Who's dressed to kill? And whose shirt leaves much more to be desired?
I was thinking to myself yesterday, what to write for this week's blog post, when I saw this post made by my friends over at the Port FC Sandpit. Like me they're doing a ranking list of football shirts, but unlike myself who's a newbie and Indonesia-based, they've been doing rankings of Thai football shirts on a regular basis since a few years ago. And yes, I have to admit that whenever I shop for shirts from the Thai League 1, I sometimes use their list as my reference of recommendation.
Following the success of last week's Liga 1 Indonesia home shirt tier list for the 2021/22, I decided why not do the same thing for the Thai League? I guess this will provide fans who are foraying into the Southeast Asian football scene some food for thought in deciding which Thai team colors should they rock for this season.
As usual, there will be six tiers in this tier list, named after quotes uttered by Matt Groening characters:
Shut Up and Take My Money! - the best shirts of them all, which would make you emulate Philip J. Fry, take out your wallet, and buy the shirt in question without thinking. The shirt will have to score between 90-100 to get into this tier.
Woo-hoo! - congratulations, Homer Simpson likes your shirt! But even though they're good, they're not world-beaters, but hey at least you've impressed the Simpsons' patriarch! The shirt will have to score between 75-89 to get into this tier.
Okily Dokily! - in the words of Ned Flanders, you've got an okay shirt! They don't disappoint anyone, but they don't impress anyone either. The shirt will have to score between 65-74 to get into this tier.
Meh - Bart and Lisa Simpson aren't impressed and you should too. Your shirt is the bare minimum of football shirts and you must improve upon your design next season. The shirt will have to score between 50-64 to get into this tier.
D'oh! - Your shirt is a carwreck, enough said. You'll facepalm like Homer Simpson when you see this shirt and lament what went wrong for the rest of the season. The shirt will have to score between 40-49 to get into this tier.
Worst. Shirt. Ever. - You heard Comic Book Guy. Your shirt does not deserve to exist and should be thrown into the nearest dumpster fire as soon as possible. The shirt will have to score between 0-39 to get into this tier.
Without further ado, here's my tier list for this season's Thai League 1 home shirts! Now remember, this is solely based on my opinion so some of you might disagree with me on this.
Onto the explanation for each shirt!
Bangkok United - Woo-Hoo!
The marriage between Ari and Bangkok United have produced some solid shirts in the past few years, some better than the other, and in my opinion that trend remained unchanged in 2021. Yes those chevron patterns might've turned off some people, but for me it gave the shirt this futuristic, Tron-esque vibe, which I'm a complete sucker of.
You know those badass-looking E-Sport shirts that gamers usually wear in matches? Bangkok United's home shirt for this season remind me of that and what's more frightening than 11 gamers facing off against you on the pitch? Wearing this makes your inner gamer wanting to rise up, and although not as mindblowingly awesome as the 2020 shirt, it's still a solid effort from Ari. The only thing that prevents this from reaching the Shut Up and Take My Money! tier is that eye-gouging price that Ari usually charge for these babies. 88/100.
BG Pathum United - Woo-Hoo!
Another solid entry to this tier list, I was initially underwhelmed when Warrix released the AFC Champions League shirts for 2020/21 Thai League 1 champions BG Pathum United. Yes it does look sleek and simple but at a glance it does look bland, even though BG's blue goes very well with those yellow highlights. But it turns out, BG's ACL shirt is one of those shirts that needed those additional sponsors to compliment it's design and bring out its true character, with Warrix thankfully retaining their ACL design for the league campaign. Sure slapping some additional sponsors may seem like minimal effort, but it does reduce the blandness of the shirt quite significantly and in a way brings out more panache to this specimen.
The shirt retained its sleekness and simplicity from its ACL incarnation but at the same time reduced its boringness and blandness with those additional sponsors. It's one of those shirts that took a while to endear itself to you and it shows. And one more thing - with Warrix on board, we're no longer subjected to Nike's astronomical price tags for a BGPU shirt! It's a 87/100 from me.
Buriram United - Shut Up and Take My Money!
You can't really go wrong with a Buriram shirt. Navy blue, polo design, giant Chang logo smack dab in the center. The former kings of Thai football have constantly dabbled in new innovations for their shirts in recent years, from the sublte lightning bolt design of 2018, the admittedly disastrous attempt of a collar in 2019, and my personal favorite, the utilization of used plastic bottles for the base material of the 2020 shirt. I was looking forward for what Buriram will bring up to the table for 2021, and they came up with this.
