VetsLeague --- Official Website of the Bangkok Veterans Football League, Bangkok, Thailand

Bangkok Veterans Football League

— Latest Updates on the Site —

Date: 16/Nov/2008

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Bangkok Veterans Football League
— Bangkok, Thailand —

Welcome to the official website of the Bangkok Veterans Football League. This is a league of football-hungry but very-slow and fast-aging Over-35 youngsters, from all nationalities and all walks of life, played in the true spirit of friendship and the love of the game.

Following years of running the ball in the Farang League and the Casual League, some of us thought it was not really possible to keep up with the young-blood filling up the ranks of the newly emerging teams, and so the result is this new "Vets League" in Bangkok, specifically welcoming those of us who are looking for the lighter side of the game among peers (who don't run circles around us.!).

It must be stressed, some of these so-called "Vets" are still in their prime, and could easily take on any challenge posed by any wannabe young-blood team in either of the leagues mentioned above.

Originally floated by Chris Jolly during the friendly games back at the end of 2003 at the International School of Bangkok (ISB), and after much intense debate and discussion during 2004, the Veterans League got its inaugural kickoff back in Feb/2005 with 4 visionary "Founding Fathers":
    • German Vets (led by Eralp, Bruce, Ralf-Y)
    • BC Vets (led by Martin, and Chris remotely!)
    • Viking Vets (led by Jesper, and later by Niclas)
    • NIST Teachers (led by Adrian)
and continues to increase its roster of teams to this date. Nowadays, we are routinely getting 15-20 teams in each one of our monthly competitions, and having a ball while doing it!

Our philosophy is friendship, fellowship, fairness, and fun. Each team prides itself with being friendly and fair, in the true "Land of Smiles" spirit of Thailand. We would like each team and every player to leave at the end of the day with a positive impression of the half-day meet-up, having made some new friends in the players from other teams, and anxious to return to play in the following month.

And, to that end, we keep it simple:
    • Timing:
        - 1st Sundays of every month
        - WorldCup-style tournament format
        - half-day during 1pm-6pm
        - 5-7 short games per team (including QFs, SFs, and the Grand Final)
    • Venue:
        - mostly at Harrow School (map)
        - sometimes at Patana School (map)
    • Rules:
        - FIFA rules
        - over-35-year-old-vets
        - 7-players-a-side
        - 11-minutes-a-half
        - half-pitch
        - half-goals
        - no-offside
        - unlimited-rolling-subs
        - no-shinguards-no-play
        - slide-tackle-foul
        - yellow-card-sit-out-the-half
        - red-card-take-a-hike
        - shake-hands-after-each-match
    • Plenty of:
        - water
        - soft-drinks
        - beers
        - snacks
        - trophies
        - and, laughs!

[For a full documentation of the Vets League Rules, please click here]

So, what are you waiting for.? Come, join the fun, and enjoy a day out with real dedicated football buffs.

And, if you are a travelling team just passing by Bangkok, we would be delighted to make up a mix-team to catch a friendly game. We get the pitch, you get the beer — simple enough

..!

Click here to contact someone who could give you more information.

Hope to see you at the next Vets tournament.

Remember, if it's 1st Sunday, it's Vets day.!

-Eralp

Website: http://www.vetsleague.com/
Community: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vetsleague/

Season #4, Month #10 — Nov/2008 Vets League goes to Harrow Cooks again!

Date: 16/Nov/2008

Vets League continued its successful organization with another big 18-team tournament in this month. No new teams were added to the roster of teams, but whoever came had a good time nevertheless. Actually, there were only 17 teams confirmed, so we scrambled to form our legendary Team-X immediately, appointing British Club's Ben (who had named the team originally in Apr/2007) as its legendary Captain.

For some strange coincidence, both the BadCup! Champ (Southerners) and the Defending Champs! (Yingcharoen Orange) did not make their way back to the competition, which meant that we were certain to have newly crowned champions in both categories.

[Click here to read the full summary]

And, more commentary in the Archives section.

Japanese Asian OJIN Cup

Date: 06/Mar/2008

The Japanese community around the Asian region held their 4th annual Asian OJIN Cup here in Bangkok on 01/Mar/2008. Thanks to a couple of fantastic goals from Mori San and Wakana San, our own BU Japan finished an impressive 3rd among 8 teams flying in from Shanghai, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Hong Kong, etc.

Some pictures have fallen into my hands through pirated chanels, and I'm posting them below.

Congratulations!

ChefsXP Veterans Challenge Cup

Date: 11/Feb/2008

The ChefsXP Veterans Challenge Cup is a trophy that has been put up to recognize the strongest (or luckiest) veterans 11-a-side team. It is fair game for any 11-a-side veterans team that wishes to challenge the holders.

The inaugural match saw a strong Winking Frog team take on the combined skills and attributes of the Veterans League Stars ("VLS"). Winking Frog won the game, and is now the holder of the cup. Pattaya Crocks recently have lodged a challenge, and the next game will be held on 16/Feb/2008 at Horseshoe Point in Pataya (3:00pm kickoff).

It is intended that this Cup "competition" augment the already flourishing 11-a-side vets scene, and add to annual fixtures such as the games which see VLS take on Bangkok Fusion, Japan, Thailand Seniors and Bundesliga Fans.

As you can see from the upcoming match in Pataya, the games are not limited to teams playing in the Veterans League. Any genuine veterans 11-a-side team can compete. LeCoq have already expressed an interest in competing for the cup at some stage in the future. Games will be scheduled in weeks when there is no Vets League tournament, and should be organised by the competing teams. EG must be kept informed of the details so that the promotion of the event can be maximized through the VetsLeague website and through Yahoo group e-mails. As always, match reports, photos, etc. will appear on www.vetsleague.com.

The format of these challenge games follow the usual "Vets Rules":
    • FIFA rules
    • Over-35 Veterans
    • 11-players-a-side
    • 3-periods x 30-minutes + penalties (if draw)
    • unlimited-rolling-subs
    • slide-tackle = foul
    • yellow-card: sit-out-the-period
    • red-card: take-a-hike
    • game to be played in a friendly spirit

Kh. Sorot at ChefsXP.com is the proud sponsor of this trophy, and furthermore, as you can see from the widely displayed logo at the top of this page, has agreed to support the regular Veterans League monthly tournaments. Look out for the ChefsXP representatives at the next tournament.

ChefsXP has partnered with numerous restaurants around Bangkok to deliver restaurant meals to its clients who can order online or by phone. It is the same concept as pizza delivery, but with a lot more choices.

Graham

"VetsLeague" Yahoo Group Created

Date: 30/Apr/2007

I have finally managed to create a very special group in Yahoo Groups only for all the players of the Veterans League, so that you can get the latest updates (and banter) in a more efficient way.

To sign up for the "VetsLeague" mailing list, please connect to:
==> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vetsleague
and click the "Join This Group" blue button (at the top right) to make a request for becoming a member.

Next Vets — 14/Dec/2008

Date: 16/Nov/2008

The next, season-ending, Vets day is scheduled for 14/Dec/2008 (Sun) and is confirmed at Harrow School (map), kickoff 1:00 pm sharp!.

Feel free to e-mail to me to sign up your team.