Dom’s Thai Port Thai: Lesson 3 – Players, Coaches & Refs

Who’s who ? It’s often difficult to remember a player’s name. If you can talk about where they are on the pitch, that always helps. In lesson 3 there’s a list of the players’ positions, as well as Thai words for managers/coaches and referees/linos.

In general,

นักฟุตบอล ,  nák fóotbawn  =  a footballer

ผมอยากจะเป็นนักฟุตบอล แต่ไม่มีทาง

pŏm yàak jà ben nák fóotbawn dtàe mâi mee tang = “I want to be a footballer, but I’ve got no chance.”

Players’ Positions

ผู้รักษาประตู   ,  pûu ráksăa pratuu = a goalkeeper

For goalkeeper puu raksa pratuu is often just shortened to pratuu, like saying goalie.

กองหลัง ,  gawng lăng = a defender
กองกลาง  ,  gawng glaang  =  a midfielder

 ปีกซ้าย , bpeek saai = left winger

 ปีกขวา = bpeek gwaa = right winger

กองหน้า  ,  gawng nâa = a forward / striker

ด้านขวา , dâan gwaa =  right side

ด้านซ้าย , dâan saai  =  left side

Meechok gawng lăng dâan gwaa =  Mechok plays right back

For right back and left back, I have also heard just the English word back/baek used.

แบกขวา , bàek gwaa =  right back

แบกซ้าย , bàek saai  =  left back

Meechok bàek gwaa  =  Mechok plays right back

Genki lên gawng glaang dâan gwaa  =  Genki plays on the right side of midfield

Manager & Coach

Manager and Coach are used interchangeably for the person in charge of the team, Jadet Meelarp. We do have a separate team manager Ong-Arj Korsinkar, but pûu jàtgaan is normally used for the person in charge of the team on a day to day basis.

ผู้จัดการทีม  ,  pûu jàtgaan teem  =  a team manager
โค้ช  , cóte  =  a coach

Ref and Lino

ผู้ตัดสิน ,  pûu dtàtsĭn = a referee

ผู้ช่วยผู้ตัดสิน ,  pûu chûai pûu dtàtsĭn = an assistant referee

กรรมการ  ,   gamagaan  = ref or lino   (or committee or etc……)

“pûu dtàtsĭn” this is the correct translation for referee, but it’s not normally used. If you’re talking about the referee you normally use gamagaan. This word can mean a person or a committee making a decision. It’s a general word, so can be used for referee or assistant referee.

For Example

กรรมการ ตาบอด  ,  gamagaan dtaa bàwt  =  the ref or lino is blind

That’s all the people right here, right now. You know what I mean?

The football vocabulary is largely from pickup-thai.com , not Thai for picking up, a good website for learning Thai. This page has the essential vocabulary and all important sound files for the football words and phrases  http://pickup-thai.com/a-glossary-of-football-terms/  We can write out vocab in English, but to really get the sounds  right it’s good to listen to the sound files.

Dominick Cartwright

Originally from London, Dominick has been teaching English in Bangkok since 2006 and has been following Port FC since 2011.

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