Chiangrai United Football Club ( Thai: สโมสรฟุตบอลเชียงราย ยูไนเต็ด) is a professional

football club In association football, a football club (or association football club, alternatively soccer club) is a sports club that acts as an entity through which association football teams organise their sporting activities. The club can exist either as ...

based in Chiangrai Province, Thailand's northernmost province. The club currently competes in the

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 ...

. The club is also known as " The Beetles". Chiangrai United has won one Thai League 1 title, 3

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 ...

, 1

Thai League Cup The League Cup () is a association football, football cup competition in Thailand. It is also known as Hilux Revo Cup for sponsorship reasons. History Thai League Cup was started by Toyota Motor Corporation, Toyota Motor (Thailand) in the name of ...

and 2

Thailand Champions Cup The Thailand Champions Cup (continuing Kor Royal Cup, a different competition from the Thai Super Cup) is a single-game competition between the winners of previous Thai League 1 and Thai FA Cup, organised by the Football Association of Thailand. ...

in the club history.

History

First years

In 2009, Chiangrai United joined the new Thai football setup and started at the 3rd level, 2009 Regional League Division 2 Northern Region. Chiangrai duly came out on top come to the end of the regular league season, thus claiming their first-ever championship and also crowned as the first-ever winners of the Regional League Northern Division. On winning the championship, Chiangrai entered the

2009 Regional League Division 2 2009 Regional League Division 2 was contested by the five regional league winners of the 3rd level championships of Thailand. Five teams met on a home and away basis, with the top three teams gaining promotion to the Thai 1st Division for the 20 ...

, an end of season mini-league for all 5

Regional League Division 2 Thai League 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 Southern Region group which con ...

championship-winning teams, and finished as runners-up and promoted to

Thai Division 1 League 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 ...

Second Division and League 1 Promotion

In 2010, the club finished 3rd in

and first-ever promoted to the top tier

. Chiangrai United opened its first youth academies in 2012. In 2016, Chiangrai United made a deal with Jarken Group to the strong brand and initiating a holistic marketing strategy which included business development and strengthening management structures to promote a positive image of the Chiangrai United Sports Passions as a brand to make Chiangrai United become professional and sustainable. The strategy for this deal is to design to promote Chaing Rai United to become the big name club in Thailand.

2017 & 2018 – FA Cup winners

In 2017, the club continued to make agreements with sponsors to improve the club's professional image and attract Tanaboon Kesarat. They also secured players such as; Vander Luiz, Felipe Azevedo,

Henrique Silva Henrique Silva Milagres (born 25 April 1994), commonly known as Henrique, is a Brazilian professional association football, footballer who plays as a left-back. Career Vasco da Gama Henrique joined CR Vasco da Gama, Vasco da Gama in 2003. H ...

. Under Brazilian coach

Alexandre Gama Alexandre Torreira da Gama Lima Casado (born 4 January 1968) is a Brazilian professional football manager and former player who is the head coach of Thai League 1 club Port. Playing career As a player, ''Alexandre Gama'' was known as "GAMA", s ...

, The Beetles was victorious in the 2017 FA Cup Final with

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 ...

. This proved to be a case of redemption for Chiangrai as winning the first piece of silverware in club-history, three days after losing to

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 ...

in the League Cup final. In 2018, the club attracted Lee Yong-Rae and

Bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Pl ...

. Chiangrai defeated the 2017 Liga 1 runners-up

Bali United Bali United Football Club (; , ''æklub’ sépak bola Bali United'') is a professional football club based in Gianyar, Bali, Indonesia. The club competes in the Liga 1, the top tier of Indonesian football. Bali United emerged in 2015 as the ...

