Semi Slot: Port Face Angels in FA Cup Showdown

The draw for the 2019 Chang FA Cup semis was made earlier this week, and Port will play perennial bogey team Bangkok Utd, with Buriram facing a somewhat easier task against Ratchaburi. The game takes place on Wednesday 18 September at 19:00.

With Rajamangala being refurbished in order to host an U23 tournament in January, and with the FAT having apparently fallen out with Chulalongkorn University, landlords of Supachalasai, Port’s semi will take place at the 4500-capacity Boonyachinda (Police Tero), with the other semi taking place at 72nd Anniversary (Thai Honda) – rather like the English FA announcing that, what with Wembley being refurbished for a couple of U18 girls’ games and what with them having fallen out with Spurs & Arsenal, the FA Cup semis will be held at Brentford and Wycombe. But from an organisation that considers Thammasat a suitable venue for a World Cup qualifier, what else can one expect, other than an appropriately sponsored pissup in a brewery.

We will share news about ticket sales and TV coverage as soon as we get it – 17 September probably.

UPDATE

Following, one assumes, someone at Port having a quiet word in the FAT’s ear, the semi-final will take place at Army Stadium. Whilst it’s still not a proper football stadium, at least it has a decent capacity. One wonders why Boonyachinda was chosen in the first place, but at least common sense has prevailed!

Tim Russell

The founder and editor of The Sandpit, Tim has been in SE Asia since 2003 and in Bangkok since 2012, where he runs a travel tech business. Tim has followed Port FC since 2014, and is also a fan of his hometown club Coventry City, and French club AS St-Etienne. He has written for the likes of Football365, ITV.com, NME and The Quietus, and is a regular contributor to God Is In the TV. He's a keen photographer and his work can be seen on his website.