BG Pathum United F.C.


BG Pathum United Football Club is a Thai professional football club based in Pathum Thani province and is managed by BG Sports Company Limited which is a subsidiary of Bangkok Glass Public Company Limited. BG Pathum United participates in the Thai League 1.
The nickname of BGPU, "The Rabbits", derives from the chinese zodiac of the first club president, Pavin Bhirombhakdi who was born in The Year of the Rabbit.
The club has won 1 Thai League 1 title, 1 Thai League 2 title, 1 Thai FA Cup, 1 Thai League Cup and 2 Thailand Champions Cup.

History

Origins of the club: "Bangkok Glass" and early history

Bangkok Glass Football Club traces its origins to 1979, following the establishment of the Bangkok Glass Factory. Initially, the team was formed for internal matches among factory employees. In 1989, the club began participating in external competitions, particularly tournaments among industrial factories in Pathum Thani province, where it gradually gained wider local recognition.
In 1999, the employees and management formally organized the team into a more structured football club. After improving its facilities, equipment, and stadium, Bangkok Glass Football Club was officially founded in April 2006. Player recruitment began the following month, and the club registered as a member of the Football Association of Thailand later that year.
The club’s first official competition was the Ngor Royal Cup in the 2007–08 season, where Bangkok Glass finished as runners-up, losing 1–0 to Khukhot Municipal in the final. This performance earned the club promotion to compete in the higher-tier King’s Cup the following year.
In 2008, BGFC Sport Company Limited was established to professionally manage the club in accordance with AFC regulations. That same period, the team competed in the 2008–09 Khor Royal Cup and reached the final, where they were defeated 2–1 by JW Group. Nevertheless, the club secured promotion to the Khǒr Royal Cup. In addition to football, Bangkok Glass also operated a futsal team, which competed in the Futsal Thailand League.

Takeover of "Krung Thai Bank" and first year in the top flight

In January 2009, Krung Thai Bank, a club from the Thailand Premier League, announced its dissolution after failing to meet the Asian Football Confederation requirement to register as a juristic entity. As a result, Bangkok Glass, then competing in the Football B Royal Cup, took over the league position and assets of Krung Thai Bank and entered the Thai Premier League in its place.
During this transition period, Bangkok Glass temporarily used Queen Sirikit's 60th Anniversary Stadium as their home ground while the club home ground, the Leo Stadium was undergoing renovation. In their debut top-flight season in the 2009 season, the club performed strongly, finishing third in the Thai Premier League. Meanwhile, the original team formed by the company’s employees and management in 1999 continued to compete separately under the name Rangsit.

The club's growth

In 2010, Bangkok Glass was highly popular and Leo Stadium was completed after a major renovation, they returned to play on this field again after updating for almost 1 year. in January, Bangkok Glass sent the team to compete in the Queen's Cup and won the championship by defeating Police United 4–1. In that same year, they sent the team to compete in Singapore Cup, in the second year, they succeed by winning the 2010 Singapore Cup.
Head coach Supasin Leelarit and Surachai Jaturapattarapong was re-appointed as head coach at the end of the 2011 season. After a disappointing season, Surachai stepped down again from his post October 2012 and was replaced by Englishmen Phil Stubbins as head coach. The club finished the season a disappointing 8th place in the 2012 season. Phil Stubbins stepped down in March 2013 after a disappointing season where he was replaced by a caretaker coach Anurak Srikerd.
Bangkok Glass than announced its new head coach for midway of the 2013 Thai Premier League, Attaphol Buspakom, one of Thailand's most respected and successful coaches with an AFC Champions League runners-up in 2003 with BEC Tero Sasana and two Thai League 1 titles with Muangthong United in 2009 and Buriram United in 2011. Attaphol completely changed the club football philosophy from a very direct long balls, style of play to more possession, more short passes. The team became runners-up in the 2013 Thai FA cup for the first time of club history, defeated by Buriram United 3–1 at Thammasat Stadium in the final and finishing fifth in the league. With Attaphol Buspakom, his time at the club ended when his team were defeated 1–2 by Port midway of the 2014 season, when he resigned and was replace by Anurak Srikerd.

First major honours

In 2014, assistant coach Anurak Srikerd was promoted to head coach where he went on to win the 2014 Thai FA Cup where Lazarus Kaimbi scored the only goal in the final to secure the club first ever major honours in history.
Australian Aurelio Vidmar became the eleventh permanent head coach of Bangkok Glass when his tenure was officially announced on 1 August 2016. He than guided Bangkok Glass to play modern possession football philosophy and challenging for the top 3 spot for a short period in the 2016 season, their best finish since 2009.
In 2015, Bangkok Glass handed Buriram United their only 2017 league defeat on 3 May. The team managed to end their season by finishing fifth in the Thai League 1 with injuries at different times to key player of club – Thailand national team winger Sarawut Masuk, Ariel Rodriguez, Daniel Toti and the team's captain Matt Smith. With Vidmar, his time at the club ended when his team won Navy 3–0, in the Thai League 2017 matchday 22. The team was giving a farewell party for Vidmar and took care of him feels like family.