At a glance, the shirt may seem a bit average and "playing it safe," but up close, you will see intricate traditional Thai designs intertwined with the word "BRUTD" being embossed onto the shirt. Not many football shirts can boast this embossed design within themselves and this alone made Buriram stood out among the others in this season's Thai League 1. The fact that Buriram always made their shirts in-house made it very affordable for fans and neutrals alike despite their countless breakthroughs over the years, plus they're also featured in this article from Footy Headlines. A nice little one to have, it's a 92/100 from me.
Chiangmai United - Meh
Much was hyped about Chiangmai United's Thai League 1 debut, having been promoted to the top flight for the first time in their short history since their foundation in 2015. And while CMUTD lit the Thai League 2 alight with a bold, fearsome shirt brimmed with personality from Volt, the White Elephants decided to downgrade themselves after switching allegiances to Grand Sport.
For their top flight debut, Chiangmai United will be wearing what's essentially a Vietnam shirt with the Vietnamese flag removed, the yellow highlights being reduced, the Chiangmai United logo being slapped on, and the sponsor logos here and there. Although it does look smart and simple at a first glance once you realize that it's basically a refurbished Vietnam shirt you'll never see it the same again. I mean come on, Chiangmai United, you can do better than this. 52/100.
Chiangrai United - D'oh!
From a lazy Grand Sport design to a "you're trying too hard to look cool" Grand Sport design, we move across Northern Thailand from Chiangmai to Chiangrai. Again, at a glance Chiangrai's home shirt does look unique and ground-breaking, but once you realize that you cannot unsee those white stripes on the sleeves, you will most definitely go "eek!"
To be fair, Chiangrai and Grand Sport haven't done anything wrong throughout their time together - I like their 2020 shirts with those high collars as well as GS' work for the Beetles in the AFC Champions League - but Chiangrai's 2021 home shirt basically screams "we're trying too hard to look unique." It would be a better shirt should those white stripes are removed and the Grand Sport logo on the chest is changed from white to black, but unfortunately we're left with a mess of a design that leaves us go "eh?" instead of "wow." Sorry Beetles, you can only get 48/100 for this effort.
Chonburi FC - Shut Up and Take My Money!
The best Thai League 1 of the 2021/22 season in my opinion. Or in other words, everything that Melbourne Victory wanted to be but couldn't.
Shirts with a huge chevron design on the chest are quite special for me as only a select few teams could pull this off - namely Bordeaux, Melbourne Victory, and Velez Sarsfield. Chonburi are the latest team to join this bandwagon and they managed to pull it off quite impressively.
The four teams had different philosophies regarding their chevrons. Bordeaux's represents the Garonne Valley where the club is based, Melbourne Victory's represents the state of Victoria where the club is based, while Velez's represents the set of rugby uniforms that was commissioned but not retired that the club got for an affordable price during their early years. Yeah, it's literally just that.
Chonburi's chevron represents the jaws of a shark, the animal that has become synonymous with the club since their foundation. The spirit of the shark was well embodied in this shirt with faint swirls within the design resembling the ocean waters being disturbed by the fearsome predators swimming without them. Add some smartly-applied sponsors and cutting-edge material, and you'll get the best shirt of the league. Don't let Nike's price tag deter you, because this shirt will be worth it. 97/100. And yes Melbourne Victory, that's how you do a chevron, instead of slapping on an oversized one for this year's A-League campaign.
Khonkaen United - Okily Dokily!
At a glance you might suspect that Khonkaen United are reusing their shirt from 2020, but a closer look shows that it's anything but. It's a slight upgrade from the previous season - no fearsome giant cobra watermark on the front, instead Khonkaen United's apparel suppliers Ocel creaetd this nice gradient of black shifting into red and vice-versa with a snakeskin pattern being thrown into it. A nice application of gold for the NNS afterwards, and you'll get a decent shirt that won't take away the breaths of many, but at the same time you won't be too embarrased wearing it on the streets. A solid 72/100.
Muangthong United - Meh
Sorry Muangthong, but in my books this is probably the weirdest shirt that you've came up with. The first shirt in the post-SCG era - which already feels weird enough - rumors of a huge sponsorship deal with Nissan never came into fruition and Yamaha stepped in to act as the Twin Kirins' main sponsor once again for the first time since 2011. Shoot have downgraded themselves from their previous attempt in 2020, which is also meh in my opinion but still retained that Muangthong feel. This one...not so much. Sponsors were minimalistic and done in a way that compliments the shirt's simple design which is a plus point, but the dark-red-to-black gradient that they've used there...it reminds me of Manchester United's home shirt from 2018/19 which was widely panned by the fanbase. A 60/100 effort from me, at least it's better than that reused Vietnam shirt.
