Royal Thai Navy FC
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| Full name | Navy Football Club สโมสรฟุตบอลราชนาวี |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) |
Ta Han Nam (ตะหานนํ้า) |
| Founded | 10 January 1956, as Royal Thai Navy |
| Ground |
Sattahip Navy Stadium Chonburi, Thailand |
| Capacity | 12,500 |
| Chairman | Adm. Rangsarit Sattayanukul |
| Head Coach | Somchai Chuayboonchum |
| League | Thai League T1 |
| 2016 | 14th |
| Website | Club home page |
Navy Football Club (Thai: สโมสรฟุตบอลราชนาวี) is a Thailand professional football club based in the city of Chonburi in Chonburi Province. Currently, they play in the Thai League T1. The team forms the football section of the Royal Thai Navy. The club has previously played under the names of Royal Thai Navy, Rajnavi and Rajnavy Rayong.
The club was formed in 1937 as the Royal Thai Navy Football Club and currently plays under the name of Navy Football Club, locally known as Rajnavy. The club has also played under the names of Rajnavi and Rajnavy Rayong, Rayong being the town they played in and the main base of the Navy in general.
Since the inception of the Thai League in 1996 the club played under the name of the Royal Thai Navy up until 2009, when all teams in Thailand had to become public limited companies. With this, many teams changed names and formed closer links with the communities they were based in. In this case the Navy became known as Rajnavy Rayong. Rajnavy being the local Thai name for the Navy. In 2011, and with a dispute as to the ownership of the club, the club moved from their Rayong home and into the Chonburi province where they ground share with Pattaya United – another club playing outside of their original home town – albeit against league rules, where two sides in the PLT cannot ground share.
In 2009, when Thai football was becoming increasingly popular with all professional football teams told to properly register and become a company limited, the situation was almost to the point where anyone could register this football club for an ownership. At this point, Rayong Thai Premier took the ownership and renamed the club to Rajnavy Rayong. However, two seasons after that, the Royal Thai Navy decided to bring the team back under control and renamed it to Siam Navy. Thereafter, the football club moved from Rayong to Sattahip, Chonburi.
At the start of the 2011 league campaign, with the Navy in a bit of turmoil after the dispute of the owner of the club, they proceeded to get it wrong on the field as well. Their opening game of the season against Sisaket, was awarded 2–0 to Sisaket after an original 1–1 draw due to Siam Navy playing an ineligible player. To make things worse, the club knew the player in question couldn't play, but carried on hoping to get away with any sanctions – especially since the league is normally lax in the rules.
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Wikipedia