What is it like to watch football in Cambodia? Khmer Nights went to find out! With the county currently in the grips of Euro 2020 fever it would seem that half of the country are hanging out in bars watching football, but we are not talking the big screen here! What is it like to watch live football in Cambodia?
What’s the story with Cambodian football?
Football actually has a long history in Cambodia, being brought in by the French. Cambodia were to play their first match as an independent state against Malaya, which they lost 5-2. Football then took a back seat until the Khmer Republic and the rule of Lon Nol when there was a mini-renaissance. Cambodia as the Khmer Republic at this point had their best result in an international football tournament, when they came 4th in 1972 Asian Cup.
Sadly to this day that marked the high-point for international football in Cambodia, with the game coming to a complete halt during the brutal regime of the Khmer Rouge, before coming back under Socialist state run lines during the Peoples Republic of Kampuchea. Things were to carry on like this until 2005 and the formation of the first professional league in Cambodian history – the C-League.
The Metfone C-League
The current topflight of the Cambodian soccer pyramid is known as the Metfone C-League for sponsorship reasons. Technically it involves 13 clubs from throughout Cambodia, but the league is dominated by teams from Phnom Penh and its surrounding areas, as well as a couple from Siem Reap..
Below the C-League is would guess it the C-League 2, as well as regional teams that compete in the Hun Sen Cup, the national knock-out competition named after the Prime-Minister. From the top echelons of Cambodian football to the regional stuff quality of football and stadia varies a lot, which we will get to in the next part.
What is it like to watch football in Cambodia – The Metfone C-League
The Metfone C-League is dominated by the big 5 clubs of – Phnom Penh Crown, Boeung Ket, Nagaworld, Preah Khan Reach Svay Rieng, and the latest addition, cup-holders Visakha FC.
Whilst not exactly world class, the big clubs get a few thousand fans per match, and have extremely passionate supporters. Visakha FC, the first team I ever watched in the country draw thousands of fans to the 7,000 seater Prince Stadium (named after the bank rather than the singer), as well as having their own “ultras”. The Blue Warriors are the clubs fan group who literally travel to every match, home and away and sing their hearts out for 90 minutes. It’s not the Nou Camp, but it certainly has its own kind of intensity. You can see a clip of the Blue Warriors of Visakha below.
And as for the quality of the football? If you come to the matches expecting Champions League stuff you will be disappointed, but if you come with an open mind you will be surprised by just how high he quality is. There really are some cracking Khmer footballers, and the professional nature of the league means that most top-flight clubs have a smattering of journeymen foreign players from around the world. There have been more than one footballer who has plied their time in Cambodia before going onto better things. Most matches are therefore pretty entertaining.
The Hun Sen Cup and regional
The next stage down from the C-League 1 is the C-League 2, or Cambodian Second League which is fed to from the Hun Sen Cup qualifiers. The rule for the league and the provincial leagues are that teams must have 50 percent of their players below the age of 21 and no foreign players are allowed.
As you might assume standards are somewhat lower than in the top-flight of Cambodian football, with games held at high-schools and crowds usually consisting of 10’s to 100’s rather than in the thousands. The games though are important enough to usually have TV crews there, at least for highlights, as well as statisticians recording the games for foreigners to be able to bet on them. Yes that is right people gamble on regional low-level Cambodian football!
And as someone who has traveled the length of the country to watch Koh Kong FC vs Kampot FC I have to say that Cambodian football not only has a lot of potential, but makes for decent day out.
What is it like to watch football in Cambodia? Pretty damned enjoyable.