3–2 in a qualifying preliminary round 2 and losing the

2017 Chinese Super League The 2017 Ping An Chinese Football Association Super League () was the 14th season since the establishment of the Chinese Super League. The league title sponsor is Ping An Insurance. Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao won their seventh consecutive title ...

to runners-up Shanghai SIPG 1–0 in a qualifying play-offs round for the

AFC Champions League The AFC Champions League Elite (abbreviated as the ACL Elite) is an annual continental club association football, football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's List of top-division football clubs i ...

group stages. In 2018 FA Cup Final, The Beetles weathered certain things

winners Buriram United could hurl at them at Supachalasai Stadium to record a 3–2 victory, a hat-trick by

2019 – League 1 title

Chiangrai defeated the 2018 Myanmar National League champions Yangon United 3–1 in a qualifying preliminary round 2 and drew the

2018 J1 League The 2018 J1 League, also known as the for sponsorship reasons, was the 26th season of J1 League, the top Japanese professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1992. This was fourth season of J1 League as renamed ...

runners-up

Sanfrecce Hiroshima Sanfrecce Hiroshima () is a Japanese professional association football, football club based in Hiroshima. The club competes in the J1 League, top flight of the Japanese football league system. Sanfrecce is one of the most successful clubs in Ja ...

in a qualifying play-offs round for the

group stages; the match finished 0–0 after extra time, with Chiangrai losing the penalty shoot-out 4–3 at Hiroshima Big Arch. In October 2019, after the announcement of the appointment of Ailton dos Santos Silva as the new head coach, The Beetles won the

for the first time. Chiangrai United and Buriram United ended up with identical 58 points from 30 matches. However, they were declared the winners of the league on the basis of a better head-to-head record, Chiangrai held Buriram to a goalless draw away in the first leg in April then thrashed the northeastern giants 4 to nothing at home in July, Chiangrai United is the third to win the top flight after Buriram and Muangthong since the country's premier tournament was revamped in 2009. The side is commented to fare well in most big games, with compactness and discipline springing surprises. Instead of being burdened with keeping possession, they stifled opponents with a rehearsed repertoire of both defensive and pressing moves, topped off with lethal counter-attacks.

Academy development

Chiangrai United opened its first youth academies in 2012. The club also regularly supplies the Thai national youth teams and Chiangrai first team squad with local talent such as Ekanit Panya, Chotipat Poomkaew, Apirak Worawong, Pharadon Pattanapol, Sarawut Yodyinghathaikul and Thakdanai Jaihan. Chiangrai youth academies play in Thailand Youth League.

Stadium

''Main articles: Singha Chiangrai Stadium Chiangrai United's home ground is the United Stadium of Chiangrai, which has also been known as the Singha Chiangrai Stadium since October 2021 due to sponsorship commitments. The stadium is situated in

Chiang Rai Province Chiang Rai (, ; , ) is one of Thailand's seventy-six Provinces of Thailand, provinces that lies in Northern Thailand#Regional classification of northern Thailand, upper northern Thailand and is Thailand's northernmost province. It is bordered ...

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

. The Stadium is near Mae Fah Luang International Airport and has a capacity of 11,354 people.

Continental record

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

Managerial history

* Sarith Wutchuay * Thawatchai Damrong-Ongtrakul * Apisit Imampai * Kajohn Punnaves * Rungsimun Songkrohtham * Stefano Cugurra Teco * Henk Wisman * Anurak Srikerd * Teerasak Po-on *

* Jose Alves Borges * Ailton dos Santos Silva * Masami Taki * Emerson Pereira (caretaker) * Emerson Pereira *

Gabriel Magalhães Gabriel dos Santos Magalhães (; born 19 December 1997), also simply known as Gabriel, is a Brazilian professional association football, footballer who plays as centre-back for Premier League club Arsenal F.C., Arsenal and the Brazil national f ...

Xavi Moro Xavier 'Xavi' Moro León (born 22 May 1975) is a Spanish professional football manager and former player who was most recently the head coach of Thai League 1 club Chiangrai United. He was a Spanish footballer who played as a central midfiel ...

* Piyaphon Phanichakul * Wilson James Dos Santos (Interim) * Worawut Wangsawad * Miti Tiyapairat

Honours

Domestic competitions

League

**Winners (1):

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

**Third place (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 ...

* Regional League Northern Region **Winners (1):

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

**Runners-up (1):

Cups

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

**Winners (3):

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 ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

* League Cup **Winners (1):

**Runners-up (1):

**Winners (2):

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

**Runners-up (1):

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

Double

and

: 2020–21

Treble

::Thai FA Cup,

and Thailand Champions Cup: 2018

References

External links

* {{Thai football champions Thai League 1 clubs Thai FA Cup winners Football clubs in Thailand Association football clubs established in 2009 Sport in Chiang Rai province 2009 establishments in Thailand