Chainat Hornbill Football Club (Thai สโมสรฟุตบอลชัยนาท ฮอร์นบิล) is a Thai professional association football club based in Chai Nat province. The club plays in Thai League 2.
The club has won 1 Thai League 2 title and 1 Thai FA Cup in their history.[1]
Chainat Hornbill Football Club is a professional football club founded in 2009 by Anucha Nakasai, a former Thai politician. The club was placed in the best management class as a result, and it has developed rapidly since its first season. In the 2009 Northern Regional Division 2 Regional League the club came third, playing 20 matches and winning 12, drawing 3 and losing 5 for a total of 39 points. Their top scorer was Sanogo Abou, with 15 goals.[citation needed] In 2012, the club was promoted to the top league, Thai League 1, for the first time.[2]
In 2016, club chairman, Anucha Nakasai announced the appointment of Dennis Amato as the new head coach of the club.[3] In October 2017, the club came first winning the 2017 Thai League 2 with 67 points and was promoted to the 2018 Thai League 1.[4]
After Chainat Hornbill's promotion to the top tier of Thai football, Amato briefly left the club to take up a role as a director of football at Ang Thong.[5] The club announced the appointment of Drago Mamić as the new head coach of the club but Mamić left the club for personal reasons.[6] However, Amato return to Chainat again, but was faced with many problems, including a squad with a limited number of players, and strict financial constraints.[7]
In 2018, after a win against defending FA Cup champions Chiangrai United, the Hornbills defeated the defending Thai League 1 champions Buriram United 1–0 at the Chang Arena, which was the first time that Buriram United had failed to win a league game on their own home ground since the return of Bozidar Bandovic as coach.[8] In the 2018 season, the club became well known as "giant-killing." (Thai: จอมล้มยักษ์).[9] Under Amato's management, the Hornbills play a style of football based on maintaining possession, and trying to win the ball back after losing it, instead of regrouping into a defensive position.[10][11]
In 2019, the Hornbills beat many Thai League 1 giants. In a home game at Khao Plong Stadium they beat Muangthong United 3–0, won against Bangkok United with a score of 21, and beat Buriram United 2–1.[citation needed]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Coaches by Years (2010–present)
Issara Sritaro 2010–2012 Surachai Jaturapattarapong 2012–2014 Jadet Meelarp 2014 Thawatchai Damrong-Ongtrakul 2014–2015 Issara Sritaro 2015–2016
Koichi Sugiyama 2016
Dr. med. Björn Kliem 2016–2017 Dennis Amato 2017
Drago Mamić 2017–2018 Dennis Amato 2018–2019 Ronald Boretti 2020–2021 Sumeth Yooto 2021–2022
Daniel Blanco 2022 Sumeth Yooto 2022 Pannarai Phansiri 2022–2023 Sumeth Yooto 2023–2024 Sarach Paungchup 2024–