Welcome to the official website of the Bangkok Veterans League. This is a community of football-hungry but very-slow and fast-aging Over-35 youngsters, from all corners of the world 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 a key exploratory meeting among Bruce-D, Eralp, Martin-C, Jesper at the British Club on 08/Jul/2004, plus much intense debate and discussion during the rest of 2004, the Veterans League got its inaugural kickoff back in Feb/2005 with 4 visionary “Founding Fathers”:
■ German Allstars (led by Eralp, Bruce-D, Ralf-K)
■ British Club (led by Martin-C, and Chris-J remotely!)
■ Scandinavian Vikings (led by Jesper, and later by Niclas)
■ NIST Teachers (led by Adrian-W)
and continues to increase its roster of teams to this date. Nowadays, we are routinely getting 6-12 teams in each one of our monthly competitions, and having a ball while doing it!
Our philosophy is friendship, fellowship, fairness, and fun, where winning is not the objective. Each team prides itself with being friendly and fair, in the true “Land of Smiles” spirit of “Amazing Thailand”. We would like to see each team and every player 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 and eager to return to play in the following month.
And, to that end, we keep it simple:
■ Timing & Format:
♦ 1st Sundays of every month (usually)
♦ half-day during 2pm-6pm
♦ minimum 4-5 teams
♦ World Cup style tournament format (Groups and Knockouts)
♦ 5-6 short games per team (3-4 in Groups and 2 in Knockouts in 3½-4½ hours)
■ Venue:
♦ mostly at SoccerPro Onnut [Google Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/N4XwpaCFBGqoneDy6]
♦ sometimes at SoccerPro Bangna [Google Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/duKoLt8XSpJ3kkm18]
■ Rules:
♦ FIFA-fair-play-rules
♦ gentlemanly-and-respectful-sportsmanlike-conduct-and-no-insults-nor-fighting
♦ over-35-year-old-Vets (born in 1989+before)
♦ over-30-year-old-Goalkeepers (born in 1994+before)
♦ underage-players-are-declared-and-cannot-score-goals-and-cannot-play-in-grand-final
♦ 7-players-a-side
♦ 15-minutes-per-match (play 1; rest 1-or-2)
♦ no-offside
♦ no-metal-studs
♦ no-shinguards-no-play
♦ unlimited-rolling-subs-touch-hands-on-sidelines-or-otherwise-yellow-card
♦ playing-more-players-than-regulation-leads-to-a-penalty-kick-against-infringing-team
♦ slide-tackle-foul (slide-blocking, slide-shooting, slide-heading, slide-scoring, without causing danger to, or contact with, nearby players is permitted)
♦ goalkeepers-can-slide-from-front-inside-their-penalty-box, , but-cannot-slide-with-feet-in-first
♦ all-freekicks-are-direct
♦ wait-for-whistle-for-all-freekicks-with-minimum-5m-distance
♦ penalty-kicks-on-penalty-box-arc
♦ tackle-from-behind-or-elbow-to-head-yellow-card
♦ yellow-card-sit-out-the-match-no-sub
♦ red-card-take-a-hike-for-good
♦ sudden-death-penalty-shootout-in-Knockouts-with-max-7-chosen-players-on-both-teams
♦ 60-or-above-player-or-lady-player-score-counts-2-goals (with “Penalty Kicks Exception”)
♦ 70-or-above-player-score-counts-3-goals (with “Penalty Kicks Exception”)
♦ shake-hands-and-enjoy-the-beers-&-trophies-at-the-end
♦ objective-is-not-to-win-but-to-build-lasting-friendships
■ Plenty of:
♦ water
♦ trophies
♦ banter
♦ 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
Hope to see you at the next Vets tournament.
Remember, if it's 1st Sunday, it's Vets day.!
Kind regards,
-Eralp
