JW Rangsit (Thailand)

JW Rangsit FC are a football club based in Pathum Thani on the northern extremes of Bangkok in Thailand. The club were formed as Rangsit University, where they are based, in 2009 when they became members of the Regional League Bangkok Area.

The 2010 season ended in promotion as the club became JW Rangsit following a deal with the JW Real Estate Group when Prachinburi FC were defeated in the play offs. The following campaign saw Rangsit consolidate their place as they moved to Thupatemee Stadium to share with Air Force United.

Unfortunately another move was needed towards the end of the campaign as Thupatemee was hit by the disastrous floods in November. Rangsit played out the season at Nakhon Nayok Military School. They remained there before heading to the Queen Sirikit Sport Stadium for the second half of the 2012 season.

The 2012 season ended in relegation back to the third tier Regional League; this time in the Central East Region. For the new campaign Rangsit returned to play their home games at their original university home.

JW Rangsit will play in the Thai Regional League Central East Area for the 2013 season.


My visit

Wednesday 27th March 2013

My day away from the early touring life with my cricketing pals was going well. I had already visited two stadiums and was now really getting into the mood despite the soaring temperatures that even had the locals struggling.

However, I was soon to hit frustration in the way of a Bangkok taxi driver. Now I admit my Thai isn't the best, but with the aid of large print copies of Google maps, I thought that finding a well known university campus would be easy enough. Sadly I was to be proved wrong.

My driver seemed anxious, almost as if he didn't want the fare. That was fine as far as I was concerned, as long as he let me know. Instead we crawled along past Don Muang Airport before he stopped and asked for directions. In the end I paid him up and went in search of another cab, which soon arrived.

This time my new pilot made no mistake and soon had me by the campus entrance, just as many students were calling it a day. I did my usual act of smiling at the guards while continuing to walk. I could see my target and I didn't want to be denied.

As it turned out the venue was a bit of a disappointment. It had a shale track around it and a small raised Main Stand on the half way line. Apart from that there were no other structures apart from the floodlight pylons. It was like a smaller version of Kasetsart University.

I did the necessary with my camera before heading back through the gate, following the rather attractive students as I went. I was soon in another taxi heading to the home of Bangkok Glass.