based in Pathum Thani province, Thailand. Known as Bangkok University Football Club until 2009, the club was relegated from the 2010 Thai Premier League only four years afte ...

with a score of 21, and beat

2–1.

Stadium and locations by season

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 *N/A = No answer *TL =

*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

Players

First team squad

Out on loan

Coaches

''Coaches by Years (2010–present)'' * Issara Sritaro *

Surachai Jaturapattarapong Surachai Jaturapattarapong () or the nickname "Nguan" (born November 20, 1969) is a Thai Manager (association football), Football manager and former Association football, football player. who was most recently the head coach of Thai League 1 clu ...

Jadet Meelarp Jadet Meelarp (; born January 17, 1972), simply known as Sir Det (), is a Thai professional football manager who was most recently head coach of Thailand U17. During 2021 to 2022 he was the assistant manager to Alexandré Pölking with the T ...

* Thawatchai Damrong-Ongtrakul * Issara Sritaro *

Koichi Sugiyama was a Japanese composer, conductor, and orchestrator. He was best known for composing for the ''Dragon Quest'' franchise, along with several other video games, anime, film, television shows, and pop songs. Classically trained, Sugiyama was c ...

* Dr. med. Björn Kliem * Dennis Amato *

* Dennis Amato * Ronald Boretti * Sumeth Yooto * Daniel Blanco * Sumeth Yooto * Pannarai Phansiri * Sumeth Yooto * Sarach Paungchup

Honours

Domestic competitions

League

: **Winner:

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

**Runner-up:

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

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 ...

: ** Runner-up (1):

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

Cups

**Champions:

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

References

External links

* {{Thai League T2 Chai Nat province Association football clubs established in 2009 Football clubs in Thailand 2009 establishments in Thailand Thai League 1 clubs Thai FA Cup winners