Relegation, comeback, and route to first Thai League 1 Title

In November 2017, Bangkok Glass appointed Spanish Josep Ferré as the club's head coach.
In 2018, Bangkok Glass Club changed the symbol and the color of the new club and improved the Leo Stadiums fields by using real grass. In March, The Rabbits were in danger of relegation,
In the last match of the Thai League season 2018, the association announced that there would be 5 relegated teams. Bangkok Glass lost to Nakhon Ratchasima Mazda while the other two teams hoped to escape from the relegation, such as Sukhothai and Chainat Hornbill but they won. Resulting in Chainat Hornbill and Bangkok Glass having the same score of 42 points but Chainat Hornbill had better stats making Bangkok Glass became the last team to be relegated by being ranked 14th caused to relegation to kick in the Thai League 2 seasons later. It is the first time of the club has been in the past 10 years since the acquisition of Krung Thai Bank Club in 2009.
2018Thai League 1
2019Thai League 2
2020Thai League 1

Renamed as BG Pathum United (2018–''present'')

Thai League 2 and Thai League 1 champions

After relegation to Thai League 2 in 2018, the club changed its name to BG Pathum United to be one of the supporters of the club in Pathum Thani Province. The club will donned the new name in the 2019 Thai League 2 season. In 2019, BG Pathum United won the Thai League 2 title, earning promotion back to the top tier. The season after in the 2020–21 Thai League 1 season, BG Pathum United took the lead as league leaders of the Thai League on Day 7 and never looked back. Despite the league suspension due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the team maintained their form and did not lose a game on their way to their first-ever Thai League 1 title.
Moreover, The Thai advanced playmaker, Sumanya Purisai received most valuable player at the end of the year. Sumanya Purisai, Andrés Túñez, Victor Cardozo, and Chatchai Budprom were all selected in the Thai League Best XI
BG Pathum United held their title celebration party on 20 March 2021 when they beat Ratchaburi 2–0 on the club's final home game of the season. Dusit Chalermsan and his team could not record an undefeated title run when they lost 1–0 to Muangthong United at the Thunderdome Stadium.

Aurelio Vidmar's return and AFC Champions League foray

On 30 May 2021, BG Pathum United announced the return of Aurelio Vidmar for his second spell as the Rabbits' head coach. Vidmar replaces Dusit Chalermsan who attended the “AFC” A Certificate Coaching Course, sponsored by the club. Vidmar's second debut as head coach of BG Pathum United came in the 2021 AFC Champions League Group Stage opener against Kaya F.C.–Iloilo, where BG Pathum United beat the Philippines Football League club 4–1 thanks to a brace each from Teerasil Dangda and Diogo Luís Santo – with Teerasil going down in the history book as BG Pathum United's first goalscorer in the final round of the AFC Champions League.

2021 AFC Champions League – Group F

Aurelio Vidmar's BG Pathum United, who hosted all of Group F's matches, qualified for the knockout round of the 2021 AFC Champions League as one of the three best runners-up and second-place behind 2020 AFC Champions League champions Ulsan Hyundai in Group F. This marks the club's first foray into the Round of 16 in the AFC Champions League. “We're very pleased with our progression into the Round of 16,” said Vidmar after securing BG Pathum United the ticket to the Round of 16. “I've said earlier that this is probably one of the hardest groups, and it goes to show that in the two games we lost to Ulsan, there wasn't a lot of difference. It showed that we can certainly match the best, and I'm proud of the performance the players put in tonight."
Vidmar followed up his success in the 2021 AFC Champions League by beating Chiangrai United. to lift the 2021 Thailand Champions Cup trophy on 1 September 2021. Midfielder Chaowat Veerachat came off the bench to set up fellow substitute Ryo Matsumura for the match-winner in the 87th minute. This is BG Pathum United's first Thailand Champions Cup trophy.
An away draw at Chonburi. and a home win over Ratchaburi in the 2021–22 Thai League 1 followed before the team returned to the 2021 AFC Champions League action against Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors at Jeonju World Cup Stadium. Without Vidmar on the touchline for personal reasons, BG Pathum United produced a spirited performance and managed to draw with Jeonbuk 1–1 in normal time. The game reached the penalty shootout where BG Pathum United was beaten 4–2.
After exiting the 2021 Thailand Champions Cup, BG Pathum United shifted their focus back onto the league and went on an 8-match unbeaten run across all competitions, drew once, and won 7, between mid-October and mid-November 2021. The club sat third on the 2021–22 Thai League 1 table after matchday 13 and only 3 points behind league leaders and rivals, Bangkok United.