Nakhon Ratchasima - D'oh!
Two words - CROTCH SPONSORS.
After flopping spectacularly in Indonesia, rebuilding themselves in Vietnam, and being quite anonymous in Malaysia, Thailand became the next stop for famed Spanish apparel company Kelme. Two teams from the Isaan region - Nakhon Ratchasima and Udon Thani - have opted to work together with Kelme for this season with contrasting results. Udon's shirts look amazing even though they use the same template as the V.League teams over in Vietnam, but the same couldn't be said for Korat.
At a glance Kelme did their job right with a crisp and simple home shirt, nothing too out of the ordinary and I would put this shirt in either Woo-Hoo! or Okily Dokily!. But then I went down and saw those CROTCH SPONSORS. Those dreaded CROTCH SPONSORS. The CROTCH SPONSORS that you cannot unsee.
E@ (an energy company not affiliated with EA the video game mogul), Deedo, and Gulf Energy have decided to place their logos at the most unfortunate of spaces, especially Deedo with that unsightly orange box of theirs which was mitigated by Nakhon Ratchasima's home shirt being...well, orange. And while the presence of sponsors are important for a club's finances especially within Southeast Asia, should they're not placed properly it can severely affect a shirt's aesthetics, and unfortunately Korat was a victim of such improper placement.
The CROTCH SPONSORS are too jarring to set aside, throws the entire balance of the shirt into disarray, and severely reduces any brownie point that Kelme deserves for this. This could be an 80 in my books but the presence of the CROTCH SPONSORS meant that it could only score a measly 49/100 on my tier. Harsh? Yes. But considering how MOF Customs United have made me bleached my brain repeatedly over the years and Nakhon Ratchasima's effort this year reminds me of that....yeap.
Nongbua Pitchaya - Okily Dokily!
Another promoted team and another design that's not bad but at the same time not awesome enough. Nongbua's pink shirts made them a standout in the Thai football pyramid and I could've sworn that they're going brighter and brighter in each passing season. For this year, Warrix have implemented a tie-dye design that gave Nongbua a marbled look on their shirts, and personally I like that. It makes them look unique and it gives them character. My only gripe about this shirt is the intense bright pink that might leave some with sunny-side-up eggs in place of eyes after matches, but other than that it's a decent Warrix shirt that you can add to your collection. 60/100.
Port FC - Woo-Hoo!
It's hard to make a decent shirt that combines both orange and blue as the dominant color - just ask FC Cincinnati. But this half-and-half effort from Ari is easily Port's best shirt in recent years, alongside the Khlong Toei Lion's AFC Champions League shirt from the same company.
Ari's tasteful designs made the Muang Thai Insurance logo - a long complaint from fans due their giant blue square ruining any possible shirt design - look less conspicuous and more blended in naturally with the shirt altogether. The other sponsors were tastefully applied - although my only complaint about this shirt would be the Port Authority of Thailand logo on the front which I think suits the sleeves better. But other than that, solid effort, it has a nice collar to it and my boy Charyl Chappuis never looked better in a Port shirt than before. You got an 89/100 from me and you most definitely deserve the Woo-Hoo! tier!
Prachuap FC - Woo-Hoo!
Prachuap's 2021 shirt is basically Chiangrai's shirt done right and properly.
After years and years of solid designs from Warrix, the Killer Wasps switched their apparel suppliers to Grand Sport for this season and although their shirts for this year might draw some flak from the crowd, for me the shirt embodies the exciting energy and spirit that Prachuap had brought to the Thai League since arriving there in 2018.
Colored mainly orange with some tasteful dashes of black here and there, Prachuap boasted an asymmetrical design to the sleeves and shoulders that might drew the ire from some, but for me, it's the perfect representation of Prachuap's top flight tenure. You know that excited, rushing feeling that you feel every time you took a roller-coaster? Adrenaline does that to you and I can see that adrenaline has been sowed into each seam of Prachuap's home shirt for 2021. It's exciting, it's unpredictable, and it's boisterous all at the same time.
Granted, "out-of-the-box" designs are very difficult to pull off properly - make one false step and you can potentially create a dud like Chiangrai's. Prachuap's design is teetering on a tightrope that spans between "unique and excitement" and "eyesore and cacophony," and while many would think that it's leaning towards the latter, in my opinion the Killer Wasps are leaning towards the former.
And another thing that I like from Prachuap is their Maxnitron sponsorship at the sides of the shirt. It's not a very conventional place to put your sponsors there, with only one team in my knowledge having pulled that off - CSKA 1948 Sofia of Bulgaria. But that's exactly what makes Prachuap's shirt for 2021 unique, a complete standout from the rest. 85/100.
Police Tero - D'oh!
Police Tero and FBT haven't created that many decent shirts in recent memory, however they did had a solid 2019 and 2020 with their crisp-looking home attires. So when the Silver Shield Dragons release their shirts for 2021, I was massively disappointed by their home shirt. It's plain, it's bland, it's basically Arsenal's home shirt for this season with red sleeves and two stripes on the shoulder. The CP logo between the club badge and apparel logo is quite oversized, as if they're trying to rival Chang as being Police Tero's main sponsor. And it's so boring I legit almost fell asleep writing this bit. Indeed, Police Tero's 2021 shirt is something that would make you say "my disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined" after wearing it. 42/100.
Ratchaburi FC - Worst. Shirt. Ever.
Kill it. Kill it now with fire.
Having created a decent yet unremarkable shirt for the 2021 AFC Champions League campaign, Ratchaburi and Shoot have collaborated together once again to produce this abomination of nature. There's too much going on with the shirt's pattern and while the collar looks quite decent, all in all at a glance there's this overall feeling of cheapness emanating from this shirt. Similar to Port and Muang Thai Insurance, Ratchaburi shirts have been struggling to fit in the Mitr Phol logo into the overall design without ruining the entire thing, and unfortunately they failed miserably this year. And last but not least, the Thai-Denmark logo on the abdomen threw the entire aesthetics of the shirt, already shaky from that horrific pattern and the main sponsor going against the whole thing, into the rubbish bin.
Should've gone the BGPU route and retain the ACL design for this year's domestic campaign, Shoot. It's a disappointing 38/100 from me.
Samut Prakan City - Meh
After one year of collaboration with Ari, Samut Prakan City have decided to once again produce their shirts in-house underneath their SPC brand for the 2021 season. It's a simple affair, nothing too special as they produced a plain-looking number with Chang being the only sponsor present on the front side of the shirt. It seems that the Sea Fang are undergoing some financial problems judging by the lack of a main chest sponsor, but like Persik Kediri in the Liga 1, it provides a fresh breath of air in a league filled with teams cramming as much sponsors as possible into their shirts. At a glance it looked like a teamwear template shirt with the Samut Prakan City paraphernalia being slapped onto it, which unfortunately made it look cheap, low-effort, and low-budget. But I do personally like its clean and minimalistic look, though that bad first impression made it stood in that region between Meh and Okily Dokily!. It's a 64/100 from me.
Suphanburi FC - Shut Up and Take My Money!
Hang on, are Suphanburi literally using their shirt from 2020 for 2021? A shirt notorious for that unusual-looking collar? This must be one of the...wait a second. Wait just a second! Look closer. Those intricate details...oh my. Did Suphanburi just took the 2020 shirt and gave it an upgrade that refreshed the design just in time for 2021?
Indeed at a glance it seems that Suphanburi have reused their 2020 design but upon closer inspection, the War Elephants has enhanced that design, refreshed it and remastered it to today's standards. The cuffs and collars have been updated, with white being thrown into the cuffs and the collar being adjusted to resemble a proper polo-style football shirt collar. And integrated into the shirt is this intricate, circuit board-esque design that may or may not be a traditional pattern of the Suphanburi Province itself.
Some say simple is the best and Suphanburi's 2021 home shirt is the epitome of that. Just a few weeks ago people were complaining about the remaster of Grand Theft Auto V for the PS5, as Rockstar Games have failed to properly show the improved and enhanced aspects of the now 8-year old game. However, Suphanburi's 2021 home shirt is an excellent example of how improvement, enhancement, and remasters should be done properly, as it took the slightly panned design of 2020 and updated it to today's standards. Well done Warrix, well done. 94/100.
And that is it! All 16 home shirts of the Thai League 1, rated and ranked. Let me know what do you think about this list, whether you agree with this or you disagree, but don't forget to keep things civil. And also let me know if you want more of these! I think I'll make one for Malaysia, Australia, Singapore and Vietnam in the near future. As always, it's been a pleasure writing in this blog, and until next time!
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